I recently taught a two hour children’s art class for a home school group. I painted a progression board for the apple because it is usually visually helpful to see where the painting is headed. (Image #1)

I have found that beginner students, no matter what age, think that they need to draw the entire painting first and then paint around the pencil lines. I try to explain that layering the paint, colors and steps, is what gives a painting depth. So as I walked the students through the process, they had a visual of what the step would look like.

But they didn’t have to make it look exactly like mine, they decided where they would place their apple on the canvas (or the composition) and how big their apples would be etc. They all did incredible work and each came out as different as their personalities are. (Image #2)