Parents' Guide to

Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone

By Chad Sapieha, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 8+

Outstanding painting software can make anyone an artist.

Game Nintendo 3DS 2012
Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

  • Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone Game: Screenshot #1
  • Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone Game: Screenshot #2
  • Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone Game: Screenshot #3

Community Reviews

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age 8+

Based on 1 parent review

Tessa C.
Tessa C. Adult
June 19, 2020
age 8+

Lovely, Useful Painting Game.

I love this! It is educational and teaches art skills that can be transferred to a real canvas. It is relaxing and has no challenges or judges or timers so it can be a stress relief and foster a love of painting and art appreciation. After completinga project your kid will feel proud and accomplished by their masterpeice. Maybe if they like that game, you can encourage them to paint on a real canvas since they learned skills from the game to apply. For older kids but if you or a big sibling owns the game a younger kid might enjoy scribbling around on it. There's no flashy colored bold bug eyed anime characters like nintendo is known for, or sexualized girls, the character of the teacher is a kind old man! Which you do not see often in games like this. He has a cute Border Collie. A very wholesome game, I reccomend it. You can't go wrong.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
See all 1 parent review

What’s It About?

ART ACADEMY: LESSONS FOR EVERYONE is the follow-up to Art Academy, a hit DS art instruction experience. Referring to these pieces of software as "games" doesn't really make sense; they're more like interactive painting and drawing tutorials. Kids' only objective is to follow the directions of a helpful instructor who provides guidance and demonstrations in the creation of realistic still-life renderings of everyday objects like fruits, flowers, fabric, pitchers, and people. He provides a wealth of information regarding techniques as well as little factoids about the history of art and famous artists from years past. Kids can save and mount their works for display in a virtual 3D gallery, then share them with friends.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (1 ):
Kids say: Not yet rated

Interactive art instruction on a mobile device has rarely been so helpful, informative, or engaging. With nearly 20 lessons -- many of which will take ambitious artists an hour or more to complete -- it's almost like taking a real course in painting and drawing. The reward comes when, after working through most of the lessons and freely playing about on your own canvas, you put on your own art show and wander around the gallery from room to room admiring framed works that you created from scratch.

Just remember that while the techniques Art Academy espouses can be transferred to the real world, tasks like blending and color mixing can be a lot trickier when working with real materials. That said, you'll still learn a lot, create some great looking digital art, and have plenty of fun in the process.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about art appreciation. What kind of art appeals to you? Do you prefer photo-realistic renderings, or more abstract creations? Do you think one's artistic ability should affect their interest in art?

  • Families can also discuss the process of creation. How does the act of creating a work of art make you feel? Are you a perfectionist? How do you know when you're finished?

Game Details

  • Platform: Nintendo 3DS
  • Subjects: Arts : drawing, painting
  • Skills: Creativity : imagination, making new creations, producing new content
  • Available online?: Not available online
  • Publisher: Nintendo
  • Release date: October 7, 2012
  • Genre: Art
  • Topics: Arts and Dance
  • ESRB rating: E for (No Descriptors)
  • Last updated: August 26, 2016

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