Eric Carle Inspired Art Lesson

I'm a big Eric Carle fan. There's just something really fun about his artwork, so when my daughter asked me how he made his illustrations I thought it would make an excellent art lesson!

Who was Eric Carle?

Eric Carle was an American author and illustrator of children's books.

His books include:

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

The Very Busy Spider

The Grouchy Ladybug

The Mixed Up Chameleon

The Tiny Seed

Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me

Eric Carle was born on June 25th 1929 in Syracuse, New York. At age 6, his family moved to Stuttgart, Germany. He attended and graduated from the local art school there. He returned to New York in his twenties and landed a job as a graphic designer with The New York Times.

Author Bill Martin Jr. noticed an illustration of Carle's in an advertisement and asked him to collaborate on a children's book. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? written my Bill Martin Jr. and illustrated by Eric Carle was published in 1967. It quickly became a bestseller.

Eric Carle went on to illustrate over 70 picture books, many of which he wrote himself.

Resources for Learning About Eric Carle

-About Eric Carle from The Carle Museum of Picture Book Art

-The Life of Eric Carle video

-Who is Eric Carle by Stephanie Sabol

Eric Carle Style Collage Art

Eric Carle's illustrations are collages made from pieces cut from painted tissue paper.

He would start by painting layers of bright acrylic paints on a sheet of tissue paper. He used a lot of tools and other items to add texture like sponges, forks, paint brushes, etc...

He had drawers full of these sheets of painted tissue paper, all unique. When he wanted to create an illustration he would cut shapes and pieces from the painted tissue paper sheets and assemble them into a collage style picture on a large sheet of paper. Sometimes he would add details with pen.

Learn more about the Eric Carle process with this short video: https://youtu.be/zqqtq1UaTiE

Then try making your own Eric Carle inspired collage!

Start by making painted sheets like Eric Carle's. I recommend using white construction paper or white printer paper instead of tissue paper though. It is much easier to work with. Use lots of bright colors and experiment with adding textures. Some tools and items to try for texture are sponges, a fork, your fingers, a comb, the back of a paint brush. Make several different sheets and set them aside to dry.

While your sheets of painted paper are drying, think about what you want to make. Eric Carle illustrated a lot of books about insects and other animals, but you could choose anything that you want. Draw a rough sketch.

After your sheets of painted paper are dry, cut out shapes and pieces and assemble them to make the animal or picture that you wanted to make. Glue them into place on a piece of cardstock or construction paper.

What's your favorite Eric Carle book?

Tell me in the comments!

If you enjoyed this post check out:

-STEM Art: 21 STEAM Art Project Ideas

Follow me on

Facebook

Instagram

Comments

Water Relay Races For Kids

I don't know about your kids, but mine absolutely love games involving water and getting wet in the summer time. In this post I share 5 of our favorite water relay races to play with friends. These are perfect for birthday parties, homeschool get togethers, and other group events. Sponge Relay: For this relay you will need: - 2 teams of several kids each -2 large sponges -4 small buckets or containers of some sort Divide your participants into 2 teams and have each team line up single file at a predetermined starting place. Hand out a sponge to the first participant in each line. Set a bucket of water by each team. Set an empty bucket about 20 ft away from each team. The two empty buckets should be the same size and should have a "fill line" marked half way up. On a count of 3 (or ready set go) the first participant in each line should dip their sponge in the bucket of water, run to the empty bucket, squeeze the water from their spo...

STEM Art: 21 STEAM Project Ideas

My kids love STEM projects and we're always looking for ways to add more art to our homeschool days, so I decided I am going to try to dedicate one morning a week this year to STEM art activities. In this post I share some of the ideas we're planning to try, plus a few favorites we've done in the past. What is STEM Education? STEM education is a blended and often hands on approach to teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, which are some of today's fastest growing industries. STEM education offers students the opportunity to problem solve and work on real world problems and questions. Sometimes the acronym STEAM is used, to include the arts. Adding art to STEM education encourages creative thinking and problem solving skills. It can also help make the other included subjects more appealing to some students. STEM Art Projects Penny Spinners- Learn about centrifugal force and make your own spinning tops with this fun post from Teach Beside Me. Explo...

Make Your Own Mineral Identification Kit

One of my family's favorite hobbies is rock hounding. We love collecting and trying to identify neat rock and mineral specimens that we come across. You can put together your own simple kit for identifying rocks and minerals with materials you likely already have around your home. In this post I will explain how to put together your own mineral identification kit and how to use it to identify rocks and minerals you find on your adventures. Making a Rock and Mineral ID Kit Grab yourself a printable Rock and Mineral Journal for recording your observations here: Printable Rock and Mineral Journal , and then gather the following supplies: -A pencil -A coin -An iron nail -A piece of glass (an old pocket mirror works well) -A ceramic tile -A small watertight bottle or container -Some vinegar -A magnet -A magnifying glass -A dropper (optional) -Rock and mineral guide (optional) -A small container or bag to keep it all in Fill ...

Learning About Thailand: Activities and Resources

Thailand ended up being a really fun country to study. There are so many amazing Thai recipes to try and lots of neat buildings and monuments to learn about. My family's favorite part of this unit study was learning about Asian elephants, they are such interesting and intelligent animals! Basic Information Thailand is a country in southern Asia. It is boarderd by Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and the Andaman Sea. The northern region is mountainous while the southern region is hilly and forested. Capital- Bangkok Population- 69.6 million Size- 198,115 square miles Currency- Baht Type of Government- Constitutional Monarchy National Anthem- Phleng Chat Thai National Animal- elephant Flag Famous Places The Grand Palace- The Grand Palace in Bangkok was used as the official royal residence of Thailand from 1782 to 1925. It is still used today for ceremonies and state functions. The palace sits on the banks of the Chao Phraya River. It consists of many buildings and pavilio...

Learning About The Human Body Part 1: The Skeletal And Muscular Systems

At the end of each school year, I sit down with my daughter to discuss what topics she wants to learn about the next year. One of her science topics she picked to study this year was the human body. Instead of ordering a boxed curriculum set, I decided to put together my own human body unit. In this post I share some of the resources we used for learning about the human skeletal and muscular systems, plus instructions for a couple hands on learning activities. You can find my post about the human respiratory and circulatory systems here , and my post about the human digestive and nervous systems here . The Human Skeletal System Our skeletons are the frame of our body. They give us structure, without them our bodies would be limp like noodles. They also provide places for muscles to attach so our bodies can move. Why Does Your Body Need Calcium? Experiment: This is a simple experiment you can do to explore why calcium is important for our bones. You will need: -sever...

Search This Blog