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Little Artist Lesson: Eric Carle
Most kids have grown up reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar or Brown Bear. This is a fun art lesson to teach the kids about the artwork of Eric Carle. It incorporates different art techniques to help kids express their creativity.
About Eric Carle
Eric Carle was born on June 25, 1929 in Syracuse, New York. He created more than 70 picture books in his lifetime. His artwork was like a collage, using hand-painted papers that he cut and formed into colorful images. Often times, his images were inspired by nature.
Carle's Style
Carle’s style is distinctive and very recognizable. He works in a collage technique, using his hand-painted papers which he cut himself. Then, he layered them to form bright and cheerful images. Eric Carle wanted to bridge the gap between kids’ lives at home and at school. He believed that by creating cheerful images in his books, he could show kids that learning can be fun and interesting and comforting at the same time.
The Art Lesson
We did this lesson in the winter season, so we began by reading this Eric Carle book. The kids took notice of the collage style, the textures of the paints, and the snow dots.
You Will Need...
- Watercolor paper, or thick paper
- Watercolor paints, brush
- White cardstock
- White paint, small dish
- Tissue paper in various colors
- Scissors
- Glue
First
In order to give it enough drying time, the first step is to paint the sky with the watercolors. Be sure to remind the kids to leave about 1/3 of the bottom of their paper white, to represent the snowy ground. I also encouraged the kids to use different colors in the sky to create texture. Let them know that the more water they put on the paper, the longer it will take to dry.
Second
Next, cover the white cardstock with pieces of different colored tissue paper. Encourage overlapping and varying directions. The more overlapping they do, the more interesting the image. Point out that the overlapping pieces create new colors. Let set for a few minutes so the glue dries.
Third
Once the tissue papers have dried onto the cardstock, have the kids cut out their trees. Many kids asked if they could cut out more than three trees. Of course, it is all up to the little artist. Some kids had one big tree while others had six tiny trees. It all looks good.
Fourth
Make sure that the painted skies are dry. Then, have the kids glue the trees on to the background. Again, placement is completely up to them. Let them get creative.
Fifth
Finally, pour some of the white paint into a little dish. Let the kids dip their tiny fingertip into the paint and paint snow onto their pictures. They can certainly use a Q-tip if they prefer, but I noticed that they enjoyed getting to paint with their finger. While the snow can go anywhere, make sure they do not go overboard with it and cover too much of their artwork. And they're done!