getting to know Eric Carle

When I was little girl, my mother spent a lot of time telling me that when I grew up I should do something with my art.  And while I enjoyed art all through my childhood, I usually dismissed my mother's advice because I didn't feel I could make a living selling my art.

To me,  "doing something with your art" meant I would need to be the next Picasso, Cassatt, or Carr in order to make a living when I was a grown up. I didn't want to be a poor artist.  

I had no idea all the other opportunities available to someone who was artistic and enjoyed spending the day lost in their imagination and so I spent my time trying to find something that I would enjoy doing as an adult with a creative bent.

It wasn't until I was in my second year of college, desperately trying to fit a square peg into a round hole so I would have a "career" when I graduated, that I happened to read an article on a job in Art Direction.

An article that would change the course of my life and allow me to "do something with my art"

Basically cementing the fact, a fact we all work hard to deny, that our mother is usually right.

From an Art Director to an Art teacher wasn't such a big leap when I became a mother and now I am truly following my passion and living MY dream, combining art with my love of working with children.

And although it pains me to admit it, working with children was the other thing my mother use to harp that I should do when I grew up.......

sigh.

Long story short, I love showing kids people who are artist making careers in different creative fields.

Children illustrators are one of those careers.

And I love this project inspired by the work of Eric Carle.

I first did this project when my now 19 year old son (soon to be 20 in a couple of weeks, but I'm still in denial on that one) was in first grade.  The kids enjoyed the project from start to finish.

Every kid has read numerous Eric Carle illustrated books.

To this day, I can still recite "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" and "The Hungry Catelpillar" by heart thanks to the numerous times I read it aloud to all three of my children when they were little.

And I'm sure I'm not the only mother and father who can make that claim. Which is why Eric Carle is such a perfect choice for an introduction into the different ways an artist can express themselves.

This project starts with creating a "paper factory".

I love this part of the project because it is all about collaboration.  As a group, we are creating papers in different colors and textures.  I have always just used copy paper for this part.  It works fine and because we are creating so much colored paper, it is the cheapest way to do it.

As a group, the kids create a variety of colored paper.  I find this fosters huge amounts of teamwork as they keep track of what colors they need more of and what colors are in overabundance.

They love all the different things I bring in to make marks on the paper too, potato mashers, combs, sponges, it goes on and on and they have a blast and are usually disappointed when the paper runs out and it's time to close up shop at the paper factory.

The next day I have all the now dried colored paper they have created in stacks sorted by the dominate color on the page.  I have a large number of Eric Carle's books out for the kids to study and look at how he uses cut paper to create his illustrations.

I highlight how he uses more than one "brown" paper design to create interest..or whatever color it happens to be he is using for the animal.  I highlight how he doesn't always use a realistic color to create an animal. 

Then they sketch their animal onto the paper and begin cutting out the shapes they need from the stacks of paper they made the previous day.

8 year old

On the above illustration, you can still see the pencil sketch the child use for his paper cutting pattern.

Again more teamwork as the kids cut from one piece and then share it with another peer who is also looking for that color.  NOTHING is thrown away because even the smallest piece might be perfect on another student's work.

5 year old

The kids have no trouble embracing creating work inspired by Carle.  I guess it is because, like my own children, it is something they are very familiar with and usually have very positive feelings toward because they love the stories and associate it with quiet moments spent reading aloud with their parents.

11 year old

When this project is finished, without a doubt,  I will have kids ask me if we can do it all again tomorrow. Basically cementing the fact that not only are Eric Carle's stories cherished and loved by children of all ages, so is his artwork.

And hopefully for those kids whose mother spends a lot of time harping on how they should "do something with their art" when they grow up will realize very early on all the opportunities that are open to them in the art world and listen to their mother much earlier than I ever did.

Because let's face it, like it or not, our mothers are always right.

Love you mom.