I just love art. When I went on a guided tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, I discovered my true passion for art. The tour guide focussed on particular aspects of the few art collections he had chosen for the excursion. He made me look at art exhibits through the artist’s eyes, and how each collection has a personal significance or connection to the artist’s artistic process. Luckily, my children love art and I want to nurture their artistic abilities. So, I decided to create an artwork inspired by various artists such as Eric Carle, Picasso, Vincent Van Gough and spend a few Sundays working on an art project alone with kids.
To start with, I decided we’d choose a well-known children’s book author and illustrator for our Sunday artwork project. We can get to know the artist a little better and try out his or her “style.” When my kids were younger, they loved Eric Carle books, so it seemed like a perfect choice for the first project. I found a great short video about “What inspired Eric Carle to write The Very Hungry Caterpillar?” to start with and then showed them Eric Carle’s art techniques to create a tissue paper collage using those technique.
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Materials for Eric Carle Inspired Art
- Art Paper / Cardstock ( white preferred )
- Bright paint colors ( like red, green , yellow, orange )
- Scissors
- Colored pens
HOW DO YOU DO ERIC CARLE ART
To create an Eric Carle inspired artwork, just follow the simple steps below and create a one of a kind art piece.
- Paint the paper completely with different colors.
- Create patterns on the wet painted paper using fork, straws and comb.
- Let the paper dry completely
- Think of an animal or a bug for which you want to make an artwork.
- Next, on the back of the colored paper, trace the outline of the bug’s parts. We decided to design a caterpillar that was identical to the one in Eric Carle’s “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” So, to make the caterpillar’s body and face, we traced several circles.
- Cut the shapes and glue it.
- Use colored pens to add details.
- Your beautiful artwork is ready.
Extensions
Although Eric Carle mainly wrote books for younger kids, older kids can also learn a lot from him.
- Read more about inspirations and ideas behind book Eric Carle Books.
- What is Color Theory and experiments to understand it
- Ideas on how to Guide young readers to write their own stories HERE.
I will love to see a kid friendly art activity you’ve done with your kids.
I have also hand picked some of these amazing books on art to inspire my kids.
Kids will be in total delight with the colorful art instructions in the book. They will learn collage techniques as well as how to work with a variety of materials such as painted colored papers, scraps, cloths and buttons.
The breathtaking selection of art in the book includes contributions from some of the world’s most renowned children’s book illustrators. These well-loved artists in children literature share secrets about their work and how they got started as illustrators in this book.
Additionally, here are some fun and easy craft ideas for kids to do at home
- How to create a Two Frame Animation using a paper and pencil.
- How to make PinWheels without pins for toddlers
- Unique Earth Day Craft with Free Printable
- Nature Inspired Collage Art Ideas
- DIY Spirograph Toy using Cardboard
Happy Painting !
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