The Art of Illustration

Today's co-op with SLC featured the artwork of Eric Carle, author and illustrator of many popular children's books including The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We'd studied illustrations by Jerry Pinkney at the Orlando Museum of Art this summer, so it was nice for the kids to focus on illustrations done in such a different style.

After finding out that Carle began his career as an illustrator before moving on to authoring his own books, we learned a little about his technique. He actually paints on pieces of tissue paper, sketches an image on tracing paper and cuts shapes out of the painted tissue paper to fit the image. I had no idea that his artwork was based on this type of collage.

After enjoying a few books, the kids each got to create their own Carle-style collage. Ava picked a flamingo (and obviously got the bulk of the help from Mommy), and Noah tackled his raccoon completely on his own.

This class was the first in a series of children's book illustrators, so we're looking forward to seeing and trying out a new style next month!