Story Collage Inspired by Eric Carle

Elements of Art 

Color: What is perceived when waves of light strike the retina. Color is an element of art. Complementary Colors are the colors that are placed opposite one another on the color wheel.
Shape: A flat area, such as a circle or a square, that has clear boundaries.
Texture: The way a surface looks and feels, such as smooth, rough, or bumpy. 

Principles of Design

Pattern: Repeated colors, lines, shapes, or textures in an artwork. 

Additional Vocabulary

Collage: Artwork made by gluing bits of paper, pictures, fabric, or other materials to a flat surface.
Story: An account or recital of an event or a series of events, either true or fictitious.
Storyteller: A teller of stories. An artist in the visual or verbal medium.

Materials & Supplies 

Context (History and/or Artists)

Storytelling is basic to human existence. From the time there were people to communicate to each other stories have been told. Stories teach, inspire and entertain. Art is also basic to human existance. Art is how we express ourselves as a culture. All art tells a story. The visual artist has a message to communicate through images. We see this in cave paintings in Lascaux, France; in the pyramids in Egypt; in the galleries of art museums. Art appears in children’s picture books as well. Kids love this gentle introduction to art through a story.

Artists always have a story to tell. The Artist, Author and Illustrator, Eric Carle is well known for his ability to tell a story using images. 

Advanced Preparation

This is a two-visit lesson.

 - Get multiple volunteers to help manage stations during first visit.

 - Set up stations around the room for the various painting techniques. Here are some options:

• Crayon Resist: color with crayons & paint over with Tempera paint.
• Crayon texture rubbing resist: cover a sheet of drawing paper with various rubbed textures, brush paint over.
• Rubber stamps dipped in paint. 
• Sponges to blot paint.
• Toy cars or marbles to roll through paint (best done inside of a bin)
• Patterned brayers with paint rolled over paper.
• Splatter-painting (using old toothbrushes and several bankers’ boxes to contain the splatter).
• Painting with unusual brushes: house paint brushes, sticks, dish scrubbers, or bundles of leaves or dried grass.
• Combing: paint a full page of color and draw through the paint with the end of a paint brush, cut used gift cards, old combs or plastic forks.

 - For more variety, these processes can be done on colored construction paper rather than plain white paper.  Encourage students to not get caught up in details and to treat the painting of the papers purely as an abstract painting exercise. Some of the colors and patterns are to fill 18”x24” sheets from side to side, top to bottom.  Other sheets can be divided in half with two color ideas on each half.  

• Set up drying racks for your papers.

Discussion Points 

How does the art support the story?   What choices did the artist make that help tell the story?  Describe the textures you see and how they support the story.

Visual Thinking Strategies can help with this process.   "What do you see?  What else do you see?  Why do you say that?"  Ask students to point out evidence in the work to support their opinion and then "tell me more about that".

Discussion Points

1. Did students analyze the work of Eric Carle? Were they able to describe how the works were made?

2. Did students create a variety of textured papers using various methods presented?

Did students exhibit skills and craftsmanship in executing their collage?

Instructions for Lesson

Visit 1: Creation of papers

1. Read a book by Eric Carle to students - study the art work and speculate how it was made (Eric Carle’s Dragons, Dragons & Other Creatures that Never Were and Animals, Animals are good examples). 
2. Notice that complementary colors make each other stand out when they are next to each other.
3. Discuss pattern and texture throughout the lesson.  What type of textures can you get with each technique?  How can you use a texture to create a pattern?
4. Demonstrate various painting techniques to be used by students such as: stamp printing, spatter painting, textured brayers, crayon resist, paint combing, dabbing paint, painting with various brushes, and rolling through paint with marbles.
5. Students can create their papers.

Visit 2: Creating a collage which tells a story

1. Review Eric Carle’s use of painted papers to tell a story. 
   a) Complementary colors make each other stand out
   b) How to use patterns and textures to draw attention to things.
2. Demonstrate making a sketch of your idea.
3. Students can sketch their ideas on scratch paper (5 min. max)
4. Demonstrate folding paper so that you can cut out the interior of a shape or to get symmetrical shapes. 
5. Demonstrate drawing on the back of their painted paper and then cutting the paper into animals, insects or imaginary creature shapes to assemble a picture.  
6. Demonstrate choosing a paper for their background.  
7. Distribute white paper for the background.
8. Direct students to lay out pieces of paper to create their creature.
   
9. Add background elements of habitat. Grass, trees, mountains, leaves, etc.
10. Once the animal and background are fully assembled, glue down the pieces.
11. Finish by adding small details with markers—eyes, noses, claws, etc.
12. Have student title and sign their artwork.

Optional Phase 3: 

Follow up with a writing, spoken or teacher-described prompt. Tell the story of their image. 

Examples:

References and Attributions

Notes for Educators 

21st Century Thinking Skills
Visualizing: Creating a mental image. Inferring: Driving meaning from clues, hints, evidence. (Art as Storytelling is using the pictures to determine or infer the meaning of the picture.)

WA State Learning Standards
(VA:Cr1.1.K) a. Engage in exploration and imaginative play with materials. 
(VA:Cr1.2.K) a. Engage collaboratively in creative art-making in response to an artistic problem. 
(VA:Cr2.3.K) a. Create art that represents natural and constructed environments. 
(VA:Cr3.1.K) a. Explain the process of making art while creating.(Students are able to create a work of art and describe the art elements they use in their artwork such as color, line, shape or patterns.)
(VA:Re7.1.K) a. Identify uses of art within one’s personal environment. (Students use art as storytelling.)
(VA:Re7.2.2) a. Categorize images based on expressive properties. 
(VA:Re8.1.K) a. Interpret art by identifying subject matter and describing relevant details. (Students use art as storytelling.)

Arts Integration Opportunities
Writing integration: have the children write a story based on their artwork.
Science integration: have the children learn two scientific facts about their animal and write a sentence about it.

Please note:  These lesson plans are intended for non-profit use only. Use of these plans for commercial purposes should give attribution to the Issaquah Schools Foundation and be accompanied by a nominal donation at www.isfdn.org/donate. Thank you.

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