Yesterday Paul, Rebbecca, the kids and I drove an hour to the Tacoma Art Musuem to see a special exhibit of collages by Eric Carle, children’s illustrator and author. Carle’s most well known book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, came out the year I was born. I remember being exceedingly charmed by the different sized, layered pages and by the tiny worm hole that the caterpillar “chewed” through each consequtive page. (Concieved of by Carle when he was mucking about punching holes out of some paper.)

Carle, now 78 years old, comes across as being the Mr. Rodgers of the world of children’s illustrations. His gentle manner of speaking and streamlined, basic explainations of his artistic process belies many years of paitently interacting with children. Though he could easily have walked a filmaker through his cabniet of awards, a video at the exhibits shows Carle holding up page after page of paintings done by the pre-K to K set of child artist. At one point he says, “Oh! Look at this one! This one really taught me something!”

I took a lot way from the simple, colorful images and the kind words of their creators. In honor of the Creator of the Caterpillar, here’s my list of

Everything I Need to Know About Art I Learned From Eric Carle

Simple materials and techniques can go a long way. Cut, Color, and paste. It’s so easy Carle can explain the whole process with a few powerpoint-style slides. Paul encouraged me greatly when he walked me across the gallery to show me a few line drawings Carle had used as the template for one of his newest books, 10 Little Rubber Ducks. They were no more accomplished than my own new attempts at drawing, yet they were the first step for some lovely art.

Gimmicks can be wonder-full. Many of Carle’s books have a gimmick — the hole in Caterpillar, flashing lights in The Very Lonely Firefly, the creeking sound of The Very Clumsy Click Beetle. As Carle recounts the hisotry of his works, he blantanly and joyfully talks about searching for the next gimmick. He asserts that often there is nothing wrong with being gimmicky, provided that the gimmick is not a selling ‘hook’ but a means of inducing wonder.

Share your techniques. Carle gives his ‘trade secrets’ away gleefully, in You Can Make a Collage“>collage kit for kids, in his inclusive The Art of Eric Carle“>catalog of works, and through videos.

Follow your Bliss. Carle was a trained fine artist from the prestigous Akademie der bildenden Künste, in Stuttgartthe but what really “made” his career was his love of paste and colors.

Ideas may take a long time to come together. Carle once had an idea that he chewed on for 15 years before it made it into a book. (I think it was for Draw Me a Star.) Be Patient.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 15th, 2007 at 3:17 pm and is filed under Advice Girl, Magpie Girl, Rachelle Mee-Chapman, Small is Beautiful.
Tags: books, children's books, collage



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