We recently got invited to join A Pop of Culture‘s (https://www.instagram.com/a.pop.of.culture/) weekly theme of Eric Carle inspired projects!  I used to love creating Eric Carle inspired art with my class as an educator.  After looking at many of his books, we would take a large piece of paper and divide it into sections and then I would put out all sorts of tools, brushes, scrappers etc. to texture the painted areas cut out and collage.  The next week in art we would create the images that they wanted on coloured backgrounds. I still have many of their pieces that they wanted me to keep to show the next year’s class- lovely treasures!  As Mother’s Day is on its way, we thought this the perfect time to use this technique to create a portrait of someone who fills an important role in your life- whether it be your mother, aunty, grandma, mentor etc.  We created a blank label to incorporate anyone or occasion for you to describe what you admire and appreciate about that special person! 

Materials

  • Printable: I love my
  • Thick paper
  • Paint (skin tones and various colours for facial features and accessories etc.)
  • Items to create texture (you could use kitchen utensils, scrape with cardboard pieces, netting, pom poms etc.)
  • Scissors
  • Pencil/eraser
  • Large piece of paper for the background
  • Glue stick

We always find these items useful too:

SmockCraftTray

Directions

  • We are going to use this technique to create a Mother’s Day portrait, but as mentioned, you can make any image that you like!  Think about your mom, grandma etc. (whomever you are going to make this project for)- what do they look like and what do you appreciate about them?  You can sketch them out beforehand and cut out those pieces to use as tracers on your painted paper if you like.  For children who require a bit of planning with their pieces, this certainly helps and can always be modified and manipulated as you create.
  • Create different pieces of painted paper (this is a perfect time to use up scraps from old projects).  We often paint the base and then added the appearance of texture on top.  So for example, we added a bit of white to our base colour and then dotted the paper with a pencil eraser.  You could create texture with sponges, a fork, a funnel- all sorts of things.  (Look at our Paper Flower Garden for more ideas: http://make-it-your-own.com/paper-flower-garden/).  You could section a large piece of paper off (by folding it into smaller rectangles and then unfolding it) and do this on one large piece of paper if you like.  Be sure to create a large piece for your Mother’s face.  Our daughter also painted another piece as slightly different tone to create some of the facial features such as the nose.   Allow this to dry overnight.

Eric Carle Inspired Mother's Day Collage Portraits:  We show you how to create the appearance of textured paper and then create a portrait of your Mother, Grandma, Aunt or special female in your life.  Our free printable allows you to write a special, personal message about what you admire and appreciate about your mom, aunt etc.

Eric Carle Inspired Mother's Day Collage Portraits:  We show you how to create the appearance of textured paper and then create a portrait of your Mother, Grandma, Aunt or special female in your life.  Our free printable allows you to write a special, personal message about what you admire and appreciate about your mom, aunt etc.

Eric Carle Inspired Mother's Day Collage Portraits:  We show you how to create the appearance of textured paper and then create a portrait of your Mother, Grandma, Aunt or special female in your life.  Our free printable allows you to write a special, personal message about what you admire and appreciate about your mom, aunt etc.

Eric Carle Inspired Mother's Day Collage Portraits:  We show you how to create the appearance of textured paper and then create a portrait of your Mother, Grandma, Aunt or special female in your life.  Our free printable allows you to write a special, personal message about what you admire and appreciate about your mom, aunt etc.

  • Paint a large sheet of paper for your background.  You might want to think about a simple shade or shades for this to balance all of your textured pieces.

Eric Carle Inspired Mother's Day Collage Portraits:  We show you how to create the appearance of textured paper and then create a portrait of your Mother, Grandma, Aunt or special female in your life.  Our free printable allows you to write a special, personal message about what you admire and appreciate about your mom, aunt etc.

  • When I would do this with my students we would then cut out each rectangle for easier management and then if there were colours or pieces that you didn’t need you could put them in a bin to share.
  • One tip that really seems to work is to sketch your shape (say for example for the mouth) on the back of your painted paper lightly and then cut it out.   This eliminates the pencil lines and allows some children to better visualize the shape rather than free cutting.  As mentioned in the first point, some children might benefit from drawing out the entire face and characteristics that they want, cut them out and use them as tracers on the back as well.  Think of the needs of your child or group and what might suit them best or perhaps you can present a few of these tips for them to chose from as to what might work to help them create a piece that they are happy with.
  • Cut out your face (we used a plate to get a circle and then shaped it) and arrange all your features, moving them about until you get your desired look.  (It is good to do this before you bring out the glue!).  You can use smaller items such as caps for smaller features if you need help creating specific shapes.

Eric Carle Inspired Mother's Day Collage Portraits:  We show you how to create the appearance of textured paper and then create a portrait of your Mother, Grandma, Aunt or special female in your life.  Our free printable allows you to write a special, personal message about what you admire and appreciate about your mom, aunt etc.

Eric Carle Inspired Mother's Day Collage Portraits:  We show you how to create the appearance of textured paper and then create a portrait of your Mother, Grandma, Aunt or special female in your life.  Our free printable allows you to write a special, personal message about what you admire and appreciate about your mom, aunt etc.

Eric Carle Inspired Mother's Day Collage Portraits:  We show you how to create the appearance of textured paper and then create a portrait of your Mother, Grandma, Aunt or special female in your life.  Our free printable allows you to write a special, personal message about what you admire and appreciate about your mom, aunt etc.

  • Glue your face and features onto the upper portion of your background.

Eric Carle Inspired Mother's Day Collage Portraits:  We show you how to create the appearance of textured paper and then create a portrait of your Mother, Grandma, Aunt or special female in your life.  Our free printable allows you to write a special, personal message about what you admire and appreciate about your mom, aunt etc.

  • Print out the label for you to fill out.  It is handy that there are two per piece as you can use the first one as a rough copy that you could edit and then use the latter for your good copy for display.  Once this is done, glue it onto your background.  If you like, back your work for display.

Eric Carle Inspired Mother's Day Collage Portraits:  We show you how to create the appearance of textured paper and then create a portrait of your Mother, Grandma, Aunt or special female in your life.  Our free printable allows you to write a special, personal message about what you admire and appreciate about your mom, aunt etc.

Eric Carle Inspired Mother's Day Collage Portraits:  We show you how to create the appearance of textured paper and then create a portrait of your Mother, Grandma, Aunt or special female in your life.  Our free printable allows you to write a special, personal message about what you admire and appreciate about your mom, aunt etc.

  • Hang your work up for your mom/ special person to see and/ or give it to them on Mother’s Day or any day to show them your appreciation for who they are and what they do!

Eric Carle Inspired Mother's Day Collage Portraits:  We show you how to create the appearance of textured paper and then create a portrait of your Mother, Grandma, Aunt or special female in your life.  Our free printable allows you to write a special, personal message about what you admire and appreciate about your mom, aunt etc.

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Eric Carle Inspired Mother's Day Collage Portraits: We show you how to create the appearance of textured paper and then create a portrait of your Mother, Grandma, Aunt or special female in your life. Our free printable allows you to write a special, personal message about what you admire and appreciate about your mom, aunt etc.

Purpose

  • Exploring different art making techniques inspired by artists, books etc.
  • Developing one’s fine motor skills.

Safety Notes

  • We suggest that you use a tray and a smock to protect your clothing and surfaces.
  • Use scissors with care and direct, adult supervision.
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