Eric Carle Artwork: Sun and Moon Textures {Part 4}

This is Part 4 of our 5-part series of our Eric Carle textures tutorial! Our post, Eric Carle Artwork, will show you how to easily make Eric Carle-inspired sun and moon textures! They will turn out amazing and your kids will really enjoy making them!

Visit our caterpillar and butterfly hub HERE! We have dozens and dozens of awesome printables, activities and ideas that your kids will love! Don’t forget to visit our resources hub for music and fine arts! It is full of wonderful hands-on ideas for you to use at home.

Eric Carle Artwork

We have 5 posts coming up about five texture techniques inspired by Eric Carle’s books: The Very Hungry Caterpillar (otherwise known as “the Eric Carle butterfly book”) and The Very Quiet Cricket.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar The Very Quiet Cricket Board Book

Sky and background textures in Teaching to Paint Eric Carle Pictures
Grassy textures in Learn to Make Textures from Eric Carle Pictures
Insect Textures in Learning about Eric Carle Artwork and Textures
Blotting Textures in Eric Carle Artwork: Sun and Moon Textures – YOU’RE HERE!
Project Completion- coming soon!

Sun and Moon Textures

Texture #3: Blotting Textures

Materials Needed ⇒ Cardstock or sturdy white paper, yellow and orange paint, scissors, bubble wrap

Neenah Exact Index Card Stock, 8.5 x 11 Crayola Tempera Washable Paint 32-Ounce Plastic Squeeze Bottle,Crayola Tempera Washable Paint 32-Ounce Plastic Squeeze Bottle,Bun 175′ 3/16

Note: You can use anything to create texture by blotting as long as it has some raised parts to it. If you don’t have bubble wrap use something else around the house that would leave an impression. If your child desires let them finger paint the smile in the sun just like in the book: The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Picture Study:

For this part of the lesson, look at the sun and moon images in both books and start the discussion by asking:

What textures do you see?
What different colors does Mr. Carle use for the sun? moon? Now would be a great time to talk about warm and cool colors.
How do you think the faces are made? Do you want to make a face in your sun or moon?
What feeling does a happy sun give to the story?
How is the texture of the moon in The very Hungry Caterpillar different from the moon in The Very Quiet Cricket?
How might you make texture similar to the moon in The Very Quiet Cricket?

Let’s Make Sunny Textures

So far, we’ve covered the background as well as the insect for our project. We just need one more “Eric Carle style” component. Sun or moon textures! Obviously, if you’re going to do a moon for a night time project, use shades of white, gray and other cool colors such as blue or purple in place of the yellow and orange for the sun in this tutorial. Start with yellow and make some texture brushing both directions.

Add a second color, again using brush strokes to create texture. Remind the children not to blend. Once you have done that it’s time for the fun part! Using the bubble wrap or another texture maker, dap it into a third shade of color and then blot the texture onto the color -over what you have done so far. This is a third layer of paint for added texture.

The last step is to let dry and cut out the desired size and shape. This is often hard for children (and adults) to estimate size until placed on the background. So, start larger than you think and you can always trim to the right size later. Use remaining portion to cut the suns rays if you’re not making a moon.