Subject Guides: Teaching Art: Media & Technique: Paper

Canadian Artists

Ancient Thunder by Leo Yerxa
Call Number: SF 360 Y47 2006
Using an extraordinary technique, artist of Ojibwa ancestry, Leo Yerxa (Last Leaf, First Snowflake to Fall) makes paper look like leather, so that his illustrations seem to be painted on leather shirts.

Yerxa "celebrates the relationship between horses and the native people of the Great Plains in a series of three-mystically themed montages. At the center of each picture is a paper fringed shirt, crafted from handmade paper and modeled on those worn by the First Peoples; the shirt serves as both backdrop and landscape for Yerxa's lean, schematic portraits of horses. The book begins "at the rise of the Strawberry Moon" and ends at daybreak). The compositions feel akin to cave paintings (the horses especially so), and evoke a sense of wonder. ...aspiring artists and those interested in native cultures may well find much to linger over." (Publishers Weekly)

Stencil Art

Sea Horse by John Lawrence (Illustrator); Christine Butterworth
Call Number: QL 638 S9 B88 2006
Use of stencil art throughout the book gives this book a unique underwater quality. The patterned effect, muted and limited colours, all give the artwork a strong cohesive feel. The informative text brings this shy fish to life.

Origami

In My Backyard by Margriet Ruurs; Ron Broda (Illustrator)
Call Number: QL 49 R88 2007
Howard-Gibbon Award for illustration long-list. Broda combines paper sculpture & other mediums to create vivid, detailed illustrations with a high degree of realism.

Canadian author Margriet Ruurs is an awesome writter - check out her other books.

The Art of Ed Young

Wabi Sabi by Mark Reibstein; Ed Young (Illustrator)
Call Number: PZ 7 R262s2 Wa 2008
Wabi Sabi in Japanese culture, is a feeling that finds beauty and harmony in “the simple, imperfect, natural, modest, and mysterious.”
Beyond the Great Mountains by Ed Young
Call Number: PZ 7 Y7374 Be 2005
Gorgeous paper-collage illustrations, highlighted with Chinese characters, combine to convey the many facets of China and form a poetic picture of the land's grace, depth, and majesty.
Twenty Heartbeats by Dennis Haseley; Ed Young (Illustrator)
Call Number: PZ 7 H35 Tw 2008
"Set in the indeterminate Far East of long ago so often favored by Caldecott Medalist Young, this story about a rich man and an artist lends itself to various levels of interpretation. Children may see the book as a lesson about how practice makes perfect; adults may see it as a confrontation between commerce and art. The rich man pays an artist to paint a picture of his beloved horse; after years of waiting, he is furious when the artist paints the picture in little more than twenty heartbeats. When he sees the thousands of drawings of his horse in the artist's studio, however, he understands why the artist has struggled so long. Like a folktale, Haseley's (A Story for Bear) text unfolds economically, but it is Young's virtuoso illustrations that breathe life into the book the combination of elegant brushstrokes and collage designs are masterly. At its best, the story, however imperfectly, attempts to explain just how an artist transforms his vision into art; through Young's artwork, readers, like the rich man, will understand how remarkable that vision can be." (Publishers Weekly Review)

Torn and Cut Paper Art

See a video about Steve Jenkins paper art on LearnAlberta TeachingBooks.net

Dogs and Cats by Steve Jenkins
Call Number: SF 426.5 J46 2007
orn-paper vignettes, with their subtle shadings and fuzzy or crinkled textures, are so carefully crafted that images of a few of the creatures (e.g., the English mastiff, the Siamese cat) could almost pass for photographs.
Living Color by Steve Jenkins (Illustrator)
Call Number: QL 767 J46 2007 folio
An award-winning illustrator.
When studying colours why not introduce how nature vividly comes alive.
Listen to the Wind by Greg Mortenson; Susan L. Roth (Illustrator)
Call Number: LC 5148 P18 M67 2009

"Colorful fabric, cut-paper, and even computer-chip collages portray the dramatic landscape. Children will also enjoy an appended scrapbook of photographs, maps, and additional information."

The images are so good in this book it seems like you could actually feel the different paper and cloth textures. The colours are stunning.

A story is retold through the eyes of Pakistani children. "The picture-book narrative successfully compresses Mortenson’s story by focusing on the elements most important to children: the stranger’s appearance, the drama of the construction, the happy conclusion." (Booklist)