[5] A childhood bout with polio affected muscles on the left side of Earle's face.
Shortly after his artistic start, his parents divorced, leaving Eyvind in his mother's custody for a period of time.
[9] Starting in 1939 Earle began his long and successful career of selling Christmas cards, that he designed and printed himself for the American Artist Group.
[9] Starting out merely as a means of survival, he formed a Christmas card company called "Monroe and Earle" with an old family friend of his.
[12][13] Earle returned to full-time painting in 1966,[9] producing watercolors, oils, sculptures, drawings, scratchboards, and limited-edition serigraphs.
These have included the Disney features Pocahontas and Frozen,[16] as well as the graphic style of Sony Pictures Animation's debut film, Open Season.
[17][18] The Banner Saga, a video game by developers Stoic, draws heavily from Earle's style and contains a character named after him.
In May 2017 The Walt Disney Family Museum hosted an 8-month original retrospective exhibit: Awaking Beauty: The Art of Eyvind Earle.