Monday, December 7, 2015

Don't Forget the Simple Crayon



 


The first art media that anyone put in your hand was probably a crayon. You were little and your parents knew that you couldn't poke yourself with it and it showed color. That was perfect because you were just learning your colors.

When I was young my grandmother would buy me new crayons. I would love the pointy-ness of them and the way they smelled. I would hate when the paper came off and the points dulled. It made me a little afraid to draw because I didn't want to break the points off of my new crayons.




But now, I want the paper off and I want them to be broken and dull so I can use them in in new ways. 



 I can lay them on the side to color in large areas.
It is easier to mix colors. What kind of colors were used to mix in the background of this image? 


I can color really, really hard with them and not worry if they break! Or, I can color lightly, mixing colors...




We often think that crayons are common and simple to use. They are not always our first medium of choice. Painting, markers, metalic pencils and sparkle glue just seem so much more fun and exciting to work with. BUT...we need to revisit that simple little crayon and look at exciting possibilities!

We can also do something fun called CRAYON RESIST...

 



This happens when you make heavy marks with the crayon and paint with a water color wash over it. The crayon resists the water color as you can see in the image above. It created a texture of paint and also covers any white areas.


Key Stage Two


Another medium that can look like crayon are oil pastels. They are wonderful to use because they are very oily and creamy. The colors can mix very well together. One color can lay on top of another and be seen.