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Crayons: The "Other" Art

They're not just for kids!

Mar 16, 2007 Jenn Greenleaf

Is coloring just for kids? Is coloring with crayons reserved just for coloring books? Nope. Let's explore the use of crayons beyond pre-school activities!

When was the last time you took out a box of crayons and started coloring on a piece of paper, rather than using your typical medium of choice (or comfort zone medium)? When was the last time you owned a box of crayons, not counting during your childhood?

This often over-looked medium has so much versatility that most artists don’t know, forget about or don’t know how to use. Some artists who use crayons successfully in their work include:

Teesha Moore: her work is familiar to many already, but for those of you who are new to her artistic style, she has a beautiful site devoted to her creations and she also has a zine available. I saw some good examples of her crayon use in the book Alphabetica by Lynne Perrella.
Diem Chau’s 2005 approach to crayon use in art take a completely different approach in that he creates art *from* the crayons, rather than coloring with them. It’s a really interesting "storytelling" installation and one you don’t want to miss.
Then, of course there’s Pete Goldust’s carvings from crayons that capture on looker’s attention and keep everyone interested. He’s certainly mastered the art of carving and sculpture through the use of what people typically would color with or melt!

When researching when crayons were invented, every source I found had one common fact - that no one really knows when they were invented, but common knowledge in the "historical" sense points out they’ve been traced back as early as the 1700's, but it wasn’t until the early 1900's that they started making them out of wax. Interesting. I wonder why they decided wax would make a better crayon?

I’ve been creating art with and without my children using crayons for years. I’ve found they blend really well in comparison to use of oil pastels and I can layer on top of other media very successfully. I also like how versatile they are in terms of texture simply by how hard or light your bare down (much like use of oil pastels, but we’ll get into that on another day).

What do you think? Have you used crayons in your work?

The copyright of the article Crayons: The "Other" Art in Mixed Media Arts is owned by Jenn Greenleaf. Permission to republish Crayons: The "Other" Art in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.