Smell the Crayons.

I love crayons.  Just opening a box excites me. The smell, the colors, the names, the way they glide over the paper, and their versatility.  I especially like the broken ones without the wrappers.  Crayola crayons last forever and can be used in so many ways.  

Here are a few ideas for crayon projects:

1.    Texture rubbings- place flat objects like coins and keys under a piece of paper.  Using the side of a broken crayon rub in over the paper to get a rubbing.  Try this with other textured surfaces like the bottom of your shoe, brick walls, screens, etc.  

2.  Crayon resist - draw on white paper with crayons.  Paint over the picture with watercolors and see how the crayon colors pop through.

3.  Scratch art - Use a variety of crayon colors to cover a heavy layer on a piece of tagboard. Rub the paper with a paper towel until the surface is shiny.  Mix a teaspoon of dish detergent into about a cup of black tempra paint.  Cover the crayon surface with paint.  Let dry.  Using a toothpick “draw” a picture by scraping off the black paint and revealing the colors. This works really well with the Crayon Burst design.

4.  Crayon Bursts - build a design by drawing a fuzzy circle in the middle of your paper.  Continue to add colored layers until the page is complete.  Enjoy the overlap of colors.

5.  Or you could even recycle and create Muffin Crayons

The best thing about crayons is they were my first art tool.  I've known them the longest and love them the most.  I will always have a good old box of Crayolas in my studio.  They make me smile.