Exploring Crayons

I choose the crayon as my next medium to explore because of is its versatility, playfulness and color. People of all ages can relate to it and have used it at some point in their lives, especially in early developmental years. For many people, especially artists, this was the first medium they ever held in their hand and used to express themselves. Crayons are great for teaching art concepts such as color theory, shading, layering and line work. Watching my toddler practice fine motor skills and learning to grip and write his name with his crayons, creating his first self-portraits and making up stories all which developed from a scribble has been one of my favorite activities to share with him. They are also small and compact, making them easy to keep on hand when traveling. Just as they were when first created, they are still one of the most accessible artistic mediums for kids as well as being the most manageable for parents and educators to clean up.

Thoughts Going Into My Exploration of Crayons

As the Crayola brand is most recognizable and known for being trusted and true, I was curious how they would compare to other brands in Quality and whether they would still be my go to pick.

Having previously explored oil pastels I also wanted to compare the qualities of the two mediums. One reason for this was that I shared in my review of Oil pastels that some characteristics of them might make them difficult or unfavorable to use ( they don’t dry and have a texture that some might not want to work with). Could crayons serve as an alternate medium in times that oil pastels aren’t an option?

What is a Crayon?

The crayon is an art medium that can be used on a variety of surfaces but most often used on paper. While crayons can be made in many shapes and sizes the standard crayon is a cylindrical form with a flat end and pointed tip. The wax and pigment composition of a crayon are often wrapped in a colorful paper to match its pigment which showcases the brands logo along with information about the crayon such as the hue name (color/shade and special qualities like If its metallic or waterproof). Due to the wax element a crayon feels smooth and waxy to the touch but doesn’t blend or glide the same way that an oil pastel might. It feels firm and durable to hold but can snap or break with too much pressure. As your write or draw with it, little flakes and bits of the crayon might break off or leave some crumbles of material that doesn’t stick to the paper. If left in the heat they can melt due the wax content leaving them to feel more sticky or tacky and warm to the touch. The method of melting crayons can be used on purpose to reshape and form the material.

When laying them down on a flat surface the round shaped crayons tended to roll around or fall off the table. Some crayons like the Faber Castell Children’s crayons, on the other hand come in different shapes like a triangular form for developing hands to more easily grip and control while being less prone to rolling around or falling off the table due because of their flat sides.

Brands and Pricing Comparision

Pricing

Cra-z-Art

$2.68

64 pack
Includes Sharpener
Most affordable
Sold at most retailers
Up to 152 colors available (various size packs available: 8,24,48,64)
Most waxy
Leaves shavings/flaking
Many shades look alike or repeat in pack
Doesn’t layer or blend as well.
Box stands well but doesn’t seal shut
Can buy in bulk for a class

Faber-Castell Brilliant Beeswax

$6.11

12 pack
Jumbo Size
Vibrant colors (most affordable for this quality of pigment, blending and layering)
Comes in hard plastic container that is sealable for easy travel
Triangular shape
- No rolling
- Easy to grip correctly
Made with Beeswax base
- Eco-friendly
- Durable
- Smooth application
- Can buy in bulk for a class

Crayola

$6.99

64 pack ( a 12 pack would cost around 1.99 to compare to smaller packs of crayons)
Many variations of crayons available based on priority: washable, twistable, jumbo, etc.
Comes in up to 152 colors
- Sells a 24 pack, Colors of the World, dedicated to representing all skin tones.
Can buy in bulk, can buy a pack of a single color
Trustworthy company history, and brand (reliable and affordable)
Layers well
Minimal flakes/ Shavings
This pack was in a standing box that doesnt reseal but there are packs that you can buy with hard plastic that seal shut for travel

Niji Artist Crayon

$8.21

12 pack plus blending crayon (13)
Vibrant colors
Jumbo size (round)
Non-Water soluble
Doesn’t smudge
Minimal if any flaking
Layers and blends well
Limited palette (I only see a pack going up to 18)
Sticks can’t be bought separately
Box doesn’t seal shut

Faber-Castell Watercolor Crayons

$11.22

15 pack includes paint brush
Water Soluble
- watercolor paint is in the crayon (doubles as a watercolor medium)
- Washable
Blends smoothly
Rich pigment without buildup
- smooth and thick application
Triangular shape
Limited palette ( I don’t see more than the 15 colors offered in this style)
Cerated tear tabs for easy and clean adjustment of packaging paper around crayon

Caran D’Ache

$28.69

15 pack
50 total colors available
Professional grade crayons
Come thinner and with a more pointed tip than any other crayon
Metal tin, thin resealable package with color palette chart included for easy reference
Highly pigmented and vibrant colors
Smooth application with no flaking or Shavings
Layers and blends well, good coverage
Cerated tear tabs for easy peel back
You can buy these as single crayons
Dense but thin (prone to breaking with too much pressure)

Experimenting with different brands of crayon and making note of my experience with them

Age Appropriateness

The beauty about crayons is that they can be used at any age. The age and development stage should inform the brand and style of crayons that you use thought. For example, I wouldn’t supply my four year old son with professional grade crayons like Caran D’Ache because they are expensive and more prone to breaking with to much applied pressure. I would however pick one of the jumbo triangular brands like the Faber-Castells or even an inexpensive brand like crayola or Cra-Z-art. After reviewing and working with these crayons though I have found that I have been using the Beeswax Faber-Castell crayons most with my son because they are so travel friendly and compact and he seems to enjoy working with more vibrant colors over crayons like Cra-Z-Art and Crayola. I think at his age having a minimal amount of crayons is easier for him than the large Cra-Z-Art pack, and I appreciate that I don’t have to search the floor for any roll away crayons after he has worked with them.

I feel that Crayons are a gateway to other mediums like pastels and chalks because they share some elements in their composition as well as some of their techniques so I would encourage more advanced or older students to explore some of these mediums when they show proficiency in using crayons because crayons are more limited in what they can do than Pastels and chalks in my opinion.

Ducky – An Observational drawing of my sisters dog using Cra-Z-Art Crayons on Pastel paper (Expressive line work and layering of line strokes).

Cray-Z-art crayons are probably the most waxy out of the the crayons I worked with for this exploration. the ranked the lowest in quality for me but they were the most affordable, priced at 2.68 for an 64 pack with a sharpener in the back; So I wanted to create an artwork using only them. I did feel that the pack carried alot of similar colors so you aren’t really getting as much as you think you are in a pack. For example, there were several shades of apricot and some of the blues looked to be nearly the same shade but with a different label. Ultimately, they are so affordable and still perform the job if you aren’t looking for a more pigmented and smooth artwork.I believe they are great to have around especially for younger kids that are still in the early stages of learning how to use crayons; If you can afford higher quality crayons however I would prioritize those first.

Some Sketchbook Spreads Entries where I Used Crayons

Creating My Final Artwork

After Seeing a classmate use tracing paper to create the outline of the drawing she would color in with crayon, I wanted to try using the same technique in creating the outline for my final artwork. Here I recorded a video of me following her process:

Filmed using a DSLR Camera and mount, Edited using Adobe After Effects. (My Camera battery died before filming the rest of my coloring, But you can see the final result below).

Traced image from photo using Transfer paper – Colored using a combination of Crayola and Caran D’Ache Crayons (Scraping Techniques, layering and pressure variation)

This was my first time working with the Colors of the world pack of crayons, when I was younger crayons like this didn’t exist. Its great to see other skin tones available so that we can better represent diversity as well as children feeling more represented when drawing themselves. I will say that I the wrapping of these crayons are so similar that it took re-swatching on a scrap sheet of paper before coloring to make sure I was grabbing the right shade.

Final Reflection

During the time I spent exploring this medium I easily kept crayons on my person in case I found the opportunity to work with them. I found that they were helpful to have around when working on my art notebooks for other classes because I could easily apply color to some of my concepts or to decorate my pages. Several of my Sketchbook entries include my exploration of crayons because of how accessible the medium was and because the prep time and clean up for using this medium were so short, aside from some wax shavings here and there its not mess to work with in comparison to other mediums and doesn’t require any dry time. I felt that there were lower stakes in working with the crayon sticks because they were such an affordable and accessible medium. I knew I could more easily replace them and wasn’t as worried about using them up or breaking them as I tend to feel when working with other mediums. because of this I think that they are great to use when preparing a composition that you might use more expensive materials to create like oil pastels or paint. There is something so nostalgic, freeing, and challenging about working with crayons so I do think that I will use them more in sketching as well as working to improve my technique with them to create more elevated crayon illustrations.