How Tp Do Crayon Art Without Leaving Crayons on
If You're Not Melting Your Crayons You're Using Them Wrong
When was the final time you picked up a crayon?
Did you color with it?
If you did I hope you were lucky enough to have one of those cool crayon boxes with the built-in sharpener on the back. As a child that's how I knew I'd finally "made it". . . when I got my kickoff 100+ colors box of Crayolas with the sharpener congenital in. No joke.
Now that I'm older I'll admit crayons aren't the offset coloring supply I stock my arsenal with. Nor would I think of abstract crayon fine art being a possibility.
My full general stock for the by few years has consisted of mainly watercolor paints, some skilful ink markers, lots of fine bespeak ink pens, and colored pencils.
These Jimi Hendrix wax projects are super absurd! Definitely some patience and prep work required, simply I love the watercolor kind of effect!
Little did I know what I was missing out on. . .
So when I started to see DIY projects popping up for cool melted crayon wax sheet art, I ran out to the store and bought my first 100 pack of crayons in over a few dozen years and I haven't been without them since.
There are a lot of means to approach melting wax! The first slice I always fabricated was just similar the video below.
I started by gluing the crayon colors I wanted in a straight line to the meridian of the canvas; then using a hair-dryer on low oestrus, I manually melted them until they liquified and left a beautiful ombre alloy that dripped the entire length down — leaving just the piffling hollowed-out paper wrappers remaining at the top.
Bank check out the video below to see the event! Whether you utilise a rainbow gradient or go with more tones and monochromes, this is a great style to start playing with melting crayons and wax art. Just make certain to lay some newspaper or a driblet material down for the run off and any splatter.
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The photos and video below show a few other means you tin employ a hair dryer or a handheld heater to go a more abstract, marbled-looking effect.
I like this await a lot, but I don't own a handheld heater - which is meliorate for this because it projects a more radiant heat. I establish that the hair dryer made it much harder to control the wax, or I wasn't equally skilled at not called-for my hand while holding the crayon. You either need to be property your crayon in hand, like the video shown below on the right — or you demand to get your crayon pieces slightly softened before you brainstorm (otherwise your dryer will but blow the pieces right off the canvas).
I managed to get some pieces laid downward, I think with hot glue, so attacked it with the dryer again; merely once the wax had liquified completely, even on low power my pilus dryer blew the wax around more than than I wanted information technology to. Information technology turned out nifty and the colors still blended together in a pretty manner, but it was more than streaky and linear rather than the nice marbled pieces shown beneath!
Again, I actually liked the await of this consequence but I didn't have a great space to make a mess in, plus I found the air was sometimes too powerful - even but on the dryer's low setting - and moved the wax effectually more than I wanted it to.
So I experimented next with my next best method: baking my canvas in the oven.
I started by taking the colors I'd chosen for my next sheet piece, removing the wrappers, putting them in dissever ziploc baggies, and smashing them lightly with a hammer until they were cleaved into tiny enough pieces.
Then I sprinkled the broken pieces strategically, color past color, as I wanted them arranged on my canvass.
notation: Yous can put all your crayons into one baggie together — merely you'll take much less command over how your colors are organized when you cascade them onto the canvas.
information technology will exist more of a gloriously abstract confetti —
which is cool too!
Finally, I put the canvass in the oven. (on its everyman possible temperature setting which for me is about 180-200 degrees Fahrenheit) It sits straight on the rack for no more than 2-three minutes before it'south fix to come out.
(i also laid a larger piece of aluminum foil directly underneath my canvass to catch whatever wax that spilled over.)
It'south super fast, and in no time at all the wax has turned to liquid and your piece is prepare to come out of the oven and cool. (This oven bake method simply works if your sail is small enough to fit within of your oven, obviously!) If yous get this road, just make sure to set a timer so you don't get distracted and walk away for too long.
When you pull out the canvas - making sure to hold information technology flat - you have nearly ten seconds of playtime while the wax is still liquid - this ten seconds is by far the nigh fun role.
Lightly tilt the canvas dorsum and along, up and down, to go along to blend and swirl and marble your colors together equally desired. Within a matter of a one-half-minute, it will have re-hardened and set. And if yous don't similar the event? Easy! Stick it back in the oven to let it heat back up, and tilt it around a little more than when it's liquified again. Sprinkle in some more colors and go on until you like what you lot see!
Cheque out the video beneath for some ideas and tips:
I've never tried putting crayons straight through the glue gun - merely it seems like it works really well from the videos I've checked out.
I could imagine it might simply be easiest to buy a separate mucilage gun for melting crayons (since they're and so cheap) then y'all don't mess up your gun that'due south usually doing other craft projects.
Crayola even makes a crayon melter at present — shown with some cool projects on the right and once again with the ballsy pumpkin below. Guess they've figured out that crayons aren't just for kids anymore.
Projects fabricated with Crayola'south Crayon Melter. Check it out and buy it here.
I've as well recently discovered Colorado based artist Dylan Gebbia-Richards who does INSANELY COOL things with color and pigment, and wax.
His 3D works take on some very funky, otherworldly mural vibes - and I very much dig information technology. (Not to mention then many of the pieces seen here are just epic in size, which certainly helps evangelize on impact!)
Check out some of his amazing work here:
Hither are a few of mine that I baked in the oven.
(Never idea I'd be baking my canvases in the oven!)
And like I said, if you're trying this method, remember to keep your oven temperature set about equally low as it volition become; and think to keep an centre on the oven and your piece — as the melting process only takes a few minutes (depending on how much/how piddling wax yous layer onto your canvas).
Lastly: consider putting a big sail of aluminum foil or parchment paper beneath for any drips or mess.
Source: my ain photo. This ane is well-nigh 15"x 15".
This page contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if y'all use those links. For more than info delight run across my Disclosure here.
Source: my own photo. About viii"ten 8"
Source: my own photo. Near 8"x viii"
Accept you ever seen the blackness stretch-mounted canvasses they sell at the craft store?
They're really absurd and work really well in emphasizing melted wax fine art like this! Plus they salve you the trouble of wasting blackness paint to create a black groundwork.
I bought a few of them back when I made these, and every piece had a serious NASA starry, exploding nebula, outer space vibe.
In the little 8x8 blueish + majestic colored canvas (shown above on the right) I used a few metallic crayons which I think add a pretty sparkly angelic feel.
There are certain bits of each slice that I find really beautiful — I love how the colors worked and played together overall and how easy it was to continue manipulating when I didn't like exactly how it was turning out.
I experienced a few times while making each melted wax piece, where I pulled the canvas out of the oven and wasn't crazy about what a particular spot or area was doing —
— then I'd sprinkle a piffling more cleaved up crayon pieces, usually choosing my colors strategically, or choosing white for my existing colors to bleed into and add visibility/brightness. When I finished sprinkling more broken up pieces how I liked it y'all're gear up to pop your canvas back in the oven for another minute or two to melt the new wax into the piece. Then pull it dorsum out, tilt, swirl, classy, and mix. Repeat every bit needed, and voila!
If you similar getting crafty, making handmade gifts, or a combination of the two, yous might also like my article on cool DIY sculpey dirt souvenir ideas!
CLICK TO Cheque it out
Melted wax sheet art makes a great gift, too. Each piece turns out unique — and they're incredibly fast, easy, and inexpensive to make.
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Wax artwork is i of my FAVE DIY gift ideas. I've given out several over the years considering handmade is e'er cooler and more than special, and— similar I mentioned, they're super duper easy.
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They also brand a keen DIY craft with kids if you're at that place to supervise with the oven-stuff
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…Or if y'all're just bored during COVID-19 quarantine and y'all need a adept social distancing craft. (Grab some friends on Zoom, grab some wine, and see what y'all can make in your ovens in a 20 infinitesimal craft-hang-sesh!)
If y'all've never tried your mitt at wax art — or just playing around with melted crayons in general — grab a large box next time you're at the grocery story, arts and crafts store, drug store, etc. . . . take hold of a canvas, and see what happens!
If you're like me, melting crayons volition exist the only manner yous'll ever want to play with them from here on out.
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Originally published 02/04/2020 - Updated 03/sixteen/2021
Source: https://fireflyandfinch.com/blog/wax-art-is-the-grown-ups-way-to-play-with-crayons
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