The Magic of Crayons

I passed by the bookstore on the way out earlier, and I noticed that there were these lovely little yellow and green boxes of crayons out on sale. I always make it a point to pass by the art materials section whenever I go to these stores because there's always a new, cheap material coming out every now and then. It's how I discovered the magic of paper clay, gold poster paint, and these little tubes of glitter fabric paint.

But anyway: Crayons.

Do you remember when you were given your very first box of 24's? When you made your first stroke? When you discovered that layering colors over each other and then scratching out a design with a bent paper clip made a really cool etching?

After several years of self-study, 2 majors in Fine Arts, and a continuing stint in the professional world of art, one tends to forget that there is magic in the simplicity of crayons. Oil paints last forever, acrylics dry in 30 seconds, and CGI is where our future lies.

But crayons! Crayons make memories that last forever, are instantly dry (haha), and really, who can imagine a future without crayons? I remember begging my mother for a big box of 64s, but due to the dreary budget constraints of the beginning of the school year, I'd end up getting maybe a new school bag instead.

Of course, by the time I could afford to buy my own set, my art had graduated to the more "professional" materials-- plaster, gouache, egg tempera, the list goes on and on. My old box of 24s has since gone the way of childhood memory-- worn down to tiny stubs and pushed to the back of my materials closet, nostalgic reminders of simpler times.

Hmm. Perhaps I'll buy myself a box on the way home and see what comes of it. :)