Crayon Flooding
2011
I am so excited about this project – a friend pinned something similar she’d seen on Etsy and I decided to give it a try.
Melting crayons – or crayon flooding- to create art is a really fun activity and you end up with super unique wall art!
I started with a box of Crayola Crayons {bought on a back to school sale for .25 cents a box – now IS the time to stock up on these crayon boxes!} and a 9×12 flat canvas {3 for $3 at Big Lots.}
I put a piece of double sided tape across the top of the canvas and then tied some string around the crayons to help ensure that they stay in place.
Then I put the canvas outside in the hot Georgia sun.
5 minutes later I decided there had to be a better way.
I brought the canvas indoors and pulled out my heat gun. Instant satisfaction!
Within minutes I had this dramatic before and after {the after being photographed framed}
I realized pretty quickly that I didn’t like the crayon wrappers attacked to the canvas, nor did I like the smeary look I did to try to fill in where the crayons had been attached to the canvas {see above photo.}
So I set up a simple system that allowed the crayons to hang over the canvas without being attached to it and I came up with this artistic piece:
Next I experimented with hand holding the crayons and shaking them over the canvas as I applied heat to the crayon. This is the piece created with that process:
And our final piece was done on a 16×20 canvas and involved a ton of broken crayon pieces randomly laying on the canvas and being melted right where they were on the canvas. The boys loved making this one best as it gave them a lot of hands on stuff to do – like peeling crayon paper, breaking crayons and spreading them across the canvas.
This crayon wax piece fits in well with our “artists wall” of other canvases the boys have painted! It doesn’t show up well in the picture, but it has a ton of texture too it and looks great hanging on the wall!
With back to school sales going on, now is the time to stock up on boxes of cheap crayons for your own masterpieces!
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Crayon flooding
[...] to do a crayon flooding piece. I did the crayon flooding a little bit differently this time than last ...
I LOVE THIS! I have two long panels on either side of my fireplace that need something new after I got deathly bored of what I had there. Do you think a hairdryer would work for melting the crayons? =/
I would also suggest talking to your local family restaurant that has the colouring place mats and ask them to save the bits. I also saved the bits from my classroom for future projects.
Fantastic idea!! Thanks Sarah!
what contraption did you make to be able to have the crayons hang over the canvas?
thanks!!
I had the crayons laying on a surface (our hearth, but a short table would work) and sticking out over the edge, over the canvas.
so would they only drip? they didn't melt on to the surface?
Hey! This is my favourite type of art, I must say! I’ve got several myself but I’m having trouble with the wax getting brittle and falling off after. I’ve experimented with different boards to melt on, with success, but my favourite is canvas stretched on a frame (mainly on aesthetic principle). On the canvas once the wax has hardened if droped the drips just shatter off, even with a spray glaze over top. Do you have any ideas or suggestions? Maybe there is a product to pre-treat the canvas with?
Any ideas welcome, thanks!
Have you tried Crayola, or other higher quality, crayons? That is the only thing I can think of!
Crayola is definitely the only brand I use. Maybe I'll just try drowning it in glaze.
I am sorry I wasn't any help!! I hope you can figure it out