"Moonset" Shaved Crayons, Melted on Canvas

Inspired by one of the other entries in the Crayon contest I tried ironing a design, but I didn't like it, so I tried hand shaving assorted crayons, arranging them how I wanted and then used a toaster oven.

64 Pack of crayons

16 Pack of Metallic Crayons

8 Pack of jumbo Crayons

8 x 8 White Canvas

Dixie Cup

Paper bowls 7 Spoons

Toaster Oven

Heat Gun

Cheap mini food processor

Brush on high gloss varnish

First I soaked the crayons in warm soapy water to remove the wrappers.

I identified which color I would used the most and using mostly the jumbo crayons, I shaved them with a utility knife. I vegetable peeler would probably have been better, but I didn't want to upset my wife. I also made sure to have some fine pieces and some bigger chunks.

I bought a $19 mini food processor at Wal-Mart to use on the standard sized crayons, so I could chop and mix some colors that I knew I may want to blend a little. But honestly, you can do without. The crayon sharpeners and the food processor almost made too much static to be useful. Shavings from the utility knife is what I used most.

Then the fun part, I knew I wanted an "impression" of the moon setting over the ocean at night, so I first arranged the colors I knew I'd use in order from dark to light. I cut the dixie cup to keep my moon separate while I sprinkled colors where I wanted them. (Sorry I didn't take enough photos of this step, phone died. NOTE: I tried it yesterday using a black canvas, but it turns out that it was just a white canvas painted black, so the wax did not adhere well, and I also used an iron as I saw in the one I liked, but I realized I wanted it to melt the finer parts first to leave depth on the thicker parts.

I put the whole thing in a cheap toaster oven, and set it on warm (approx 220º) for about 5 min an monitored it often. I then switched it to Broil (I used 400º for just about two mins and checked it often) You could probably go higher, but after reading Bradbury, I was afraid to exceed F 451º :). One fun thing to note is that right after removing from oven, you can tilt and rotate the canvas while it it still a little liquid, but not too extreme as it really moves. I tilted slightly down to meld the sky with the water, then a little left and right to even out the horizon and mimic the waves, not sure if it is evident.

After it cooled I sprayed the whole thing with a clear enamel. I knew it would bead up because of the wax, but I tested on the one I tried yesterday and I liked the way the beads caught the light. Maybe paint on shellac if you wanted a more uniform sheen and protection, but given it was the night sky, I thought pockets of shine and texture maybe more interesting. In a nutshell it was fun, and since I'm not a naturally talented visual artist I liked the abstract quality. Also my hands and garage now smell like pre-school.

Ok, after I posted this I found a good coating (high gloss varnish) for the finished wax piece that protects the wax and is more uniform than the spray acrylic. Photo of it here, and I added it to the supply list.