Rainbow Crayon Rorschach Tests

Crayons are colorful and made of wax, so it can be fun to add heat and apply them with a brush.

Old electric skillet (from garage sales)

Old warming tray

Old or new crayons, paper removed. Avoid “washable” crayons. They don’t melt well.

small metal cups or tins for melting colors

paper to paint on

small cheap paint brushes

scrap of wood roughly half the size of your paper

small piece of fabric, felt, carpet, foam, paper towels, etc to pad the wood on one side.

Any kind of knife will work better than your fingernails. But if you are doing a lot, you might want to make my easy Crayon Stripper. It’s faster, safer and more fun than using just a knife.

Don’t let the wax smoke. It's bad for you.

Paint on one side. On the heat or off the heat. The wax cools quickly when the paper is cool which allows not much time to work it. On the heater there is more time to work but the wax may flow more than you want. Experiment.

Fold the paper again and press on the heat tray with your padded wood block.

Psychoanalyze your friends. If you like this, check out encaustic painting. It’s an ancient art form using colored wax and resin.