Drawing with wax crayons and watercolors. Mixed media painting: watercolor and wax crayons

When choosing what to draw for a child, parents often go to two extremes. Some people buy very expensive art supplies, such as wax crayons or pastels. Others are limited to low-grade pencils that constantly break, and felt-tip pens that dry out quickly. The artist and mother of two daughters tells us what children really like to draw with, how to extend the life of markers with a homemade holder, and the life of crayons by making multi-colored “cupcakes.”

I rarely buy expensive art supplies, but I really like wax crayons. They are made from beeswax with natural dyes and have very vibrant colors. Expensive crayons are sold in pencil and block form and are thicker than regular wax crayons, making them easier for kids to work with and harder to break. They last for several years. The only drawback of such crayons (besides the price) is that they do not wash off.

From leftover wax crayons you can “bake” colorful cupcakes for playing with dolls.

Wax crayons (from 2 years old)

Materials:

Leftover wax crayons without paper wrapper
Silicone muffin tins or metal ice cube tray (look for shapes shaped like hearts, stars, or other shapes)

Place leftover wax crayons into silicone molds, matching colors in each mold if desired.

Place the molds on a baking sheet lined with foil. Place the pan in a 350°F oven for twenty minutes or until the crayons have melted.
Remove the pans from the oven and cool.
Remove the figures from the molds and you are ready to play.

My family loves oil pastels. These crayons glide smoothly and easily across paper, have rich colors, and are inexpensive. We use them for regular drawings, paint over pastels, and more. They are also good for drawing on dark paper, such as construction paper or brown craft paper.

For very young children, in my opinion, the best oil pastels are those in a hard plastic case with a retractable stem. Thanks to this packaging, you don't have to worry about your child breaking the pastel. And the plastic case is comfortable to hold in your hand.

Crayons

Children love to draw with crayons on the asphalt; they are easily washed off from their hands and clothes, but what should they draw on at home? You can turn a wall or door into a chalkboard using special chalkboard paint.

Colour pencils

In my opinion, colored pencils are good for children five years old and older, because to draw with pencils you have to learn some things (shading, using not only the tip but also the side of the lead, pressure, you also need to be able to sharpen them, etc.) , and this will work better for a child with already developed motor skills. Young children may find it easier to work with thick or triangular pencils.

Markers are brighter than wax crayons and colored pencils, which is why children simply adore them. Their main drawback is that they can dry out if the cap is not put on tightly. To avoid this and to make it easier for little ones to close the caps, we use a very simple marker holder. In addition, it is a convenient stand in which all the markers are visible.

Materials:

Plastic bowl
Petrolatum
A piece of cute fabric slightly larger than the inside of the bowl
Milk carton, bucket or old bowl (for mixing plaster)
Old spoon or wooden stick (for mixing plaster)
Food coloring (optional)
Set of felt-tip pens

Buy markers that are easy to find in every store. After all, the holder will serve you for several years, and the markers will need to be changed periodically.

Get all your materials ready because once the plaster is ready you will have to work quickly.
Coat the inside of a plastic bowl with Vaseline.
Wet the cloth and wring it out until it is almost dry. Place face down in a bowl and spread out as much as possible. The fabric should extend a few centimeters beyond the edges of the bowl.

Mix the plaster of Paris in a milk carton or old bowl, following the instructions on the package. If desired, you can add food coloring to tint the mixture.
Fill a bowl lined with a cloth with plaster of Paris.
Remove the caps from the markers and immerse each one in plaster about halfway (so that the markers can then be inserted into them). Having arranged the caps in this way, try not to move them; you want the plaster to hold them tightly.
If you wish, you can add beads to the plaster. Press it in until the plaster is dry.

Let the plaster dry, then insert the markers into the caps. (Loosely at first, just to keep the markers from drying out. You can put the caps on tightly the next day.) Leave the plaster to harden overnight. Throw any leftover plaster into the trash, not the sink. Otherwise he will clog your pipes.
Turn the bowl over and carefully pull out the marker holder.
Cover it with one or two layers of glue to protect the surface, but don't forget the fabric. The holder is ready!

Author Jin Van't Hal studied art history, author of a blog about creative activities with children, mother of two children

Discussion

We are now painting with finger paints. Mine likes it))

I certainly don’t recommend drawing with crayons - chalk is an alkali, it makes your hands dry and the skin begins to peel off.

Nowadays there are felt-tip pens, I don’t know on what basis, but not alcohol, they wash and wash well, well, except from wallpaper at home :)

06/27/2015 16:14:58, Tanyshenciya

Comment on the article "What to draw for a child? Crayons, pencils, felt-tip pens: pros and cons"

Pencils, crayons, felt-tip pens - choose the best. Now there is 1 set of felt-tip pens, 1 thicker markers, 1 pencils, 1 wax markers. What should a child draw with? Crayons, pencils, felt-tip pens: pros and cons. Do not allow children to chew on wax crayons!

pencils and markers. How to draw for a child? Crayons, pencils, felt-tip pens: pros and cons. In my opinion, colored pencils are good for children five years and older because of the use of pencils and markers for drawing.

A drawing on paper can be stitched on a machine without thread. You get holes. Then powder, you can just use chalk, and then use a marker pencil, that is, finish drawing everything. Or you can use a white corrector, well, the one that removes mistakes. He will be stronger.

Markers. How to draw for a child? Crayons, pencils, felt-tip pens: pros and cons. In my opinion, colored pencils are good for children five years and older because of the use of pencils and markers for drawing.

There are safe crayons. Our eldest has a board for drawing with crayons and markers. The little one began to sit next to her and ask her to draw. I agree, but now it’s difficult to get such chalk in stores; they usually sell it with some kind of glue, as the sellers explained to me.

You can suggest drawing on paper and then hanging it on the wall. when there is not enough space on the computer for photos, videos, music and copying disks, you buy another screw. Only very successful photographs are taken on paper and placed in albums along with the children’s drawings...

Crayons, pencils, felt-tip pens: pros and cons. Crayons. Colour pencils. Felt pens and markers. When choosing what to draw for a child, parents often go to two extremes.

colorful drawings. but remember, I showed off the rainbow cat drawn by Danka? tell me urgently that someone also has children... drawing on paper with ordinary pencils, wax pencils or felt-tip pens; 3) drawing with colorful crayons on the street.

URGENT: ate a felt-tip pen. Traveling with children. A child from birth to one year. Care and education of a child up to one year: nutrition, illness, development. How to draw for a child? Crayons, pencils, felt-tip pens: pros and cons.

The drawing should be solemnly hung out for everyone to see and everyone in the household should be shown how cool Melka’s son is - he eats a couple of crayons in a couple of seconds. "Drawing" at this age is also an exploration of the world, the child tries materials on paper, walls, asphalt, and your...

At what age do children draw with felt-tip pens and, most importantly, how to teach these markers to close? How to draw for a child? Crayons, pencils, felt-tip pens: pros and cons. In my opinion, colored pencils are good for children aged five and above because...

How to draw for a child? Crayons, pencils, felt-tip pens: pros and cons. Felt-tip pens: (Child (1.7), having received the felt-tip pens, immediately rushes to draw wallpaper, furniture, etc. How can I explain to her that this cannot be done?

Learn to draw?!. Drawing. Early development. Early development methods: Montessori, Doman, Zaitsev's cubes, learning to read, SABZh groups. Should I learn to draw? To be more precise, it’s like this: at home I give my child drawing tools (paints, paper, pencils...

What to draw on for a child? 4 surfaces for winter drawings. DIY crafts from wax crayons and a stand for felt-tip pens. A sheet of paper, cardboard or canvas on which an artist paints is called fine art, or painting...

draw - when?. Age standards. A child from birth to one year. Care and education of a child up to one year: nutrition, illness, development. We started using crayons when we were 10 months old (I just somehow didn’t think of giving them one earlier), we still draw on paper without enthusiasm, but on asphalt...

We use Crayola wax crayons and they say they are non-toxic. He chewed a little and stopped. The main thing for us is to satisfy the interest, I tried to draw with chalk for the first time yesterday, but first I also tried it by heart: (I’ve never put any poop in my mouth before, and yesterday...

colorful drawings. A yellow cow with pink horns and a tail, a yellow bear with an orange head, a red belly, lilac ears and paws, a red hedgehog with an orange muzzle and a yellow nose, a blue elephant, a blue snake in purple...

pencils break - it “breaks” me to sharpen, paints are too early and a lot of hassle (especially for me), washable felt-tip pens, a set of 48 pieces, were brought to us as a gift - melancholy, maybe this can be washed off from clothes. What to draw for a child? Crayons, pencils, felt-tip pens: pros and cons.

How to draw for a child? Crayons, pencils, felt-tip pens: pros and cons. Felt pens and markers. When choosing what to draw for a child, parents often go to two extremes. And the plastic case is comfortable to hold in your hand.

Pencils, crayons, felt-tip pens - choose the best. Now there is 1 set of felt-tip pens, 1 thicker markers, 1 pencils, 1 wax crayons. How to draw for a child? Crayons, pencils, felt-tip pens: pros and cons. Tell me about paints and pencils (+).

Drawing with wax crayons and watercolors is a mixed technique of painting with watercolors and wax. It does not require special skills and at the same time creates a very bright effect, which is why it has become widespread in children's creativity. However, it can also be used in more complex designs for decorative purposes or as an addition to your painting.

The essence of the technique is to draw lines with wax, on top of which watercolor is placed. Areas with wax are not painted over, which creates a “glow” effect of the design. What’s good about this technique is the availability of the materials used: wax crayons can be taken from a children’s set, and sometimes you can even use candle wax; You can also take the simplest watercolor.

When drawing with wax crayons, it is important to understand that it is not easy to make a thin line due to the characteristics of the material, so it is more convenient to use large and generalized contours. Usually this technique is used to paint still lifes, flowers, fish, etc. Wax lines do not easily overlap each other and cannot be erased without leaving a stain, which prevents the creation of complex effects, but at the same time maintains the brightness and purity of the drawing.

Necessary materials

simple pencil
wax crayons (one or more colors; can be replaced with a candle)
watercolor (doesn't matter if it's for children or professional)
wide brush (for filling the background)
thin brush (if you need to draw small details)
paper (it is more convenient to use thick paper, but ordinary A4 sheets are also possible. It is better to choose paper without strong roughness so that the wax adheres better)
rough sheets

Which paper should you choose?

Before you start painting with wax crayons and watercolors, let's explain some of the features of watercolor paper. This can be important if you are trying to achieve a certain effect.

There are two types of watercolor paper: cold and hot pressure. Rough cold pressure paper is rougher and therefore produces an uneven line. In addition, to make it brighter, you have to press harder on the chalk. This effect in painting is well suited for conveying highlights on water or a glow effect.

On hot press paper, the texture does not appear as strongly, and the design looks smoother and clearer.

Preparatory stage

It would be good to secure a sheet of paper to a tablet, table or some other surface using tape. This is not necessary, but this will make the paper bulge less (especially true for simple printed sheets).

Drawing with crayons and watercolors is a technique that is best first tried on paper to get used to it.

Prepare a draft. Use wax crayons to draw simple and wavy lines and patterns of different colors (in the photo in the foreground there is a white chalk). See how tightly the wax adheres to the surface of the sheet and how hard you need to press the pencil (if it is lumpy, you may have to go over it several times to get a solid line). Then paint over the lines with watercolors.

With colored crayons, it is better to use paint colors that contrast with them, and do not choose monochromatic ones so that the chalk stands out more clearly. For example, if you chose yellow, then it is better to use blue watercolor, black, etc.

Wait for the paint to dry and see what happens. As you can see, the white chalk creates the feeling of a masking liquid (which can be used as a life hack), the colored chalks are slightly rubbed and mixed with the paint. Look what you got.

The main stage of work

After a little experiment, we have a rough idea of what will happen in practice. Now let's move on to the main stage.

First of all, you need to draw the outline of the picture with a simple pencil. It's best not to skip this step because erasing the wax line is difficult. Then we outline the pencil lines with wax in the right places.
Next, use watercolor flowers to paint over the areas you need.
After this, you can continue to work with layers, apply other colors, and create volume using shadows. The example shows that the yellow crayon is “lost” against the background of the paint, but yours may be different. Once the work has dried, you can trace some details again with wax chalk.

As you can see, the technique is really simple to perform and at the same time gives an expressive effect.

Drawing with children

The technique of drawing with wax crayons (candles) and watercolors is well suited for creating illustrations and crafts with children. We offer several ideas for drawing with wax crayons and watercolors:

Underwater scene with fish. You can use brightly colored crayons and blue watercolors for water.
Sky with clouds and birds. Use white chalk for the clouds, brown, black or other colors for the birds (you can also draw tree branches), and blue paint for the sky.
Fireworks. Use different bright wax crayons for the fireworks and black watercolor for the night sky.
Secret note. Write a secret message on a sheet of paper with white crayon, then have your child or friend color it in with dark paint.
Craft "Stained glass". Suitable even for small children. To do this, just draw abstract patterns with different wax crayons and cover them with watercolors. Then the drawing can be inserted into a frame or, as in this case, glued to the door glass, and you will get an independent decoration, for example, for a birthday.

Auxiliary technique in painting

Wax crayons can be used for a variety of purposes: to create crafts, decorative effects, or as an auxiliary material in painting. We have considered the first two options, and now let's talk about the third.

This option is convenient for plein air painting, when there is no time to wait for the paint to dry completely. Chalk can be applied to light areas and feel free to write on top of them with other colors, without fear of “drowning out” the bright color.

To ensure that the wax does not stand out, you need to use it a little. For example, in this painting you won’t even immediately understand where the wax strokes are applied.

Using paraffin instead of wax crayons

If you don’t have wax crayons, you can easily replace them with paraffin. The effect will be very similar. The only thing is that you will be limited in terms of color.

We hope that you have discovered something new and that drawing with crayons and watercolors will bring you pleasure!

Do you know that you can “draw” from crumbs of crayons? starry sky extraordinary beauty. We take colored cardboard (black, purple to choose from) and crumbs from crayons.

Scatter on a sheet, heat in the microwave and Voila - STARRY SKY!!!

If you arrange the crumbs “sparsely” you will get a natural sky))

EASTER is coming soon. I suggest a method of coloring eggs with wax crayons.

Everything is simple here!

Wash the eggs thoroughly and boil them hard. Using tongs or a spoon, carefully remove them from the hot water and dry.

Carefully place the hot eggs into paper rings or plastic lids prepared in advance for stability.
Decorate the eggs with colored wax crayons. You can use not only the pointed tip, but also the wide side of the pencils by removing the paper.

In addition, you can grate the pencils using a regular grater or finely chop them and then sprinkle them on hot eggs.
When the wax comes into contact with a hot surface, it will begin to melt, forming bizarre, beautiful patterns. Get creative with flowers and create your own little masterpieces!

After painting this way, the eggs must be dried for an hour.

Drawing with crayons using the melting technique

This technique is called Encaustic. If you are interested, type it into a search engine and you will see for yourself how widespread it is.

crayons,
wax paper,
watercolor paper (not glossy)
decor as desired

Drawing using the frottage technique

Also an interesting and simple technique. Yes, you know her very well. As a child, you probably took fingerprints from coins and badges?!

For this technique we will need:

several sheets of paper
crayons,
glue stick,
eraser, as well as natural material
Collect several leaves of trees or shrubs while walking; you can also use flower leaves. It would be good if the leaves had large veins.

Drawings using scratch technique

I hope you have heard about the grattage technique? These are scratch pictures. There are these in stores. And I’ll tell you how to make such pictures using our wax crayons.

Using the scratch technique, depending on the idea, you can leave the background white or take a sheet of colored cardboard or create a background using random spots drawn with our crayons.

To create our masterpiece you will need:

a sheet of thick, preferably smooth, paper
watercolor paints or wax crayons (don't skimp on the crayons - they should give a thick layer)
wax candle (if we use paints)
black ink (you can use good quality gouache)
large brush (No. 10-12)
liquid soap
a relatively sharp object for scratching out a design (nail, manicure file, etc.)

And here are the scratchy pictures

You see, it’s not at all difficult, even very interesting, cheap and cheerful.

Where to put the crayon fragments:

there are several options

painting from crumbs - see above
new crayons from the remnants of old ones: The crayons must be cleared of papers, broken into pieces and put into molds (I used a silicone mold) and melted in the oven. CAREFULLY! HOT! DO NOT LEAVE YOUR BABY UNATTENDED!

If you want to make completely colorful Easter cakes, then mix the pieces of crayons in a bowl, gently shaking it several times. Scales can be made by placing crayons in molds.

I want to offer a very original drawing technique. The good thing about it is that, despite all the complexity at first glance, even a child in kindergarten can master it. Simple plots executed using this technique acquire a picturesque appearance without much work or artistic education. This technique is close to the style called pointillism, a very famous movement in painting. — The basic rules in which are to apply paint in separate strokes of the correct, identical shape. The paints were mostly not mixed with each other, all for the sake of the optical effect. – Our brain, through the eyes, itself compares pure color spots with each other in the required proportion, thereby mixing them instead of the artist and obtaining the intended shades.

As for our master class itself, we will make spots with wax crayons heated over a fire, as a candle drips when it burns out. This technique is not new and has become quite popular - the technique of drawing with molten wax crayons is called encaustic. And of course, you can also experiment with it - for example, to make pop-style pictures you need to place round spots at an equal distance from each other. Try it yourself.

Master class on encaustic painting in pointillism style

To work you will need wax pencils, a sheet of paper or, if you wish, you can take a canvas, and of course fire. You can take a candle or a special lighter for gas stoves, unlike a regular one, holding it lit for a long time will not burn your fingers.

Next, let's start drawing. First, sketch out a sketch of your future painting with a pencil. If you know how to draw, you will succeed quickly. If you don’t know how to draw, I won’t teach you that in this master class. — In the end, there are drawing courses, if you have this goal, attend them. And if you’re not sure, but want to try this technique, just draw something. When the sketch is ready, light the candle and let's get started. You need to hold the wax crayon over the candle until a drop forms, then carefully and quickly move it to the desired place above your sketch, placing the drop on the plane of the sheet.

In the case of a lighter, you can hold the chalk directly above the desired location. You can see more details in the video

Here you choose what is most convenient for you. In the case of children, it is perhaps safer to use a candle and draw under adult supervision.

Drops of wax crayons create a voluminous and smooth textured surface that looks impressive both in paintings and in graphics. What we can see from the works of the authors presented here.

Pastel is a favorite art material for many artists, but beginners encounter certain difficulties when first using pastels. Therefore, further we will try to clearly explain what kind of pastel there is for drawing, how to work with it, and present a simple master class with photographs, where you will see an example of how to draw a beautiful still life with pastel. However, we still recommend that before you start getting acquainted with pastel techniques, you gain confidence in the basics - drawing with ordinary pencils.

Pastels are sold both in the form of bare rods, similar to crayons, and pencils. It is distinguished from other artistic materials by its softness and velvety structure, which is achieved due to its composition - a binder and coloring substance, that is, pigment. These qualities determine another feature of using pastel: it does not stick well to paper and can crumble when pushed or other physical impact on a sheet of paper.

Today in artists' shops you can find four types of art pastels: dry, oil, wax and watercolor.

Dry pastel

The most popular type of pastel, used by both beginners and professional artists. Depending on the content of the binder, it is divided into hard and soft - the less of it, the softer the rod.

You won't be able to achieve the same vibrant colors with hard pastels as you can with soft pastels. But it is easier to draw small and delicate details with it, especially if you draw with pastels in the form of pencils. It crumbles less and doesn't stain your hands as much.

With soft pastels, you can create sweeping strokes that lie smoothly on the paper and are easy to shade, but for beginners such a pliable material will not be easy to control.

Oil pastel

Oil pastels contain a mineral oil substance, which allows them to adhere well to paper and not crumble, and also not to stain your hands. True, you won’t get the same matte effect as a dry pastel, and you won’t be able to shade it as easily - you’ll have to resort to using a brush and water, or a special solvent. But it won’t be easy to smear it accidentally.

Wax pastel

Reminiscent of oil pastels in color rendition, brightness, smoothness of application and intensity of strokes. It contains a different binder: not oil, but wax. Because of this, it is more difficult to achieve color mixing, and if the crayons are cheap, where paraffin is used instead of wax, then it will not be possible to draw color transitions at all. Professional artists almost never start drawing with wax crayons.

Watercolor pastel

And this type of pastel has a more unique wet structure - all due to the content of water-soluble components in it. In its normal form it is applied to paper as a hard pastel chalk with a wet effect, and when water is added it takes on watercolor properties. It is often used to replace watercolor pencils, since such pastels can be used to draw both solid strokes and achieve translucent shades.

Additional tools

What paper is best to draw on? Since dry pastels crumble very easily, you will have to abandon ordinary, smooth A4 office paper and switch to another work surface that has a pronounced rough texture. This can be postal paper, sandpaper or pastel paper, canvas or special cardboard.

You can learn to draw with pastels even if you have nothing but pastels and paper. But with the help of additional materials and tools, the process of creating a drawing becomes much easier, faster and more convenient. This:

Shading or brushes - there are silicone and paper. They are very convenient for shading small details of a drawing, for which shading with fingers is not enough.

A kneaded eraser - you can use it to lighten a drawing with pastels, or gently erase excess without harming the paper.

A mashtable is a special device in the form of a long stick with a soft fabric or suede ball at the end, which serves as a support for the artist’s leading hand and allows him to draw without touching the drawing, so as not to smear it. With the other hand, the artist supports the stick, and uses the ball to rest on the canvas or move it beyond the boundaries of the drawing.

Fixative is a varnish designed to fix pastels, both during the work process and upon completion of the entire drawing. It is often replaced with regular hairspray, but it makes the image darker and can take away its matte finish. Therefore, many people refuse varnish fixation and place a pastel drawing in a frame under glass, so that it does not touch the paper.

Features of drawing with dry pastels

For beginners, it is better to first learn how to learn how to draw with dry pastels, as they are easier to handle compared to other types. It should be said that drawing with pastels does not imply any clear rules - the artist is free to experiment with techniques. However, there are certain nuances:

The preliminary sketch and outline of the future drawing should be done using a piece of pastel of a not too noticeable color - it is better to match it to the tone of the paper. For white paper, use gray chalk or charcoal, which you can then simply shake off; for colored paper, use chalk of the corresponding or similar shade.

Do not make a sketch with an ordinary graphite pencil, otherwise the pastel will fit very poorly on it.

You need to draw with chalk “flat”, first applying the background and all the primary colors, painting over the area of the paper. It is better to first apply and shade black and white colors, if present, and then move on to other shades. If the type of pastel allows it, then don’t forget about mixing - with its help you can achieve interesting gradients and colors that you don’t have in your palette.

Having decided on a color scheme, you can finally begin to detail the drawing: the appearance of volume, clarification of silhouettes, shapes. At this stage, you can draw using shading, applying dots, individual strokes, lines, etc. - depending on what task is assigned to you and in what style the pastel drawing will be done. Don’t be afraid to leave the main details unshaded so that the drawing doesn’t look “soapy”.

How to draw with pastels: master class for beginners

Let's move on from theory to practice and learn how to draw a still life from life with pastels. Of course, you can try to draw it simply from a photograph. We will need:

pastel paper;
dry pastel;
pastel pencils;
plywood sheet;
soft cloth.

If you have an easel, the task is easier, but its semblance can be built from a chair and a plywood sheet, resting it on the back and laying paper so that the pastel falls there, and not directly on the seat. Place the flower arrangement (or photo) nearby so that it is in front of your eyes and is easy to draw. Prepare your hands - wash them so they are free of grease and dry them.

Progress

So we learned how to draw still life with pastels! The drawing looks complete even at this stage. If you want to go further, then work on the background, details and adding shades.

The following video master class on drawing fruits will help you learn how to convey highlights, light, shadows, penumbra and reflex using dry pastels: