These 3 12"X18" visual aids illustrate the power of the humble crayon to make a wonderful textural painting with watercolor washes alone, or with the addition of ink.

  These were to point out (1) hot and cold color blends, (2) the effect of painting with the same or opposite contrasts, and (3) making crayon the dominant aspect in the painting instead of a minor enhancement.

  The 12"X18" practice paper is folded in half twice for 3 studies. The 4th area was for optional use.

  The left sketches would have white crayon in the bottles only. The top one would be a color rendering. The bottom one would be a black wash comparison.

  The bottom right sketch was to be completed as either a hot or cold crayon drawing, or a combination by dividing the objects as desired.

  The bottles had a few strokes of white crayon applied to them. Choosing their own color mixes students painted the left box first and multiple colors were suggested. Then, the bottle and contrast box below were painted in black washes. In moving over to the 2nd drawing, there was a choice to be made. Would the background contrast be the same hot/cold color selections as the drawing or would they be opposities? The top right shows the crayon drawing before the watercolor applications.

  Since the right drawing contained large and heavy crayon content, all the painting was done at one time, simply applying the desired hot or cool or both values in the background and loosely over the objects themselves. In this example, the watercolors were an opposite contrast of cool blues, greens and purples against the hot hues.

  The background was completed in the top color rendering with the bottle kept in lighter tones of the background hues. The contrast black washes were finished last. Ink, into wet or dry backgrounds was optional for all works.