Hello There! I am starting a new series on the Orange Spiral Arts blog. I am intending to post more often with simple ideas and techniques to inspire you to create and express yourself through art!
Welcome to Mark Making Monday! I am sure the posts will get more interesting as I get into my groove. However, for you and me both, in honor of a new school year starting for many, I decided to pull out the readily available Crayola crayons for this Mark Making Monday post.
Here's what you'll need:
A blank piece of paper or an art journal or sketchbook
I used a Canson Mixed Media Sketchbook, which is fine for crayons, but watercolor and layers of mixed supplies may make the paper do funny things. See links to reviews below.
(To read more about Canson versus Strathmore art journals, here are a few good resources:
Roz Stendahl's review of Canson Mixed Media paper, Samie Harding's Video Review from 2012).
Note: Everyone uses paper differently, so paper is a personal preference. I don't mind if paper does strange stuff, like warp or pill, but that's just me. If you are more of a fine artist, you will definitely want to choose Strathmore papers over Canson. That's the summary of the reviews linked up above.
Mark Making Example and Tips
Mark Making Full Page
Image 1
Image 2
How to:
To make these sweeping marks with a large Crayola crayon, you'll want to hold the crayon at an angle, and parallel to the surface of your paper (see Image 1 above).
Make a sweeping gesture from the left side of the paper to the upper corner of the page, with the tip of a fairly new or sharp crayon. (If you are left handed, you might try the opposite).
Experiment with using the tip and the rounded edge of the crayon, or just the tip (see Image 2).
Make long sweeping marks.
Make short sweeping marks.
Fill up your entire page with this mark (See Mark Making Full Page above).
Write down what you used, how you moved the material to make the mark, and any reflections on if you enjoyed this mark, or how you might use it in the future.
Congratulations, you made a little bit of art today!
Come back on Wednesday for another post on expressing yourself simply through art!
Thanks for being here.
Have a great day and/or night!
Blessings to you,
Briana
