CRAYON BATIK
by Barbara Sonek

GRADES: K-12

This project turns an ordinary crayon drawing into a beautiful piece of artwork worthy of framing. For the lower grades, there is more teacher involvement because of the wash technique. Students from grade 4 and up will have no trouble following the directions. Results are spectacular.

MATERIALS

• crayons

• good quality white drawing paper 8 1/2 x 11 or 9x12

• black poster color paint

• 1 inch wide paint brushes

• bucket

• water

• lots of newspapers

• several plastic cups for mixing the paint

DIRECTIONS

Have students draw a picture on the paper. For the project, a large colorful bird, a large fantasy fish, or even a still life with lots of flowers works the best. The brighter the crayons the more fantastic the results! The crayon must be applied very heavily to the paper, leaving as little white showing on the paper as possible. The drawing should be made as colorful as possible. Since the wash is black, tell the students not to use black crayon backgrounds.

At a separate table have a bucket of water and lots of newspapers set up. The newspapers should form a thick pad to absorb excess water from the drawings.

Put some of the black poster paint in the plastic cups, and mix it until it is the consistency of thin cream. You should test this out yourself on white paper to make sure the paint is a dark grey and not a heavy opaque black.

Take the drawing and put it in the bucket of water until it is very wet.

Take it out and crumple it up. Squeeze out the water. VERY CAREFULLY flatten out the paper. The paper will be very easily damaged if you are not careful.

When the paper is flat, go over it with the paint wash that you have prepared. Give the student the crayon batik on a sheet of newspaper to let dry.

The results look like batik fabric and can be framed for the best effect.

Lesson plan courtesy of Barabara Sonek
Homepage: Barbara's World Tour