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Thanks for circling back to this creative slipstream, you cap-tivating creator! Last week, we played a little spin-the-bottle-cap, discovering unexpected potential in its sounds and textures. Like me, were you inspired by its uncanny ability to pop up into our creative consciousness whenever we need a burst of creative effervescence? I’m imagining dozens of pop tops popped as inspiration to your creative perspiration.
This week, we're returning to another object we likely met in childhood—one that's changed in many ways since. Our creative nudge this week comes by way of the crayon. As a college writing instructor, there's a particular appreciation for how these colorful characters tell both visual and textual stories; I admire the crayon’s ability to translate fleeting thoughts into something more.
Crayons lend themselves to creation across multiple surfaces, as any parent or janitor can attest. They possess an immediate, tactile quality, capable of leaving a vibrant trace with minimal effort. You can save your energy for running and hiding when your misplaced masterpiece is discovered. Let’s get our grubby little hands around that fundamental sense of wonder and direct expression, starting with one or more of these creative crayon nudges. (There’s one for each of the five senses—but don’t limit yourself to what’s in the Crayola 64 pack.)
1. Crayola Day Choose a single crayon color that speaks to your current mood or a recent memory. Using only that color, create a drawing or abstract piece that conveys the essence of that emotion or memory. Focus on how a single hue can evoke a complex feeling through light, shadow, and line weight.
2. Trusty Crayon Hands only—find a crayon or three by feel. Without looking, draw something that represents the texture of an object near you. Focus on the pressure, friction, and resistance of the crayon on the paper (or similar surface), letting touch guide your result.
3. Crayonic Place a piece of paper on a surface that will amplify sound (a wooden table, a thin box). Using a crayon, create a drawing where the sounds of the crayon moving across the paper are as important as the visual marks. Record your drawing process, paying attention to the scratching, whispering, or dragging sounds.
4. Sniff Test Crayons have a distinct, nostalgic scent. Take a moment to truly inhale the aroma of a new or well-used crayon. Let this scent transport you to a memory or evoke a particular feeling. Create a drawing that visually represents that memory or emotion.
5. Taste the Rainbow Think about the "flavor" or "character" of different shapes and colors. Does a sharp, red triangle feel "spicy"? Does a soft, blue circle taste "cool"? Did Harold’s crayon have to be purple? Choose a crayon and use it to draw an abstract representation of a particular food or drink, focusing on its conceptual "flavor."
These exercises invite us to engage with crayons in a way that transcends simple coloring, reigniting the pure, uninhibited joy of creation that often accompanies our earliest artistic endeavors. They remind us that the act of making—the translation of internal worlds into external forms—is valuable in itself, regardless of outcome.
This column was written with the help of Google’s Gemini Advanced, a powerful generative AI writing tool.
