Crayon Resist

In this lesson, we used oil pastels to create an image of a flower using bright, bold colors.  It was important to use the majority of the page, but okay to have some white spaces left.  In these remaining white spaces, we were able to see what happens when we apply watered-down black paint to the paper.  

To begin, I drew the picture of the flower and colored it in, smudging the colors with my fingers as I went.  I also added some lines in the petals by using my fingernails.  Once we had our flowers drawn, we were given a cup with watered-down black tempera paint.  Using a paint brush, we quickly applied the mixture to our image, spreading it out evenly.  To remove the excess, we used a paper towel.  

The areas that had previously been white were now a dark gray and the flower took on a more dull look.  It was interesting to see how some spots of the flower absorbed more paint than the others, causing darker spots in some sections.  

This process of crayon resisting could be done with several projects.  An example is to have students draw a family portrait of their own family.  Once complete, students would color the picture with either pastels or crayons, and then apply the watered-down black paint.  This would give the picture more of an antique quality and would be fun for younger grades who understand that pictures from a long time ago were either in black or white, or are now faded in color from age.