Crayola crayons are a cheap and sure way to lure you into color.This is a thread about sketching and coloring with crayons and let's do some great art in this medium. You can learn, experiment and suggest new ways of using crayons, create shade, highlight, blend, even using them in mixed media projects.
Try sketching objects from real life on your sketchbook, practice shading or just color that perfect apple, the first you do in crayons. From there colored pencils will seem to you like a piece of cake.

crayons
crayola
color corner
the crayons master

To get you started I will just suggest some reference photos, but you can choose your subject from life or your own pictures.
Let's see how can you break new in this medium and draw like a pro.

Did you know that you can use crayons drawing as an underpainting? I do it a lot in oil pastels pieces.

For instance these grapes from Ernest's challenge were drawn in crayolas then filled with oil pastels.

Here is my apple after 30 minutes of maltreatment of the sketchbook and crayolas. I expected this to be far easier but it's actually a tricky one.

I think this is actually really great, Elena. The textures are terrific, with a lot of variation and strong contrasts, and the colors intense and clean. The only issue I think is that you were fighting the medium to get detail and so the stem is quite large. You should try a twice life size apple on this same paper!

Yes, you're right Ernest. I have to practice a larger size.
Also my choice of paper for this medium is canvaskin which can take the crayon's wax and turn it into art by ...itself.
I have a project for an oil pastel drawing that i will do first in crayons on canvaskin.
Now i am playing with that Persian dish.

THis is an experiment I did last year in May right after i discovered oil pastels; so I did this in crayons and oil pastels on matte photo paper. The crayons are predominent in this drawing.

Elena, if you want a good sharpener for crayons go to one of your big box hardware stores and pick up one made just for carpenter pencils.

Thank you, Nancy.I never sharpen crayons I use them as I use oil pastels which you don't have to sharpen.
But maybe i should.

THis is the 30 minutes crayolas underpainting for oil pastels.This was done on canvaskin 9x13in.

Nancy, in the mess on my table top in front of the pc you can spot a coffee cup with my crayons. Thery look like they never have been sharpened and indeed I use them for very strong strokes( like chalk or pastels. Sharp tips would mean gentle touch as opposed to the aggressive rubbing on paper(especially that canvaskin)that i do so they can give texture to the drawing.
Right now I work with some 10-year old stuff, but soon I will buy myself a 64 set of Crayolas.
As a child in Romania I grew up with Colored pencils not crayolas so until 18 years ago wax crayons were not known to me. But wait! I can play now more than in childhood. Who can stop me?

I have a dumb question but what is underpainting?

Ok: underpainting is the painting, sketch, drawing that you do on canvas or other surfaces over which you lay down your main medium like oil pastels or oils. For oil paintings you can use charcoal, sepia, sanguine, conte to draw, sketch or oils.

oil underpainting
pastel underpainting

this was fun drawing in crayons a four times life size apple from real life.

I would try but I do not even own a set of crayons...might have to buy me some .

If you get the Crayola carousel you get the giltter ones and the metallic ones and a crayon sharpener. I think its 64 crayons. I got it for my grandkids to have here at my house and when they come we either color or get into the playdough. I got them the colored pencils to but they seem to prefer the crayons for now.

You don't have to worry about fancy sets, Kim. At my grocery store they sell a set of 24 pieces, the one I'm using here, for $2.65.

Wow! I never thought about crayons this way. I've always considered that crayons are ment for kids. This link to Don Marco's page you've pointed just blew me away. I'm going to borrow crayons from my children and give a try. I don't like draw with pastels, because they blur. Crayons don't do that so much. Thanks for good idea!

I like the apple you draw. I like how colours are mixed.

By the way, do you use any fixator after you finish the drawing ? Or there's no need for that?

Sipsik, thanks. I don't find my crayon work to belong in a gallery so i leave it like that without fixative. I never thought of spraying other works than charcoal with fixative.I guess that all my crayon work is safe as i have some from last year and is fine.

Bet you never thought of using Crayons in this way ?
Crayons and Pixels

crayolas ..about 2 hours..

I find this very good, Kat.
The only thing I would do different would be to go more aggressive with shadows and cast shadows.Also if you take a look at the tutorial I posted on drawing in colored pencils a blend of two or three hues is beneficial for more realism. So don't be afraid to mix in yellows and greens as well as oranges.
Once you break free in color mixing you really feel the thrill of color drawings and later painting.
It's my modest two cents on this.

Just bought myself a 64 pieces set of Crayolas and tried them on my new sketchbook.From imagination .