Crayons, a Real Eye Opener
Brian J. Sullivan
It was clear that I was born to be an artist when I chewed on my first crayon. It tasted terrible but I was experimenting with all aspects of new materials.
One day after running out of paper, I decided to create a large wall mural like the ones I'd seen on public television. I climbed up on top of the couch with my limited box of color crayons. Above the couch was a large clean white wall which ran the entire length of the room. My Mommy was always so excited about each new work I had created, and proudly hung each one upon the refrigerator. I was really excited about creating my next masterpiece for her. The wall was large, and I had to cover a lot of area, so I started with those fat crayons the thickness of cigars. The texture of the walls made short work of the large crayons, and soon I was down to the small ones. My picture was shaping up nicely when I heard the back door open. I was so proud that I leapt from the couch to greet my Mother. I was grinning ear to ear. I grabbed my Mother's hand and told her to close her eyes. "I have a surprise to show you", I said. I led her around to the living room and yelled: "Surprise!"
Well she must have been surprised, because I have never seen anybody's eyes get so big. For several moments she was speechless. Then the words came out, then the hand came out. I think I lost consciousness because when I awoke I was lying in my bed with a very sore butt.
Another time, we had gone for a car ride in our new Corvair. My sister and I were in the back seat with our coloring books trying to stay inside the lines which the car's movement made it almost impossible to do. And so, being frustrated even at that early age, I placed my coloring book and loose crayons on the carpeted ledge in the back of the window. We returned later that day, had dinner and went to bed. The next thing I remember was being dragged from my bed, still half asleep, out to the car. There on the back ledge of the window were little puddles of colored lumps melted into the car's upholstery. Again I saw my Mothers eyes get real big, for a moment she was speechless, and then out came the words, then out came the hand. Again I think that I lost consciousness, because when I awoke I was again in my room with a sore butt.
So for some reason I have never been much into using crayons in my art work. For the life of me, I just can't figure out why.