24 Different Colored Waxes!

   One of the most remembered tool in people's childhood is their trusty crayon. A crayon is a pencil/stick of colored chalk or wax that's used for drawing or coloring. Crayons are mostly used for coloring pages or books in which many children have (If they don't have a tablet yet). The most common brand of crayons that people are familiar with is Crayola, but that wasn't the first true crayon invented.

   Encaustic Painting is the latest technique dated all the way back to the Greeks. Encaustic Painting is a wax based paint that consists of beeswax, resin (crystallized tree sap), and pigment. Heat is used to activate the paint in which the artist applies on the canvas (preferably wood) with the brush of their choice. Layering is the most common technique used for encaustic painting for it's translucent strokes. Pastels were then used commonly in the 18th Century by many artists. Pastels are similarly related to crayons based on their shapes and size. They both come in a variety of colors and have pigment substances mixed with other materials to keep it's shape. Then finally on March 31, 1885 in New York City, Edwin Binney found "Crayola". Crayola is the most common brand that we know today that provides us with markers, crayons, etc.

   There are other types of crayon brands out there. Some don't compare to Crayola because of their lack for advertisement and quality but they still exist. I quickly checked reviews on Amazon about what people thought for each brand I chose (Crayola, Cra-Z-Art, Prang, RoseArt, and Scholastic). Out of 311 people, Crayola got 4 and a half stars (out of five)

Cra-Z-Art (out of 139 people) received a 4.1 stars out of 5

Prang (60) received 4 out of 5

RoseArt (23) received 3 and a half out of 5 and

Scholastic received 4 and a half out of 5 by 16 people. 

  These numbers might not reliable. Especially since RoseArt and Scholastic were only reviewed by 23 and 16 people. So I chose to compare the two different types of brands by coloring them on a sheet of paper and evaluating them after I finished. I chose Crayola and RoseArt for the lack of information that RoseArt had of its quality. When I finished, I came to the conclusion that Crayola was the best choice because of its great balance between wax and pigment. It was easy to control because I didn't need to apply any pressure for it to color the way I wanted it to. They don't break easily either. On the other hand, RoseArt had a higher portion of wax than pigment so I wasn't sure how the coloring was going to come out when I finished. It's much easier to break. They both do their job for a good price but Crayola would be the better choice.

   Now unless you're very picky about the type of crayon you use, it doesn't really matter what type of crayon brand you choose. Children don't mind what the crayon brand the crayon is, just as long as they can color their coloring book with it. It's very curious to know how the crayon came to be and how it affected our childhood in the long term. Some crayons are better than others but you still have the choice of choosing the best crayon for you.

Crayon Art