A page of test marks can be surprisingly useful to keep. When you come back to make a card or draw a picture, there it is: the broad blue patch you liked, a line that stayed light, a pattern worth trying again. That's the idea of a color and texture sampler. Let the paper show you what the crayons can do before you ask them to become something else.
Give the marks some space
Use suitable paper on a protected surface. Divide it loosely into a few areas, with light pencil lines if you like or simply gaps between the marks. Try a line in one area, a filled patch in another and a repeated pattern beside them.
The eco-kids set has eight triangular beeswax crayons. OMY's gel set has nine broad-tipped crayons with strong color. If you have both, make the same three marks with each. Label the medium so you'll know which was which when you return to the sheet.
Work with the tool as it comes
Follow the crayons' instructions and use ordinary drawing pressure. There is plenty to notice without forcing a tip, taking off a casing or modifying the tool. A broad mark can look quite different beside a short repeated line.
If you want to try a rubbing, use a large, appropriate texture beneath the paper and a method the product permits. Keep sharp or loose objects out of a child's activity. You can also stay entirely on the surface and make texture from repeated dots, curves or overlapping strokes.
Let two colors meet
Put two colors beside each other first. Then, where the medium permits, try an overlapping patch in another space. Notice which marks remain distinct and what changes. The result belongs to these particular crayons and this paper; a different material may behave differently.
Leave room around each experiment. A sampler with some blank paper can be easier to read later than one where every mark runs into the next.
Keep a mark you want to use again
Look back over the sheet and choose something for a future drawing: a patch for a background, a fine detail or a repeated border. Date the page or note the paper if you'd like it to become a reference alongside your supplies.
Check each material's age guidance before offering it to a child, then gather the pieces back into their container when you're finished. Our drawing-tool comparison helps choose another medium to sample. The compact-kit guide takes the idea to a smaller table, and Mix It Up and a making table connects it to a story about color.
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