Dog Crayon

I started exploring patterns that had some potential to be tesselated, and stumbled on a dog bone shape.  That repeating pattern made a cute backdrop for the dog-crayon.

Dog - pencil and black micron .5 pen on 300 series Strathmore mixed media paper.  Click on image to enlarge.

While crayons were delightful at the beginning of the school year, do you recall what some of them were like at the end of the school year?  In my elementary school one of the required school supplies was a pencil case.  It had to be large enough to hold a couple of pencils, a checking pencil that was red on one end and blue on the other, a pencil sharpener, a stand-along eraser, and 8 to 10 crayons.  This packet of the most essential of the essentials traveled throughout the building everywhere that the student went, except for gym and lunch.

Dog - pencil and black micron .5 pen on 300 series Strathmore mixed media paper.  Click on image to enlarge.

By the end of the year, those essential traveling crayons had collected all kinds of "goodies."  Most had their personal collection of pencil shavings from the leaking sharpener.  Depending on the other contents of the pencil case, they could also have strands of hair, pieces of broken pencil leads, dust, gum wrappers, etc. etc. etc. 

Dog - pencil and black micron .5 pen on 300 series Strathmore mixed media paper.  Click on image to enlarge.

Because I wanted my crayon to be sharp and pointed, they seldom got to the fuzzy condition of some of my classmates.  SCAMPERing a crayon into a fuzzy dog, however, does not seem like a tremendously big leap when I think back to those traveling crayon days, however.  Omit the panting tongue and the perky eyes, and a number of dog crayons populated my elementary school every May and June. 

Dog - pencil and black micron .5 pen on 300 series Strathmore mixed media paper.  Click on image to enlarge.

When teachers would fill plastic wash basins with donated crayons on the last couple of the days of the year, a criteria list developed over the years for crayon contributions.  The list included an intact wrapper and no "fuzz, glitter, or non-crayon passengers." 

Dog - pencil and black micron .5 pen on 300 series Strathmore mixed media paper.  Click on image to enlarge.

Collections also shyed away from conglomerate crayons, restaurant-style wax crayons, and anything (even with a wrapper,) that was shorter than one inch (perhaps that was just to see if kids still had their rulers and knew how to use them for a practical purpose...)

Dog - pencil, black micron .5 pen and Intense pencils activated with a water brush on 300 series Strathmore mixed media paper.  Click on image to enlarge.

The dog crayon here is a tribute to the well used "fuzzy" crayons unable to qualify for the crayon donation bin at the end of the year.  These hard-working troupers, who made the rounds to each of the designated locations throughout the entire school year, were cast into the trash container.  We appreciated your service and know you spend a lot of time adding color the the school environment! 

Dog - pencil, black micron .5 pen and Intense pencils activated with a water brush on 300 series Strathmore mixed media paper.  Click on image to enlarge.