Crayon Art Project: Music!

[Moltove]

So, I'm no artist. I drew a damn good bird once, though. That aside, when I came up with the idea to create a canvas covered in sheet music and a music staff made of melted crayons, I had to check myself into a mental institute to make sure I wasn't 100%, rather than the normal 69%, retarded. The only true canvas work I've done was a water color piece in the fifth grade. And it was just splashing colors onto paper. So I come to you all, hoping for some positive feedback on the creative direction this piece will go, so I can actually make it and give it to my girlfriend in time for February.

 

In case you are not familiar with Crayon Art, or specifically melted crayons, it goes a little something like this: http://www.buzzfeed.com/donnad/creative ... crayon-art

Basically, you melt crayons onto canvas. It's simple in concept, but comes out very neat at times. I'd like to use this idea as the inspiration of the piece, since some of it will be melted black crayons. An additional method not posted is using stencils: http://artemamoris.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d4iawy0

 

So, below are snapshots of my sketches. They're not the best quality, buuuut...yeah. The main project is this: A rectangular canvas will be covered in sheet music, similar to the pattern on the first image-- torn/cut up in a collage-like fashion, highlighting nothing in particular, as it will just be a background. Then, black crayons will prolly be put in a hot glue gun and be dripped in 5 melted lines to form a staff.

 

There's the matter of notes (I got her to pick out two bar's worth) and the G clef-- I'm not quite sure how to add them, but I suppose if I paint the canvas black first, then place some masking tape as a stencil down, this should suffice. I'm not 100% sold though.

 

http://i1253.photobucket.com/albums/hh589/v3rdict/Crayon%20Project/2012-12-19_23-40-25_261_zps6e71b0bc.jpg[/img]

This first image is my first ideas. Should the notes be dripped on? Should the staff pinch, then come back, kind of like the Pink Floyd prism, to create a black staff that emerges color? What notes should I have? Should it have some clever meaning?

 

- The GF did choose some notes, so I suppose that's one question answered...

 

 

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http://i1253.photobucket.com/albums/hh589/v3rdict/Crayon%20Project/2012-12-19_23-40-59_805_zpsb95bd8ed.jpg[/img]

An even grander design I thought of: The first bar is plain, while the second bursts into color. If that were to be the final design, I would imagine putting down a base of wax (probably would have to be a guided hairdryer method rather than glue gun), then a glue gun line-in of staff lines. One worry is the thickness of the wax.

 

Then, there's the bottom portion, depending on how big the canvas is. Should there be a quote? What kind of quote?

 

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http://i1253.photobucket.com/albums/hh589/v3rdict/Crayon%20Project/2012-12-19_23-41-13_278_zpsadab69a4.jpg[/img]

Further on the blast of color design, but with two full bars. This would mean the colored portion could be thinner, and more random. The color could be simple or complex-- as long as it showed that the music was sort of...coming to life, in a way, or was responsible for such color.

- But it begs the question...how big should this be? If I could go longer (full two bars+) then it could be skinnier, then a quote wouldn't fit, which would be nice. Speaking of quotes...how would I put it on there? stylized letters with paint? As you can tell, I suck at writing...

 

 

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http://i1253.photobucket.com/albums/hh589/v3rdict/Crayon%20Project/2012-12-19_23-41-30_215_zps6e3417fb.jpg[/img]

 

Basic design, but almost sad. The staff lines would drip and almost pour into a pool of color. There would be a mixed color base and possibly glue gun note accents-- thin, but show it's melted as well. This can be stouter, and therefore can have a quote, pending canvas space.

 

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http://i1253.photobucket.com/albums/hh589/v3rdict/Crayon%20Project/2012-12-19_23-41-42_203_zps080560f9.jpg[/img]

 

A different design, but back to the original, except with something in the middle providing a focal point. No other notes would be on the staff. Then what should be in the middle?

 

 

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http://i1253.photobucket.com/albums/hh589/v3rdict/Crayon%20Project/2012-12-19_23-41-59_689_zps5092a36f.jpg[/img]

 

Finally, the simplicity design. if all else fails, and I mess up, I can create a smaller, more basic piece....or...should this be what I choose?

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So, I'm a little over the place. I have yet to go over to Hobby Lobby and see the different sizes of canvas to work with, much less have a clue on which I should choose. This is going to a Music Therapy major, the sheet music in the background will be mostly my old trumpet pieces, or copies of (if I can get a hold of some brownish paper...if possible) and maybe some of her old, donated sheet music (I'll tell her she won't be able to get them back! -.-.

 

If you have ANY ideas on what I could do, what would look better, or if you have a completely better design, PLEASE shed some light unto me! I'll try to get to the store after Christmas and pre-sketch out how big this may end up. I've never done something like this before, and any feedback at all would be greatly appreciated! =)

[Gerik]

Wish I could help, but I've never done encaustic painting before in my life. They look cool though. You can actually get a similar texture to wax with the golden acrylic gel medium I think.

[Moltove]

Thank you for the suggestion, Gerik. I looked into it today, but ultimately decid3ed against it. Sorry!

 

Here's the starting supplies. My mom suggested a few things, so I have a few ideas iin mind. Below is a pic of the starting materials. I suppose, instead of using the original pieces of music, I'll be copying them onto resume paper (you know, the fancy kind!), and will be tearing them piece by piece onto the canvas. Not pictured is a small canvas I bought to test a few things out on, like how the was will come out. I'll get a better idea of how things sit, especially on paper rather than actual canvas, so I can see if the staff should be wax or the actual notes and G Clef.

 

One thing I realized how small the actual canvas is-- so that's good, in a way. Minimizes things to be destroyed (wax melting, chipping), doesn't take so much space on the GF's wall, and to me seems more subtle. Also, it saves on material! The downside is if I am going to use two bars, the space vs size ratio runs a little thin-- but I thought of these designs unexpecting a full two bars of music.

 

Still up in the air about the actual design. My mom suggested 'tieing' the staff into a knot then I think adding color or adding depth (wax notes).

 

http://i1253.photobucket.com/albums/hh589/v3rdict/Crayon%20Project/2012-12-24_15-32-04_117.jpg[/img]