Art & Culture: Amazing Crayon Drawing by Lee Hammond

One of the simple joys of childhood: a rainy day, a blank piece of paper and a box of wax crayons. There was real pleasure in watching our masterworks emerge and the time spent creating them was never wasted. Why can’t we reignite that joy as adults? Illustrator and art instructor Lee Hammond says you can.

Amazing Crayon Drawing (North Light Books) pulls us back to that simpler place, but with a big change: Hammond directs us not only to that simple joy, with step-by-step instructions over a wide range of subjects, she shows us how to make the crayon drawings we create as adults more realistic. Hammond coaxes results from her students by bringing out the best of the rich colors available from a simple box of crayons with the right instruction. As Hammond points out, “even a single black crayon can create a dramatic drawing if applied the right way.” And the right way is entirely what Amazing Crayon Drawing is about. ◊

Monica Stark is a contributing editor to January Magazine. She currently makes her home on a liveaboard boat somewhere in the North Pacific.