”Crayola” painting by Audrey Flack

Crayola The painting by Audrey Flack titled “Crayola” (#1 in Bibliography) is a representational photorealist painting (#2 in Bibliography) created in 1992-1993. The size is 28X40 image of Crayola Crayons, but I was unable to find the type of medium used in my research. The overall hue is warm and bright because of the polychromatic color scheme. The shapes throughout the painting are geometric and realistic being medium size and being proportional in shape.

Flack creates an illusion and a sense of depth on the two dimensional surface by the value of cast shadows and highlights throughout the entire painting. The arrangement of the shapes over and over of just crayons create a unified cohesiveness. The painting is balanced by the a-symmetric placement of the crayons. The hidden geometry creates a unified whole by the actual line. The proportion of the painting is to scale. The placement of the crayons on top of the mirror intensify the value of the painting. Also the negative space created by the white sheet on the bottom is balanced by the lines of colors drawn by the crayons. There is texture created by the crayons torn wrapper and lines appearing to be drawn by the crayons.

In trying to interpret the painting it is hard to say what Flack’s point is. The style of the crayons are that of the older style rather than the wrapping of today. Almost everyone can relate with Crayola Crayons having used them while a child and so that could have been her reason for painting such a realistic painting. The classic colors of the crayons give the painting a happy feeling while looking at it. The use of the mirror under the crayons And only showing a part of the box makes the painting very busy and it makes them seem to be right in front of you. This painting captures the child hood fantasy of getting a new box of crayons and the joy of testing out all the new colors. The shiny, waxy glow of the crayons is a reminder of the way they smelt and lets childhood memories flow into the mind.

This painting is definitely worth a thousand words because of the way Audrey Flack makes the painting seem so real, the crayons seem to be right in front of you. Comparing this painting to an actual photo I think this painting does a better job of portraying the feeling of childhood memories. She captures the glow of the shiny new crayons and how the wax makes the lines look when drawn at the bottom of the page. The use of the actual texture in the painting make it seem very realistic. The intensity of the classic colors draws your eye to the painting to look at all the different colors of the crayons and how real they look.