Crayola Valentines

1934 Crayola Valentine Coloring Contest.

Valentine's Day is almost here!

Crayola Color-Your-Own Valentines

I'm often surprised with the Crayola products I find in the stores, especially licensed ones. Color-Your-Own Valentines was a 2009 Valentine's Day release, but I drew the very simplistic "kid-like" artwork for part of a Crayola licensing guide several years earlier. Companies create official guides that not only specify how the logos, the characters, and the company colors should be used, but often supply additional artwork and art direction to assist the vendor in creating licensed products consistent with official branding. These drawing were never specifically intended for Valentines, and can be found on a wide range of products, both seasonal and standard.

The product came with eighteen Valentine cards, eighteen heart-shaped lollipops that slipped into pre-cut holes on the cards, and a cello-pack of four Crayola crayons. It also came in a larger box version with twenty-six cards and lollipop, plus two bonus "Teacher Valentines" printed on the back of the box.

The crayon character (then known as Tip) was also illustrated by me. Prior to the more 3D rendered crayon characters, I designed and illustrated the second incarnation of Tip and his family of friends. I'll be posting my Tip style guide at a later date along with products he appeared on. It's a bigger project with lots to talk about and show, so give me time!

Crayola Mini Coloring Pages

I designed and illustrated the Crayola Mini Coloring Pages in 2014 for a 2015 Valentine's Day release date. I followed the new 3D crayon character style guide for the artwork. This was not a licensed product. It was created directly through Crayola. All the written expressions were supplied to me along with a general direction of how the characters should be posed. This was a pretty basic job, easy tight sketches and then vector line art completed in the computer. My favorites are "My Heart Melts for You!" and the Gump inspired "Love is a Box of Crayons." I was never able to find this box locally as it sold out very quickly, so if anyone has it, let me know. I'd like to add it to my collection.