How The Crayon King Was Born
How drawing classes, strange characters, and a lot of kids helped turn a nickname into a whole creative world.
I Didn’t Plan to Start a Kingdom
I planned to teach a few kids to draw.
Somewhere along the way, The Crayon King became more than a silly name I used for myself. Kids kept showing up with requests, jokes, strange ideas, favorite characters, and drawings that went in directions I never could have planned.
That changed the way I thought about teaching.
I still want kids to learn how to draw better. But I also want them to keep drawing long enough to develop their own instincts, preferences, mistakes, weird little habits, and ways of seeing things.
The Crayon Kingdom grew out of that idea: drawing should be something you want to come back to.
From Crayons to Kingdoms
Over time, the classes became their own little world.
Kids remembered each other’s drawings. They cheered when someone finally got a request. Running jokes came back. Strange characters reappeared. A drawing from one day could turn into an idea for the next.
That was when The Crayon Kingdom started to make sense as more than a name.
It wasn’t really about being a king. It was about having a place where drawing could stay playful, personal, and a little unpredictable.
My job is still to teach kids how to draw. I just don’t want getting “better” to squeeze all the fun out of it.
Mistakes, Style, and Learning to Keep Going
One thing I’ve learned from teaching is that kids are often much harder on their drawings than they need to be.
A crooked circle, a lopsided face, or a line that wandered off course can feel like proof that they “did it wrong.”
I try to help them see those moments differently. Sometimes a mistake really does need fixing. Sometimes it becomes the part of the drawing that gives it personality.
The goal isn’t to pretend every mark is perfect. It’s to keep going, make choices, experiment, and learn what you like.
That idea has become one of the main rules of The Crayon Kingdom: your drawing doesn’t have to be perfect to count.
Why I Keep Creating
Teaching keeps me drawing.
Kids ask for things I never would have thought to draw on my own. Their ideas send me in new directions, make me solve strange little visual problems, and remind me not to get too precious about the result.
I make my own artwork for the same reason. I like seeing what happens when an idea gets pushed a little farther than expected.
The classes, the drawings, the characters, and the rest of The Crayon Kingdom all come from the same place: I want drawing to stay alive, surprising, and worth coming back to.
Draw With Me
If your kid likes to draw, make up characters, ask for strange things, or simply wants a place to keep practicing, that’s what my live classes are for.
We draw together, take requests, try new things, and make room for drawings that don’t come out exactly as planned.
You can see my current classes on Outschool.
