Some artists work in stone, clay, oils or charcoal — Hoang Tran, other hand, works in crayons.
Tran, a Pittsburgh-based artist, uses crayons to carve amazingly detailed busts of pop-culture figures, using colored wax to help the tiny figures spring to life.
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Though his current career path is more creatively inclined, Tran initially attended school to become a dentist. "I withdrew to pursue something more creative,” Tran told Instagram. “I had seen someone else’s crayon carvings years before, and they stuck in my mind. Because we’d done something similar in dental school — we carved teeth from wax — I knew I had the skills to try."
"Some people think that the crayons are painted but all the extra colors are from the wax of other crayons," Tran told Lost At E Minor in 2014. "Painting would probably be a lot easier but I’m a purist and want the entire carving to be made of crayon wax. I don’t want to reveal the exact technique but I basically melt wax from one crayon and carefully apply it drop by drop to the main crayon I’m working on.
Tran now sells his work on his Etsy store, "Wax Nostalgic." An individually carved crayon will typically run for about $50 a pop.
“It turns out I really, really enjoy this work,” Tran says. “Now that I’m selling pieces online, showing in art galleries, even doing commissions for people, I guess other people really enjoy them, too.”
The crayon we deserve. #batman #darkknight #thedarkknight #brucewayne #gotham #dc #dccomics #comicbooks #comic #comiccon #crayons #carving #art A photo posted by Hoang Tran (@mumblestohimself) on Oct 10, 2015 at 1:42pm PDT
Giddy up. Here's a carving inspired by the infamous painting of Kramer I made for the Seinfeld art show that's running right now at Gallery 1988. The show is appropriately named An Art Show About Nothing. #kramer #cosmokramer #seinfeld #gallery1988 #galleries1988 #anartshowaboutnothing #artshowaboutnothing #crayons #carving #art A photo posted by Hoang Tran (@mumblestohimself) on Oct 21, 2015 at 2:26pm PDT
Mondays are a trap. #admiralackbar #ackbar #itsatrap #starwars #rebelalliance #returnofthejedi #crayons #carving #art A photo posted by Hoang Tran (@mumblestohimself) on Oct 12, 2015 at 12:47pm PDT
Happy Halloween! #nightmarebeforechristmas #thenightmarebeforechristmas #jackskellington #jackandsally #halloween #christmas #timburton #crayons #carving #art A photo posted by Hoang Tran (@mumblestohimself) on Oct 31, 2015 at 2:42pm PDT
I haven't posted anything cute in awhile... #winnie #winniethepooh #pooh #poohbear #tigger #piglet #eeyore #disney #crayons #carving #art A photo posted by Hoang Tran (@mumblestohimself) on Oct 5, 2015 at 12:48pm PDT
The Iron Giant for Gallery1988's ninth annual Crazy4Cult art show which opens this Friday in LA. #irongiant #theirongiant #bradbird #vindiesel #gallery1988 #galleries1988 #crazy4cult #crazy4cult9 #robot #animation #film #crayons #carving #art A photo posted by Hoang Tran (@mumblestohimself) on Nov 18, 2015 at 2:04pm PST
My second piece for Gallery1988's Crazy4Cult art show which opens tonight in LA. This is the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail suffering just a flesh wound. #blackknight #knight #montypython #montypythonandtheholygrail #holygrail #knights #gallery1988 #galleries1988 #crazy4cult #crazy4cult9 #cultclassic #crayons #carving #art A photo posted by Hoang Tran (@mumblestohimself) on Nov 20, 2015 at 2:29pm PST
I hope your weekend is full of adventure...and time. #adventuretime #at #cartoonnetwork #finn #finnthehuman #princessbubblegum #jakethedog #bmo #beemo #marceline #flameprincess #ooo #crayons #carving #art A photo posted by Hoang Tran (@mumblestohimself) on Oct 24, 2015 at 1:16pm PDT
Today is the last day to vote for me in the Geekie Awards. It takes a few seconds and the link is in my profile. I wanted to end on a high notes with sharing two of my favorite characters. Remember you can still enter my crayon giveaway in my previous post. Thanks for all the support! #calvinandhobbes #calvin #hobbes #tiger #billwatterson #comic #comics #comicstrip #crayons #carving #art A photo posted by Hoang Tran (@mumblestohimself) on Aug 31, 2015 at 2:46pm PDT