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Crayons for Codgers is Fun, Useful and
Non-commercial
Aug. 23, 2004 Crayons for Codgers is a nice
Website the editor has created to help seniors keep their brains active
and healthy by using a familiar tool -- the wax crayon. The simple art
techniques explained on the site can help fingers stay flexible and
boost hand-eye coordination, says creator Joseph Klipple.
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This
illustration, "Crayon Confrontation," is a good example of the
freedom that comes with crayons, says the artist. The simple
straight-forwardness of crayons lets the artist tell a tale with
facial colors that is easy for the viewer to grasp. We have the
bronzed stalwart, the apoplectic bluehair, the weasely office
holder under attack. In the foreground are envious youth and the
non-involved silverhair. |
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They call us kids in the beginning. On the other side
of the circle, they call us codgers. The trick, as we approach codger
status, is to keep the circle from closing too soon, says Klipple. That
is where crayons come in. The simple tools that powered our earliest
artistic efforts can be relied on once again in our ongoing efforts to
keep our brains active and healthy. They can also help fingers stay
flexible and boost hand-eye coordination.
Klipple, the site creator, has been making pictures
and writing almost all his life. He drew before he could read, he
claims, and had graduated to oil paints before he was out of elementary
school.
He got a job as a sports writer for a daily
newspaper while still in high school, and went on to become a sports
editor, political reporter, editor of various business and travel
publications and a fiction writer.
Photography loomed large in his life after a sister
gave him a camera as a graduation gift, he says. Eventually, he operated
his own photojournalism and advertising photography studio in the
nation's capital. He was Goldie Hawn's first promotional photographer.
He is author of the novel Charlemagne Summer
and dozens of short stories.
He knows first hand how good crayons can be for
super mature types. "They make a strong line which is good if your
vision isn't what it once was," he reports. "Since they aren't built for
delicate work, it doesn't make any difference if your cranky, arthritic
fingers won't let you hold them as still as a pen or pencil requires.
Crayons for Codgers -
http://crayonsforcodgers.home.mindspring.com/ |
