Banksy is an urban graffiti artist who is known for his controversial and often disturbing art. His graffiti can be found all over Europe and North America in major cities such as Chicago, New York, London, and many others. Banksy's art often portrays some kind of message about society or an event that has happened. Most of the time he critiques the morality of an incident or a cultural phenomenon in a way that attacks the emotions of whoever gazes upon his art. One particular work of his, The Crayola Shooter, critiques the ethics of war because of the effect it has had on children. Banksy stenciled and drew this piece of work on the side of an urban outfitters in Los Angeles. He wanted his art to be seen by people in an urban setting in order to bring to light the horrible effects of war for people that probably don't think about it on a day to day basis. In this painting, Bankys uses several aspects including the overall design, the boy that is being portrayed, color, and symbolism in order to portray a message out to the public that war is an evil that destroys the innocents of childhood by turning children into soldiers and making them suffer through hardships. 

For the overall design of the work of art Banksy made the child the center of attention along with the machine gun that he is holding. The child and the machine gun are stenciled with great detail, while the rest of the art work looks like it has been drawn by a five year old. This image is striking to the viewer, because a child in which be associated with innocents is holding a weapon that is about the same size as him. The image of the child holding the machine gun goes against what the viewer would consider normal or appropriate. A child shouldn't be fighting in a war, so this image seems disturbing. That in which one would usually associate a child with is less obviously seen in the picture. Around the child, there are colorful flowers, butterflies, green grass and a sun. These drawings look as though they had been drawn by a child around the same age as the one in the picture. And if you look at the ammunition in the machine gun, it becomes clear that the gun is loaded with crayons and not bullets. The child who is meant to be coloring with crayons that which is in the background is instead holding a machine gun and the overall design of the piece or art reflects this by putting the child with the gun so obviously in the front and the childish drawings in the back and the crayons in a position in which they aren't noticed right away. 

The way in which the child is depicted adds a lot of meaning to the artwork. The kid appears to be of Asian descent, and his clothes suggest that he is not American. The issue of child soldiers is one that takes place mostly outside the United States, even though that is where the artwork is located. The child is wearing what seems to be an army uniform with the hat on backwards. If this were an adult in the picture, he would seem to be threatening. However, the child doesn't appear to be a threat despite the fact he is holding a machine gun. If you look at the kids face you can tell that he really doesn't want to be there. He looks uncomfortable, sad and lost. A boy that age should be coloring and not fighting in a war, and there have been many times in the past where children have been used in the military. Seeing a child be this unhappy triggers a sense of sympathy in the viewer of the artwork, because we know the child is innocent and doesn't deserve any of this to happen to him.  

Color is another very important aspect of the artwork. The Child and the gun are black and white, while the crayons and the drawings are in color. The black and white suggest a bleak situation and the colorful drawings suggest a paradise that has been imagined by a child. The black and white represents the cold and crewel reality while the color represents childish innocents and imagination. The contrast between the two images is striking. The colorful crayons in the machine gun represent what the child would rather be doing. He would much rather be coloring than shooting a gun, but the what is shown in black and white is reality because the child is bring oppressed by war. 

Banksy also used symbolism in this work to convey a message. The childish drawings in the background symbolize juvenility, while the Gun and the uniform symbolize war. The child appears to have surrounding himself with a sun, grass, flowers, and butterflies. Not the things I would typically associate with war. Perhaps the image is implying that in order to cope with his situation the kid imagines himself in surrounded by these things so he can feel a sense of security that he has been denied.  The psychological effects that war has on children are horrifying. The main reason being that children don't even understand what is happening or why they are fighting in the first place. Many times in order to cope with this, children turn to alcohol or other drugs. The innocent drawings symbolize what the child is meant to be doing, but the gun symbolizes the cold bleak reality that the child is actually going through. The crayons represent the fact that this child doesn't want to hurt anyone. He would rather just color. 

War effects the ones who start them as well as the innocent. Children are brought into wars that they have nothing to do with. Their childhoods are taken from, them and they are forced to fight against their will. The purpose of this work of art is to expose the effects that war has had on children, opening the eyes of the public to what is really going on. 

 
