My first attempt at pyrography

[coldcell]

Dear all,

I thought I would set myself a challenge and try something completely new and out of my comfort zone...so I bought a pyrography kit and here are my first experiments.

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OBOD2.jpg (65.92 KiB) Viewed 1899 times

[Huathe]

Looks good!!

[Silverleaf_Willow]

your first attempt? wow!
Great job!

[coldcell]

Many thanks both,

The tools are actually quite difficult to use, but I thought I would set myself a project of creating a small altar piece for the upcoming Solstice. I have been an artist for many years, but work mainly with woodblock print and painting, so trying this new medium is somewhat challenging.. At present I am just getting to grips with the tools, seeing what marks can be made, how the wood burns and so forth - I would recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone. It feels very raw and natural to just be working with fire and wood and 'seeing what happens'.

Thanks for your comments,

Jason

[Aurora]

Your pictures look fantastic, it's obvious you have artistic talent even if these particular tools are new to you.

Thanks for sharing

[rowanmist]

Hi your first attempts are really good. I too just started this last couple of weeks but found it harder than I expected. I need to keep practising!

[coldcell]

And here is the finished version. Doing the dots nearly killed me..

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[coldcell]

And another...

SeaHorsePyrography.jpg (63.21 KiB) Viewed 1774 times

[Huathe]

Beautiful work, Coldcell!

[coldcell]

Many thanks.. It's getting slightly obsessive at the moment...

[Susanne]

They are beautiful! I can see how you would be obsessive about it.
Thanks so much for sharing them. Can you explain the technique?
Blessings
Sue

[coldcell]

Dear Susanne,

I realised this morning that I had not responded to your post - sorry about that!

Practically, there are two types of pyrography machine - solid point and wire tipped. I don't really think there is much difference and I have used both. A solid tipped pyrography pen nib screws in to the pen, whilst a wire tip is held in place with screws. I have also used two types of machine - one with two heat settings, which wasn't ideal as it seemed to be either way too hot, or way too cold. I then invested in a machine where you can turn the temperature up and down whilst you are working, which has been a boon. The first image I made [with the owl and awen] was made with a solid point machine but as there was only the two heat settings, I had little control over it.

In order to create a pyrographed image, first decide on your image - either draw onto the wood, or trace a design. Then, it is as simple as using the pyrography pen to draw over the lines and experiment with the different types of nibs. Thinner ones will give thinner lines, whilst nibs that are shaped liked tiny spoons will give a broader mark that is suitable for shading. The idea is really to use the pen in exactly the same way as if you were drawing with a pencil - not leaving it pressed in any one particular part of the wood as it will start to smoulder. It's as easy as that..

With regard to materials - I use sycamore as it has a nice burn quality, but you can use a myriad types of wood. Also, leather, but make sure it has been treated with vegetable oil, otherwise it will smell horrible. I haven't used leather and don't intend to.

Here are some links you may find of interest..

dalescraft - he sells the beginners solid point pyrography kit as well as pyrography blanks.

Peter Child - Peter sells the heat controllable wire-tipped machine as well as blanks and other tools

Also, here are some new images I have been working on as presents for my family. These are made with the new Peter Child machine.

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spiral_dragon.jpg (121.68 KiB) Viewed 1716 times

All the best

[Bartholomew]

Beautiful work Coldcell, I would like to have a go at that, so thanks for the information as well.

[Susanne]

Thanks very much for the explanation. It's absolutely beautiful work!
Sue

[wyeuro]

[reilz81]

thats amazing work am new to this term i have used a magnifying glass to do mine although i was only using it to inscribe my wand in ogham but i could see using it to do art may not be as detailed as these though

[MPutnam]

Glad to see that I'm not the only one with the pyrography bug!
I recently bought a simple solid point kit with no heat adjustment but I still love it!

Your pieces are amazing! Blew my first two projects out of the water (a shame too, i am rather proud of them

[coldcell]

I thought I would share some new work..I recently became an uncle for the first time - my nephew's name is Toby. I have decided that for his first five birthdays, I shall do a portrait of him. Here's the first...this is done on birch - same process as the others, just a smaller tip and all the lines go in one direction, so it looks 'sketched'. Hopefully, they will go on his bedroom wall.

Toby (1 of 1).jpg (209.46 KiB) Viewed 1353 times

MPutnam - are you still enjoying your new machine? It would be great to see some images.

[Susanne]

That is fantastic coldcell. Toby is a lucky boy to have such a talented (& loving) Uncle!

[Aurora]

wow thats really beautiful coldcell, Toby is a very lucky little baby!