[Tom H]

I note that several carvers on this Board woodburn their carvings, to prevent paint from spreading between sections. I have given this a try, but a question comes up. When applying a wash of paint, the burning shows through. Even if a heavier wash is used I can still see the burns. Am I doing something wrong, or is the burn supposed to show? Thanks Tom H

[falconer]

Not sure what it is your trying to paint. A bird maybe? I always use gesso first! This puts all the burning on a level playing field as far as coverage and looking the same. This creates a starting point for color. Before I paint one of my birds of prey I always apply a couple coats of gesso.

[AlArchie]

I use the burns both as a "border" and also as an accent. Most are done on relief carvings that will get acrylic washes....and yes, the burns show through. On my fish I burn the scales in hard and hot, then seal and gesso, but the burns are then completely covered and no longer act as color dams. Here's a link to one of my reliefs with the burned delineators and accents....http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.co...1160781010.you can see that the burns are an intgral part of the carving.

I believe Lynn uses light burns to delineate his color areas and then uses washes so the grain still shows through. Check out Lynn's site and you can see that on the close up photos of his western art, the burns are still detectable through the washes and add considerably to the overall effect.

You may want to burn a bit more lightly and see if that works for you, but I'd say that you will still see the burn lines between colored areas if you use washes or watercolors.

Al

[Tom H]

Thanks for the info Al and Falconer. I tried the burning on a 4 inch tall old world santa. I guess one of my goals was to use the burner to clean up some messy cuts as well as prevent paint bleed. It worked on cleaning up the cuts, and preventing paint bleed. I just had to go too dark on the paint to cover the burns. What I realy need to do is get a burner that is better than what I have. I solder with the old $9,95 burner I have now. Thanks again, Tom H

[falconer]

Tom, hope all goes well with your painting. As someone once told me, if you want to get good at carving you have to carve if you want to be good at painting you have to paint. In other words just do it!! You'll learn more by doing than anything else. I've made a whole lot of fire wood and wasted more paint in my career than I care to admit, but it was worth it. By the way, you might want to check out the detailer "cub" burner made by Colwood. It's very mobile and burns consistant. Also, check out the red burning pens at Sugarpine Woodcarving Supplies, thats all I use. Good luck!!!

[santagibbs]

Tom I use the Colwood detailer for burning my Santas and the things that go with him.. I like to use the burn marks as accents also.. The detailer has small points on some of their pens. I like to use it as accents on clothing. Like stiching and design. I don't try to paint over it but around the design which accents the design. Lots of people burn their beards in and use the tips for stop cuts for the beards . I used it for cutting in tips in fur trees.. I would paint in over that though.. It's a good investment to get a good burner and mine is fourteen years old and all we replaced was a cord. Colewood has all the replacement things for it if you need them.. Charlotte

[santagibbs]

Hi Tom, I am going to try and send you and example of what I mean.. all of the design was put in by the Detailer.. but I just painted around the stitching so that it would have the effect of the stitching.. Charlotte

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Originally Posted by santagibbs

Hi Tom, I am going to try and send you and example of what I mean.. all of the design was put in by the Detailer.. but I just painted around the stitching so that it would have the effect of the stitching.. Charlotte

Hey Charlotte...how come you've been hiding those carvings? show and tell time!

[Tom H]

Thanks Charlotte and all! Good info. And Charlotte, your example is fantastic. I've often wondered how you got that look to your Santas. Thanks for sharing. Tom H

[santagibbs]

Thank's I am glad I could help..I can't do much of that, as you all are so knowledgable that I am afraid to open my mouth because I will look stupid.. Those little marks just take time but it goes pretty fast..

Now Hi Ho..remember when I was asking for the pen that could make a heart , etc. and Kenny came up with the Hot Marks...???? I haven't used them yet but I think that will be fun to do on something like this again... and you won't have to try to draw them on to size.. That was an old Santa that I just THOUGHT I could carve years ago and put back on the shelf to throw away.. I drug it out and carved some feet to go on the bottom and had fun making a quilted robe.. That's fhe fun thing about Santas..always something new to come up with.... Charlotte