[MelNM]

Those look like the mesas around here Brian, except not as much green. Nice drawing by the way.
Mel

[brian bailey]

Thanks for the kind words on my drawing. After riding our m/c's in what seemed like the moon between Worland and Ten Sleep, Wyoming we went over a ridge and on our descent we came upon that scene. A kodak moment for us!

I've done some work with oil pastels and I don't think I'd want to use them on wood. IMO they're to messy.

Here is a painting I did with oil pastels for the art class I just took.
The lady was done from a coke a cola image I have.

Mel, I think adding a little color to a wood burning really makes it stand out.

[Pyrographer]

I will be experimenting with other mediums but will not be incorporating it into my woodburnings. I do use color on occasion but mostly for accent and mostly I prefer my burnings to be au naturale. I will be getting more into drawing with colored pencils and graphite. My roots are in oil paint on canvas but not going back to that medium again. I always like to see what others do and how they use color with their burnings though.
Nedra

[brian bailey]

Don't over look charcoal!

I really enjoyed working with charcoal while I was taking an art class this fall. It is surprizing what you can do with a kneadable eraser .

The first pic is my rendition of Gustave Courbet's self portrait.

The 2nd was done from a magazine adv. for hair shampoo.

[Irish]

Hey Mel!

Thanks for pointing me towards your carousel horse thread this morning. Your horse is great especially in the shading of the back legs and belly area. I can really feel the depth of the horses body in this area.

And beautiful clean burned lines ... I didn't see any "bubbling" where you suddenly get one of those big dark spots in the middle of the line. Very nice control! It's hard to think that this is your first burning ... blows me away.

Colored pencils are great when you want to add a little color to the burn. As Nedra, Kathy and Bryan I use Prismacolors. I build the color up very very slowly, keeping the pencil point sharp. The first layer or two is barely visable. The thinner the layers the more color you can apply ... colored pencils do have a wax/oil base and working too heavy at first can cause the wax to build up. A heavy waxed area won't take more color ...

So very thin layers. Also I use lots of colors in one area. With pencils you can shade with many colors as they do blend on the wood. So a red saddle can have blue and purple shadows with yellow highlights that add to the sparkle with the brown tones of the wood burning to create the shape and form!

There's a spray fixative named Reworkable Blue Label Fixatif which is perfect for colored pencils on wood burning. The spray finish has a little bit of tooth that lets you set the colored pencils then add more colored pencil over the spray. You can use several layers of Blue Label bringing the color up slowly and when it's perfect then finish with your favorite sealer.

There's a great Colored Pencil forum at www.WetCanvas.com for those that want to learn more about their use and their use in different medias as wood burnings.

Mel, Great thread!!!!! Bryan - Just stunning, especially the Wyoming landscape.

Susan

[Pyrographer]

As I previously stated I rarely use color in my burnings but when I do it is either Prismacolor oils or Derwent Studio which is a clay based pencil. When I use the oil pencils I either use a blending stick or turpanoid to blend the pencils.

I've just started to get back into drawing but with graphite and charcoal. I'm currently working on a portrait of one of my shelties and I'm thrilled with the way it's coming out since I haven't drawn in 40 years.

I'm also working on two burnings, one of which I am getting into the real basics...using a torch and Wall Lenk single temperature burner.

I guess this is my year of experimentation and exploration.

I'm hoping to get at least one of my burnings done for a show later this month but not sure. They both have a lot of detail and I don't have a lot of time to work on them....the show is the 22nd-23!!

Nedra

[brian bailey]

Thank you Susan for the kind words.

I learned a little trick from my art instructor on what to do when you're having trouble laying a color over another color when using colored pencils.

She said to use white correction fluid. Use either the brush on or if you want more control use a correction pen. Let the fluid dry then color right over it.

It works too! Because that is how I was able to get the grasses to grow in the fence line on the Wyo. landscape.

[Irish]

Hey Brian,

Great suggestion. I haven't tried a correction pen, I have used clear scotch tape though. You can place the tape gently over an area that has become too heavy or where you have gotten off line. Then use an ink pen to rub over the tape just in that area. When you lift the tape it will lift just the penned area.

Another nice way to add more color to an overworked area is to lightly add a layer of graphite pencil shading. The graphite will grab where the colored pencil won't and it adds a little gray tone to the areas.

Nedra,

I don't use colored pencils that are clay or chalk based for my wood burning projects, only those that have a wax base. Clay and chalk are common bases for some pencil lines as Derwent where Prisma uses the wax as the carrier.

Clay and chalk are opaque! And even in the extremely fine grind that is used with colored pencils it will build up in the depth of your burned lines leaving a cloudy or milky look to the work. Clay based pencils can undo all that wonderful tonal value that you worked so hard to create with the burning.

The wax in the Prismas is not opaque, in fact many of the pencil colors are extremely translucent - almost transparent. So you get lots of great color and all of your tonal burning still remains.

Just my experince ...

Susan

[Pyrographer]

Originally Posted by Irish

Hey Brian,

Great suggestion. I haven't tried a correction pen, I have used clear scotch tape though. You can place the tape gently over an area that has become too heavy or where you have gotten off line. Then use an ink pen to rub over the tape just in that area. When you lift the tape it will lift just the penned area.

Another nice way to add more color to an overworked area is to lightly add a layer of graphite pencil shading. The graphite will grab where the colored pencil won't and it adds a little gray tone to the areas.

Nedra,

I don't use colored pencils that are clay or chalk based for my wood burning projects, only those that have a wax base. Clay and chalk are common bases for some pencil lines as Derwent where Prisma uses the wax as the carrier.

Clay and chalk are opaque! And even in the extremely fine grind that is used with colored pencils it will build up in the depth of your burned lines leaving a cloudy or milky look to the work. Clay based pencils can undo all that wonderful tonal value that you worked so hard to create with the burning.

The wax in the Prismas is not opaque, in fact many of the pencil colors are extremely translucent - almost transparent. So you get lots of great color and all of your tonal burning still remains.

Just my experince ...

Susan

Susan, if and when (very rare) I do use color it is mostly with Primacolor but when I'm looking for a different look I have used the clay based. When I do it's never in an area where there is any burned lines or shading anyway it's strictly on bare wood.

Nedra

[Irish]

Nedra,

That makes a lot of sense. For filling in unburned background areas or negative space, clay based would be perfect.

Susan