Acorn WIP

[Irish]

Step 96: I am working with the small spoon type shader in a writing position with my temp setting around 6. That temp setting will vary depending on the area that I want to strengthen. I wanted to start with bringing the mouse forward as he is the most important element of the burning. Just as I have done throughout this WIP I am going to work in layers ... Slowly bring up the new tonal values by burning one layer over another.

Step 97: OK, when you work one area it effects all of the surrounding areas. I want to enhance the mouse's ear by dropping the value of the background leaf. But that means that I also need to drop the value where the leaf stem tucks under the branch and where the leaf goes behind the acorn.

Susan

[Irish]

Step 98:I headed over to the left side leaf to darken it next. Again, this is just the first layer of several that I will work until I have strong contrasts between the different elements.

Step 99: I moved up along the left leaf and began creating more visual space where the tail, stem and leaf meet.

Step 100: By now surely you are tired of hearing me talk about lightly built up layers and working a little bit of everything. But now I think you may be able to see why I use this type of burning technique. I have total control over my tones and how they push or pull an element in the pattern.

I treat each element of a pattern as just small pieces of one big picture. They are not individual pictures that are put together to create a large picture.

Working elements as if they were 'one full picture' or 'completely burning one element before you begin any work on the next' means, for me, that I end up with well defined little pictures that don't inter-relate to each other. Each one could stand alone but have little relationship to what is next to it.
Working the entire pattern a little here and a little there helps me to see how one area effects another.

By working in thin built up layers of burning I have yet to have an "Opps!" in this burning. "Opps!" is when I realize that one area is so dark or so hard that I will never get the surrounding areas to the right tonal value.

Step 101: I seem to be working counter clockwise as I move into the left side of the acorn. I want to drop that side of the acorn several tones to enhance the round feeling. I have also added a little detailing to the acorn tip.

Step 102: Into the right side of the acorn. I did drop the temp setting down around 5 through here so that I could soften the edges of the highlights.

These are the changes that I needed to make to strengthen the contrast between elements. They may not be the ones that you will need. Please, don't just follow my steps through this section. Set your burning several feet away from you and take time to just look closely at it.

Thinks of the questions that we asked at the beginning of this section and make those changes that will enhance your burning not mine!

If you have any problems deciding where you might need some tonal adjustments I invite you to post images of your project to this thread where the members of the message board can give you some feed back.

Susan

[Irish]

In this image you can see where the burning is after all of the adjustment layers of work. I don't want to bore you with another 20 photos as I just go around and around the patterns deepening the layers slowly

Step 103: Maybe you have noticed that I have done very little work on the branch so far. Well we are about to do it's shading steps. I have added two white lines to the photo to mark where my brightest or whitest tonal values fall in the burning. Between these two lines are the mouse's ears, forehead, mussel and left leg. Also the cap petals have unburned tips and the two bright highlights fall inside these lines. The highlight on the acorn tip is captured inside this boundary as well.

Those unburned areas dramatically stand out against the solid black background I chose early in the work. This is my area of focus ... it's the area that captures your eye first and everything else in the burning is judged in tonal value by this section.

I wanted to wait for the branch shading because I was not sure until now exactly where that area of focus would fall. Since the mouse's face and ears are so very important and the highlights in the acorn so large I wanted these areas done first as they predict where the highlight on the branch must fall.

Now , with my lines marked I know that the section of the branch inside those lines will get very little or no shading and the areas outside those lines will gradually deepen in tonal value as they head toward the sides of the wood.

OK... have to go do some 'real' work as my Beloved Hubby would say. Catch ya'll later.

Susan

[Pyrographer]

Originally Posted by Woodartist

Isn't "Razor Tip" made in Canada, or do they have an American manufacturing facility?

Yes it is made in Canada.

Nedra

[WOODIE13]

Susan,
Nice 20 minute project with the spoon, that would take me a couple hoursCowboy

[Pippin]

Originally Posted by Irish

So ... I was at the grocery store yesterday and came across a pack of three unfinished wooden (poplar) spoons. This is the first at 10" high and 1 1/2" wide. Including the time for a light sanding and the burning it was about a 20 minute project which would make a nice Holiday gift.

I've seen these spoon sets and thought about chopping off most of the handle, drilling a hole in the handle stub, stringing a ribbon, and burning both sides of the bowl for tree ornaments. (keep the handles for paint stirring or chop them up and drill them for beads)

At my probable rate of speed, it would be a 20-hour project.

[Pippin]

Originally Posted by Irish

Those unburned areas dramatically stand out against the solid black background I chose early in the work.

It may just be my monitor, but the lone acorn highlight at the bottom appears to rise above the acorn's surface, as if it has a slight drop shadow. If this is so for other viewers, is there any way to lighten the darkness next to the bottom and side of the highlight, or is the only solution to turn down the value everywhere else around that darkness?

If I'm the only one seeing this, please ignore.

[Irish]

Hey Pippin,

The acorns that I have used as my guide do not have smooth even surfaces. Go back to post #17 and note the dark acorn centered between the leaves and post #34 for the larger guide image.

An acorn can be very smooth on it's surface while it's still green. At that time it is tightly secured inside the cap. But by the time they have become deep brown they are starting to dry out, shriveled, shrink and become striped with ridges. That's when the acorn becomes small enough to loosen from the cap.

So you can usually find green capped acorns, sienna brown striped acorns, chocolate ridged acorns with no caps and empty caps.

Susan

[Irish]

Step 104: I believe that we are on the finishing steps today. The branch still needs it's shading. Then I want to add some detailing to the leaves and acorn caps. A few strong fur hairs for our mouse and a few whiskers should complete the pattern. I also need to work the outer frame ring.

Step 105; I decided to narrow the branch highlight area even more then I had noted in the last postings. I beleive that going with a large highlight as I had previously marked would have over powered the highlight on the mouse's face. By narrowing it I can keep the focus on the mouse.

Step 106: The spoon shader at temp setting 7 and a writing hand position worked very well to both add more texturing to the branch and shading. As I worked away from the highlight area I am adding more and more shading.

Step 107: I worked the branch shading in two sections. First I did all of the shading along the bottom edge of the branch. Then I went back and added the shading along the top edge.

Step 108: My apologizes. As I have added more and more burning the surface of the project has begun to take on a gloss finish. That finish is reeking havic on my flash on the camera. So here is a close up from the final scan for the branch shading.

Susan

[Irish]

Step 109 and 109a: I have switched to the fine writing tip pen and a medium setting around 6. I am using the paint brush position so that I am working right on the very point of the tip. I want to add a FEW detailing lines in the leaves. I decided to burn along the bottom of each of the side veins for my accents.

Notice the vein that goes under the mouse tail and how the detail line is burned on both sides of this vein. Also note that the detail lines are a medium tone not black. Details do not need to be burned in black to have a strong impact of the pattern. Using several tonal values of detailing lines adds to the pattern.

Step 110: Now, having just said that not all detail lines need to be done in black ... I am going to add just a little "V" of black where the veins intersect. Grin!

Step 111: I have moved my temp setting up to 8 and added lots of fine lines to the cap petals. The heaviest concentration of lines fell in the deeper shadowed areas of the cap.

Susan