[Woodartist]

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

[WOODIE13]

Originally Posted by Pyrographer

I do have to agree that as interchangeable tips go the Colwood is easier to change and use and puts you closer to the work but it's still not as easy as a fixed tip pen and that was mostly my point. Fixed tip pens are still easier to use and change and you can remove them while they are still hot and just place them in the holder on the burner. With interchangeable tips you don't have that luxury.

Nedra

You can still do that with IC tips as well, it comes the pull so a quick change can be in order for the Colwood tips. Never had any issue with them, hot or not.

Never fooled with the one piece pens.

[Irish]

Woodie,

I have discovered the same thing. Colwoods interchangeables are of solid strong construction and have such direct contact to the pen that the burning I am getting is the same as one with a fixed pen. Since you are changing out the entire pen tip not just a bent wire there was no issue of heat in doing the exchange.

It's not like you are working only with the hot wires of the posts or the hot wire of the tip as is the case with the RazorTip.

I don't know why I have already gone through two RazorTip interchangeable pens and it looks like the third is headed in the same direction. And I haven't called Cam as it may well be me. But I do know that I am not going to have that problem with the system I am trying out now.

Even though, as Paul joked earlier, I do get to write some of this off our taxes as 'advertising' and 'contributions' that doesn't mean that I don't need every dollar I spend to be worthwhile and usable ... just like any other hobbyist or crafter. So, yea, if I want to try some specialty tips I want that investment easy to use and very long lasting .... just my opinion.

And as I said I was doing this as a test and review, the differences between manufacturer's systems may be small but for me this one, easy changeable pen tips, ranks really high on my list of goodies ... right along with the cork handles and excellent tonal value range of the temp settings.

Susan

[Irish]

Step 91 and 92: Comparisons of where we are at and where we are going.
What I want to do is strengthen the tonal values to create more contrast between elements. Since I can't lighten an area I will need to darken values to create that difference.

I think it might be easier on you if you see now what the final changes look like before we work on how I did them.

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.

Susan

[Irish]

Step 93 Top row: The mouse's ear is in the foreground of the pattern has not been burned along the upper edge. So this area is in my white tone. That ear should really stand out in the design. Notice in the image on the left that at this time there is not a strong distinction between the ear and the leaf behind it. By darkening the tones of the leaf I can add more emphasis to the ear - push it forward by dropping the other element in tonal value.

Step 93 Middle Row: His little bottom does not yet tuck behind the acorn nor does his tail really go between the acorn cap stem and the leaf. In the right hand photo you can see that I have darkened his bottom where it slips under the cap and darkened the leaf where it surrounds the tail. Now I feel like I have three levels - a foreground for the cap, a mid ground for the mouse's bottom and tail and a background leaf.

Step 93 Bottom Row: Right now the background leaf and the acorn cap are still at the same tonal value. By darkening the leaf I give more contrast to this area. In all three of these samples notice that I am dropping the value of the entire area especially in the leaves. I am burning everything at the same time including the leaf sections and the leaf veins.

Step 94 Top Row: The side of the face of my mouse is disappearing into the leaf behind it. Just as I did with the highlights in the eyes I have grabbed my bench knife and cut a fine line along the outer edge of the eye and the lower cheek. That extremely thin line of white is enough to separate the two elements.

Step 94 Middle Row: My shadow was not strong enough to make the mouse's head feel solid, with weight. The strength of your shadows implies the thickness, weight or solidity of that from which they are cast. So a weak shadow implies a weak element. I have toned the shadow areas under the mouse in the right hand photo.

Step 94 Bottom Row: My highlights in the acorns are too defined so I have added a little mid-tone shading along the edges of the highlights to soften them. I have also dropped the tonal value along the bottom third of the acorn to set it back farther into the pattern.

Step 95: Here's a side by side comparison of where I am at in the burning. I have really reduced the size of each photo and gray scaled the photos. Sometimes reducing the image after you take a photo or scan let's you see the tonal value work more clearly because it eliminates the detailing and texturing of the photo. This is an easy tip for improving your burnings. Where the left side burning is 'nice' the right side burning is obviously 'better' as it is more distinct in contrasting values.

Susan

[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 hours