Acorn WIP

[mikeg]

You can get replacement corks for the Colwood pens at http://www.thewoodcraftshop.com/Defa...catpageindex=2

mikeg

[Hiloboy]

Susan, the rolling of the tongue. man does that bring back a lot of old memories.. i was a old school Pinhead in my frist lifeTalking then i went on to learn another old school trade hand engraving and scrimshaw been doing that for almost 30 years.. now its on to pyro for my next life time. and now i read that my work as a pinhead may help me do pyro.. mahalos for the great tutorial...

[Irish]

I didn't get very far today and I am going to sneak this in before the phone rings again!

Step24B: Where we were and where we are headed.

This photo shows where we left off on Friday and what I have had a chance to work today ... sorry, just not much. Plus it has our reference photo for the leaf I am working.

Notice in the photo that the leaf is basically a mid-tone to dark element.
Unlike the acorn it does not have a bright white highlight. The palest part
of the leaf is the upper part of the center vein. There are very fine side
veins that are also pale tones.

During then next few steps I am going to work the leaf area but not the stem or veins. I will save those for later.

I like to work my designs in layer of burning at low or middle temp settings.
This lets me bring the color up very slowly. Even though I know that I want
the leaf is very dark where it tucks under the acorn the last thing I want to
do is crank up the heat. If I did that and hit the leaf area and had a
problem as I did with the haloing earlier I can ruin the entire burning with
just one touch of the pen tip.

So instead I will work an area at a slightly lower heat setting then my sepia
scale temp setting test then I want for that area ... if my temp setting test
says the color tone I want is a #6 I will work the area in a #4 setting and
just do the burning several times.

Layers also let me gently blend one color tone into another. As that random
doodle line goes over another area that is already burned it automatically
blends the two sections into one graduated area.

Also in these steps I will not be working to bring the color tone to it's full
strength. I want to wait until I have added my shadows, highlights and
reflected light areas to every area of the pattern before I begin to finalize
the depth of any tone in any area.

You can refer back to this photo as we walk through these steps. But before
you go to the next step note the reflected light area in the leaf, left side
first notch and second notch. See the mid-tone area along the very edge then the darker shadow area just inside the leaf.

[Irish]

Step 20: With the mapping done I am ready to work the actual shadowing and highlights to the leave of the left side of the design. I begin by looking
for the very darkest tones, those are found where the leave tucks under the
acorn.

I have moved my temp setting up to 5 and am using the random doodle in a
little tighter movement. The hand position is my basic writing position.

I have worked two or three tight random doodle layers over these very dark
areas. This lets me develop the color tone slowly as well as allow it to
overlap and therefore blend into the mapping work we have already completed.

Step 21: Once the darkest tones have been worked I have moved to the shadows along the edge of the stem and veins. I am still working that random doodle at a temp setting 5. As I don't want these as dark as the tuck-under shadows I have only added one or two layers.

Step 21A: Remember that I retraced my lines so that they were dark enough for you to see in the photos. Those very dark pencil lines are causing me trouble right now. I don't want to burn over them as that can set the pencil
permanently into the design. But some of my veins are wider than I want them.

So I have grabbed a pencil to erase those lines. Normally I would not use a
red erase, I use a white artist eraser so that I don't accidentally get red
eraser stains on the wood. I just happen to have already used this pencil
eraser for some cleaning on my practice board so know it's safe.

By now you may have noticed that I have not 'Outlined" anything. If I do this project and design well when we are finished I may have a few areas where I will pull a line (outline) in specific areas for accent or demarcation.
Outlining a design, even very faintly, can come back and bite you later in the
work. And it can make an area take on a coloring book effect.

Susan

[Irish]

Step 22: I have moved into the opposite side of the leaf to pick up the vein
shadows on that side.

Step 23: I have moved onto the edge area of this leaf. Notice the edge
shadow in the leaf notch just above where I am working. I have used a little
reflective light along that edge then moved into a darker toning inside the
leaf area.

Step 24: I have the stem and veins narrowed nicely, the darkest shadows into the tuck areas and the shadows along the veins and edges completed. Since my leaf is behind the acorn and mouse, in fact it is the most distant element in the pattern I want to darken the entire leaf just a little. I want my leaf highlights in the beige tones, not in the unburned white tones.

So I reduced my temp setting back to 4 and am working a couple of layers of
tight random doodling over everything ... yep! Everything. This work will
blend all of the work under it into one smooth look while dropping the tonal
value of every area the same amount.

Step 24A: Here's a close-up of that overall low temp layer that I use for both dropping everything down a notch in value and for blending.

Susan

(I will try to get an earlier start tomorrow ... below the phone begins to ring again.)

[Irish]

Oppps, sorry. You might like to see what little I did get done in relationship to the rest of the project.

Susan

FYI! I have had several emails and PMs about where each of the steps are to the WIP posts in this thread. I have gone back and added Edit Notes for those that want to quickly pick up just those posts for printing and file saving. Those edit notes direct the WIP readers onto the next page and post that includes a WIP step.

Now, I have noted on each edit that I hope everyone takes time to go back and read each and every post in this thread because there has already been some great ideas, techniques and experiences shared here by so many people. I really don't want anyone to miss the Good Stuff in between the steps.

Edited: Oct 5, 2007. If you are following the WIP for saving and printing the photos, please go to Page 10, post #93 for the next series of steps.)

Still me

[Woodartist]

When I click on the Thumbnail, I only get about 20% of the image. Could be my browser, could be something got clobbered, could be wattage and volts......just wanted to mention it in case someone else has the problem. If so, maybe the image could be posted again????

[Pyrographer]

I got the full image when I opened it with no problem...must be your suffering from low voltage Bill Wink

Nedra

[Pyrographer]

(I will try to get an earlier start tomorrow ... below the phone begins to ring again.)[/quote]

Susan, did you say you were getting up at 4 am to start this again tomorrow.... Talking

Nedra

[Irish]

Editted to remove chat.

Susan