[heater]

Warm greetings, today is a new day, I'm going to try to get my burn to enlarge so everyone can help me learn from my mistakes, since I am learning this on my own, not sure if I'm burning correctly. Many thanks.

[BobD]

Let me try uploading the one I resized for you...

Bob

[BobD]

Heater,
Did you change the file I e-mailed back to you at all? We're almost there!!!! The hardest part is getting the photo to upload in the first place!!!

Bob

[Mottles]

Hi and welcome, looks like BobD, got your image to a viewable size. It looks to me you are on the right track in burning. Your color work shows a nice softness and very appealing. Did you use oil pencils?
With all burning it's heat temp. that is important to high a heat and things get darker than you want. To low a heat and it's not enough so just continue raising the heat temp until you reach the desired heat for the effect you want. For me I work from the darkest value first and work toward the lightest value. Always locate where the lightest values are and save them for last.
I would recommend some woodburning book by Lora Irish, www.carvingpatterns.com. She is also a constributor to this site and is always very helpful. Take a look at this thread in this forum I think you will find it very helpful. Mule Deer WIP
Kathy
Another excellent one would be Sue Walter's http://www.suewalters.com/

[Lindy]

Hi Heater & welcome!

Thanks for posting your project so we can see your work. You've made a really nice start, your colour is wonderfully done. Since you are asking for some advice I would recommend that you do some edge shading with your darkest area being at the edge and lightest will be where you want your light source to be. Your leaves are fairly well done I would recommend creating shadow again on the lines, both the edges and veins. Leave light areas in the centres of each side of the leaf. By doing this you will create more depth and give your project a feeling of 3D. To me pyrography is very similar to sketching or pen & ink and you are working on fooling the eye into seeing something that seems to come off the wood.

Please know that these comments are not critisms but rather ideas for you to try. When I paint pyrography I use water colour pencils and straight water colours so the burn can be seen through the paint easily. You can attain the same effect with acrylics but you really need to water them down a lot.

Keep up the great work and I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work. You really are off to a wonderful start and that piece is one to be proud of!

Regards,
Lindy

[Pyrographer]

sorry i can't type much, I fractured my wrist. so please excuse any spelling, punctuation or grammatical errors. I takes far too much effort to correct right now.

I will add that your work looks good. Nice soft colors. You have some good pointers so far but just keep in mind that once you add color do not burn over it. If you do any shading now, it should be with your color.

I don't color my burnings very much but when I do I use oil pencils and thin it with turpenoid (paint thinner) so I have a "wash" so that the color is very subtle.

Anyway, off to a good start.

Nedra

[heater]

First of all a very special thank you to Bob D for all his help and patience.
Mottles: Thank your for your input. I have been burning very low because I am scared to make a mistake I can't erase. I'm going to take your advice and start from dark to lightest, it never dawned on me to try it that way. I also looked at Mule Deer WIP, I have so much to learn and practice. I hope I live long enough. And yes I did use oil pencils, I dindn't know what else to use.
Lindy: I'm going to try the shadowing from dark to light and see what this does for me. All comments are appreciated. Thank you for your kind comments, critisms, if done honestly is a form of flattery to me. I'm going to try the water color pencils. Interesting to see how the burn come through the paint.
Pyrographer: Thank you for your response. I never even thought of thinning oil pencils with paint thinner, fantastic idea. I'm going to try it.
Everyone: I would like to say you all are very talented and some day I hope to reach my potential which I know will take years. God bless you.

heater

[Pyrographer]

Heater,

add the color from the pencil then rub in with the paint thinner. I use a rag, my finger or a tortillion.

Nedra

[heater]

Nedra:

Thank you for the technique, but I honestly don't know what a tortillion is.

heater

[Pyrographer]

sorry, a tortillion is something artists use to blend pencils with. You can find it at an art supply place such as www.dickblick.com

Nedra