I like to make wood burned pictures for special gifts. Adding a picture to a cutting board or TV table adds a special punch to a practical gift. With this tutorial you too can make a gift for someone special.
For me wood burning is like colouring with one colour. Interest is achieved by varying light and dark. Building the darkness in layers is the best way.
Visit my two wood burning videos at our Murlo Discovery Channel:
Wood Burning A Farm Scene
Wood Burning Man’s Best Friend
Materials
Fine sandpaper (120 and 240 grit)
Graphite paper
Design of your choice
Wood-burner
Wood-burner tips
Cutting board or TV table
Scotch tape
White art eraser
Instructions
Begin by sanding any finish off the wood. Then choose a design, place it on the wooden piece of choice.
Tape into place and slide graphite paper under the design.
Trace the design and mark in the darker areas.
Use graphite paper not carbon paper. You will want to erase any tracing lines later.
There are many types of burner tips out there. I’ve had these for years. One was a package for adding texture to bird carvings and another was for shading.
I use whatever seems the most comfortable for the effect I want.
The script tip I use for writing, outlining and sometimes shading.
I guess this would say I’m not a purist, but it works for me.
I use a razor tip burner. I start with the lowest temperature and increase the temperature as I build layers of shading. You can always go darker, you can’t go lighter.
Begin by adding outlines to the various areas of the picture. These lines do not need to be dark. You just want the lines to aid in the layers of shading you will be adding.
Beginning with the barn, lines of the individual boards are added. To show age of the building several dark areas are filled in to show missing or rotted away wood.
Using a tip made for feather burning works well here to add the texture of wood grain.
For shading it’s important to keep in mind where the light source is and where the shadows should be added. Here imagine the sun is in the top left corner.
Once the barn has been done, I’ll move onto the old truck.
First outline the truck.
Start to add shadows keeping in mind that the light source is at the top left here.
Build shading on the inside and don’t forget the background trees and grass will be visible through the windows.
The leaves are at a distance therefore you want to avoid burning in individual leaves. You want to add a sense of leaves. To do this leaves we’re done like clouds of leaves. A script tip was used to burn series of dots going darker at the bottom of these ‘clouds’ as they are away from the light source.
Start off with a low temperature and increase the temperature at the base of each leaf ‘cloud’.
Taking at look at how grass grows, you will notice it’s in clusters almost the shape of a fluted vase. Take note of the odd piece that is broken. How you lean the grass can also show a calmness or if it leans can show windy weather.
Here the clumps of grass have been added. Grass near the barn likely is a bit shaded so fuller. Place the odd piece of small trees or plants with individual leaves. The eye then recognizes this area as close to the viewer. To achieve this look I used a tip meant for burning feathers. Hold the tip lightly on the surface and move in sweeping movements from the base to the tip of the grass
A great tip is to take a picture in black and white periodically. For some reason we can often see what needs to be fixed or darker from a picture than looking at the actual piece of work.
Once you are happy with the piece, use the art eraser to remove any graphite markings. Don’t forget to sign and date your piece.
If desired a small amount of furniture wax could be used to seal the wood, just be careful not to add too much.
