Thread: One of my attempts at pyography

John, that is just great. It could be an oil painting. Quality is superb. Is the base just CD ply? I like it!!!

Excellent result!

Thanks for the compliments

I just used 6 ml ply from the hardware store. I sanded it down to 360 grit and then dampened the surface to swell the grain and then sanded it down to 1500 grit. I ended up with an extremely smooth surface to work on.

I mainly used ball type nibs ranging from very small to about 2 ml diamiter. I have found these to be very good to work with.

As can be seen in the photo I use a Razor tip burner and I'm plesed with it.

John

That is a superb subject and a lovely rendition of it John! Very well done.

Quote "and thought I would put it on the forum just for the sake of it." I for one am glad you did and I'll put money that I'm not alone mate!

I like the idea of wetting the wood to raise the grain and then sanding as ply is mostly awful to pyro on.

I also sand in between burns to get out any graphite or pencil lines.

Lovely work!

Thank you for your comments. It is very encouraging to get one from France. I have been playing with drawing and pyrography for a fair while but have only just got serious with pyrography since reading a couple of books on the subject as well as getting into a few new pens such as the ball type nibs. This has opened up doors for me. Before I was struggling with what I was doing.


My main interest is in Australian rural scenes and I now have a collection of photos that I hope to develop into pyrography. If there is any one out there who shares my interest area I would like to make contact and share ideas.


A question for Mythicagothiga. What do you mean by rubbing out between burns? Does this mean doing a small amount of burning then rubbing out? I completed the job then rubbed out but I think I took away o lot of charcoal type material that took some of the depth out of the job.

John

"It is very encouraging to get one from France." ???

Why's that mate? I'm just as thick as you lot down there.

I look forward to seeing some more of your stuff! People are so very surprised at what you can produce by burning a bit of wood aren't they and I love watching the picture developing before yer eyes!

Something I have is a tiny, ex processor cooling fan mounted on a piece of ply that I sometimes put to one side of the pyro. It just has enough blow to take the smoke away and I run it off a small 12 power supply I have.

Thinks??? Smoke gets in your eyes? I could write a song about that

hi RedGum, these are some of my pyro stuff that i have done,thought you might like to see them

Hello Woodmanoz.

Your name here says it all. The work you are doing blends right into the sort of thing I like. We have a wonderful heritage in this country and you have really captured some of it.

I really like the Echuca Wharf scenes as well as the other Murray River scenes. There is a lot of very fine detail in them. As a matter of interest what sort of wood did you do the work on and also are they free hand or did you transfer from a photo

Thanks for your reply

John

Originally Posted by Red Gum

A question for Mythicagothiga. What do you mean by rubbing out between burns? Does this mean doing a small amount of burning then rubbing out? I completed the job then rubbed out but I think I took away o lot of charcoal type material that took some of the depth out of the job.

John

My process of burning is after transferring the image to the timber with graphite, I do a lightish burn over all the lines so I have the basic picture. Once I'm sure enough of the lines are burnt and visible, I use an eraser and fine sandpaper to sand out any graphite or pencil lines. I then do a second burn with more detail and then sand again. I can do this between 6 and 10 times to gain depth and remove any accidental burns or 'feathering' (when a burn creates a halo effect). I also instruct those who I am teaching to make sure all pencil and graphite lines are removed if they are entering in any shows as I would thing it would be one of the first things judges would look for.

Thanks Mythicagothiga for the information. I have always maintained that if you don't ask you will never find out. As a result of asking you my question I have learnt from you.

I hope to be starting a new project very soon and I will very definitely use your method to remove any residue.

It is great to have access to so much information via this forum and to be able actually see the work from other people and get their advise.

Thanks

John

Red Gum,

I agree that available information can be of great use in saving time. I am a self-taught pyrographer and have spent many years making a variety of mistakes and am glad I can share what not to do to save others the headache.

Look forward to seeing more pieces.