© 2019 by Minisa Robinson and Fox Chapel Publishing Company, Inc., 903 Square Street, Mount Joy, PA 17552.

Woodburning Realistic Animals is an original work, first published in 2019 by Fox Chapel Publishing Company, Inc. The patterns contained herein are copyrighted by the author. Readers may make copies of these patterns for personal use. The patterns themselves, however, are not to be duplicated for resale or distribution under any circumstances. Any such copying is a violation of copyright law.

Print ISBN 9781565239852

eISBN 9781607656425

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Robinson, Minisa, author.

Title: Woodburning Realistic Animals / Minisa Robinson.

Description: Mount Joy, PA : Fox Chapel Publishing Company, Inc., [2019] |

Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019007888 (print) | LCCN 2019009808 (ebook) | ISBN

9781607656425 (ebook) | ISBN 9781565239852 (pbk.)

Subjects: LCSH: Pyrography. | Animals in art.

Classification: LCC TT199.8 (ebook) | LCC TT199.8 .R63 2019 (print) | DDC

745.51/4--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov

To learn more about the other great books from Fox Chapel Publishing, or to find a retailer near you, call toll-free 800-457-9112 or visit us at www.FoxChapelPublishing.com.

We are always looking for talented authors. To submit an idea, please send a brief inquiry to acquisitions@foxchapelpublishing.com

For a printable PDF of the patterns used in this book, please contact Fox Chapel Publishing at customerservice@foxchapelpublishing.com, with 9781565239852 and Woodburning Realistic Animals in the subject line.

CONTENTS

Introduction

CHAPTER 1: GALLERY

CHAPTER 2: GETTING STARTED

Safety

Tools

Wood Types

Preparing the Surface

CHAPTER 3: WORKING FROM PHOTOGRAPHS

Where to Find Inspiration

How to Choose a Design

How to Adjust a Photograph

How to Transfer a Photograph onto Wood

CHAPTER 4: WOODBURNING BASICS

Startup Time

The Ever-Frustrating “Stop Spot”

Controlling Temperatures

Clean Up the Carbon

The Fundamentals of Shading

Burning a Black Background

CHAPTER 5: FEATURE STUDIES

Eyes

Fur

Whiskers

CHAPTER 6: ADDING COLOR AND FINISHING

Colored Pencils

Acrylic Paint

Watercolors

Alcohol Inks

Protect and Seal Your Work

CHAPTER 7: PROJECTS

Acknowledgments

Meet the Author

INTRODUCTION

I stumbled into woodburning by accident many years ago. Wood has always been a source of comfort for me, whether taking a peaceful stroll through the pines or tossing logs onto a crackling fire. During a difficult economic time, I gazed out the window at the surrounding forest and decided to try woodworking for extra income. I quickly realized that building furniture was out of the question due to my lacking mathematical skills, so I tried my hand at carving. My first carving turned out horrible, so I purchased a simple woodburning kit to “improve” the carving by burning accents. My woodcarving still looked awful, but I immediately fell in love with woodburning.

Thus began my career in pyrography. I began practicing on pieces of wood from the surrounding forest, then I made woodburned art as Christmas gifts. Since then I’ve taught myself the art of pyrography by constantly experimenting with new ideas, techniques, and subjects. I love learning new things and sought to challenge myself.

Five years after my first woodburning, I left my part-time job as a publisher and devoted my time to homeschooling and pyrography. I’ve since created several instructional DVDs for woodburning.

This book will focus on how to use simple and affordable tools to create realistic wildlife pyrography, but will also take you by the hand to learn the setup and basics as well. Whether you are a beginner or a more advanced artist this guide will help you on your own journey in pyrography.

MINISA'S TIPS

Want to be an artist but don’t know where to start? Start with art! You don’t need a big studio. You don’t need expensive supplies. You don’t even need experience or “talent.” All you need is the desire to create art.

The art of pyrography has been around for thousands of years. However, recent advances in technology have made it easier than ever for artists and hobbyists alike to create fun and fantastic woodburned art. Whether you want to make simple plaques and signs or realistic pet portraits, woodburning can be a rewarding pastime.

As with all good things, pyrography takes time. In this fast-paced world, it’s satisfying and enlightening to watch a piece of art slowly blossom before you. Many artists, myself included, find woodburning to be very calming; it can help bring a sense of peace into our hectic lives.

Whenever you learn any new artform, be patient with yourself. Don’t be afraid of the learning curve, but rather embrace the joy and discovery of acquiring new knowledge.

Mountain Lion. My first woodburning project

CHAPTER 1: GALLERY

Bald Eagle. Basswood, colored pencils; H. 6″ W. 5″ (from photo by Chris Allesbrook)

Standing Grizzly Bear. Basswood, colored pencils; H. 11″ W. 9″ (from photo by Diana Grant)

Butterfly. Basswood, acrylics; H. 5 1/4″ W. 4″ (from photo by Karen Broemmelsick)

Kingfisher. Basswood, colored pencils; H. 11″ W. 14″ (from photo by Gary Jones)

MINISA'S TIPS

I love the challenge of burning large pieces. Adding small details to a large piece is the fun part... However, the tough part is staying motivated when burning that much surface area. It’s easy to become overwhelmed!

I try to focus on completing one area at a time, instead of bouncing around from one place to another. It allows me to see more progress, more quickly. But there are times when I get “burned out” on a particular area and will switch to a different part of the piece for a rejuvenating change of pace.

Horse Portrait. Basswood, colored pencils; H. 7″ W. 5″ (from photo by Ainslie Gilles-Patel)

Bighorn Sheep. Basswood, colored pencils; H. 9″ W. 10″ (from photo by Lorraine Logan)

White Wolf. Basswood, colored pencils; H. 10″ W. 8″ (from photo by Edwin Butter)

Colorful Barn Owl. Basswood, colored pencils, watercolors; H. 7″ W. 5″ (from photo by Chris Allsebrook)

Buck. Basswood, colored pencils; H. 16″ W. 12″ (from photo by Nelson Kenter)

Tiger Portrait. Basswood, colored pencils; H. 3 1/2″ W. 3 1/2″ (from photo by Chris Allsebrook)

Thirsty Tiger. Basswood, colored pencils; H. 10″ W. 8″ (from photo by Emmanuel Keller)

Rooster. Birch, colored pencils; H. 4″ W. 4″ (from photo by Danny Brannigan)

Mama Bear. Butternut, colored pencils, acrylics; H. 26″ W. 8 1/2″ (from photo by Lorraine Logan)

Massive. Basswood, colored pencils; H. 11″ W. 19″ (from photo by Diana Grant)

Bighorn at Clements Mountain. Basswood, colored pencils, acrylics; H. 8″ W. 10″

Owl on a Log. Basswood, colored pencils; H. 10″ W. 8″ (from photo by Sue Dudley)

CHAPTER 2: GETTING STARTED

Woodburning is a delightful artform full of many possibilities. Because of its versatile nature, it’s a good idea to learn more about the safety aspects of the art. Some woodburning tools can easily reach over 1,000°F therefore they present a possible danger of fire and personal burns. These tips can help you enjoy the art of woodburning safely.

Keep the woodburning tool secure at all times.

Safety

To Reduce the Risks of Fire

•Never leave a woodburner unattended.

•Keep combustible materials away from the hot tool.

•Keep pets and children away from the unit.

•Secure the hot burner with a stand or holder.

•Keep cords out from underfoot.

•Use common sense when handling the hot tool.

Never leave a woodburning tool unattended, and always keep items a safe distance away from a hot tool. I once placed my phone on the desk near my burner then left my studio for a moment while my burner was warming up. While I was gone, my burner shifted and I returned to find a cloud of dangerous smoke and a melted phone case.

For Personal Safety

•Burn in a well-ventilated area.

•Give yourself plenty of room to work.

•Wear a glove while burning to help protect your fingers.

•Never change out points with your hand; instead use needle-nosed pliers.

•Don’t burn near water or liquids.

•Work on an incline to allow heat to rise up and away from your hand. An inclined surface can also help your back and neck (see here ).

•Never use a woodburning tool during an electrical or thunderstorm.

Wearing a glove can protect against accidental burns. I use a simple gardening glove from my local store, but it has saved my fingers from excessive heat and unintentional burns.

Wear a respirator when applying clear-coats or burning dark backgrounds, which can produce more smoke.

To Protect Your Lungs

•Burn on unfinished wood only.

•Never burn over wood with a clear-coat, varnish, paint, etc. Doing so could produce toxic fumes.

•Only add color after the burning is complete. Burning over pigments can also create toxic fumes.

•Never burn on plastic, medium-density fiberboard (MDF), particleboards or any wood that is bound together with glues.

•Always wear a dust mask when sanding.

•Use a respirator for applying clear-coats.

•If you burn on leather, choose vegetable-tanned leather only.

•Do your research before attempting to burn on a new wood species. Most woods are safe, but a few can produce toxins when burned. There are some resourceful websites on wood safety, however if you’re unsure then consult a wood specialist.

To Protect the Woodburner

Bent point due to excessive pressure

•Never change out points when a burner is on. You can damage the threads and/or shear the point off completely. Always wait until the woodburner has completely cooled before replacing points.

•Use light pressure when burning. Pressing down firmly can bend or damage the points or burner.

A PERSONAL NOTE

Years ago, I was filming a snowmobile hillcross event and I was involved in an unpredictable and freak accident where I was struck in the face with a runaway snowmobile. The event left me with a serious concussion, memory loss, seven broken teeth, many facial stitches and, worst of all, permanent neck damage. I was 19 at the time and ever since, looking up or down for even a short time causes me severe pain.

Of course, this can make woodburning a literal pain in the neck. So when I started doing pyrography a lot I was thrilled to find a desk that was adjustable and created an inclined surface. This has been so helpful in alleviating my neck pain while burning.

I’m sharing this in case anyone else has back or neck troubles that prevent or hinder their ability to create art. You certainly don’t need to buy a desk, but you can use a tabletop easel or even prop your art up against some books. Working on an incline can also help to keep your hand cooler. I hope this small tip can help out.

When I’m not working, I still enjoy backcountry snowmobiling.

Tools

It takes very few supplies to get started in pyrography, most of which are quite affordable. This makes it an appealing hobby or craft to people of all ages and backgrounds.

Woodburning Units

There are two main types of woodburners: soldering-iron type burners with interchangeable solid points, and units with interchangeable wire pens and nibs. There are many popular woodburners within each group, which allows artists to make their selection based on personal preference. People often ask me what is the “best” woodburning tool on the market and I encourage them to find the one that best suits their style of burning. What works best for me may not work well for others, and likewise, other artists’ preferences don’t always work with my style. Sometimes it can take trial and error to see what works best for you.

Some artists convince themselves early in their learning curve that they could create better work if only they had better tools. While sometimes this can be the case, usually the quality of one’s work comes from practice and learning the tools you have. The artist uses the tools; the tools don’t make the artist. Great art is possible with simple tools.

I have both the Walnut Hollow Creative Versa-Tool and the Razertip dual pen system, but I use the Versa-Tool for most of my work. Both units are very nice, but once again this comes down to my personal preference.

Walnut Hollow Creative Versa-Tool. This woodburning kit can be found at most craft stores and big-box retailers within the United States. It is a soldering-iron type burner and has a variable temperature control plus 11 interchangeable points. Once plugged in and turned on the burner will reach optimal temperature in about 5 minutes, but maintains a steady and consistent heat while burning.

Versa-Tool: Overview

The Versa-Tool comes with several different points. I’ve made a chart to help show the different styles that you can create with each point. These are only a few ideas and I encourage you to experiment with each point to learn what works best for you.

HOT TIP

The brass points can be modified to suit your needs. They can be easily bent, or can be sanded to create a smoother edge. If damaged, the points can be purchased individually from Walnut Hollow.

Versa-Tool: Universal Point

Grass. Turn the point upside down and use the upper edge of the point to drag upwards in random strokes. This can create the illusion of grass.

Side-Shading. Using the side of the bevel, drag the point sideways to create soft shading. (Sand the edge of the point if it’s too sharp.)

Fur. Burn fur by drawing varied upward strokes. Then use side-shading to soften and blend them together.

Crisp Lines. Drag the sharp edge of the bevel downwards to create crisp lines.

Stippling/Pointillism. Use the upper point to create a unique stippling effect.

Solid Black. Very similar to side-shading, use the side of the bevel and drag very slowly in a horizontal motion.

Downward Triangles. Using the upper point, press into the wood to create a downward triangle.

Varied Lines. You can create lines of different thicknesses by tipping the universal point to the side and laying it flatter against the wood.

Boxes and Windows. Lightly press the front edge of the point into the wood to create each edge of a small box or window.

Upward Triangles. Using the lower point, press into the wood to create an upward triangle.

Crosshatching. Use the sharp edge of the point to create bold crosshatching.

Versa-Tool: Flow Point

Text. Burn text much like you’d use a pencil. Be sure to set the point down in a smooth motion, much like an airplane to prevent those “stop spots.”

Stippling. One of my favorite uses of this tip is to create unique textures through stippling. Press the point straight into the wood to make a circle-shaped indentation.

Grass and Fur. Use an upward stroke to create grass and fur textures. Because the point is larger, the grass or fur will have a softer and more blended feel.

Borders and Solid Black. The flow point is great for burning dark outlines and for blocking in solid areas of black. I often use this technique for filling in larger text.

Shading. You can use the flow point to create gradients and shading. Burn in a back-and-forth motion much like you’d draw with a pencil.

Lines. Use the flow point to make smooth and dark lines.

Stippling/Pointillism. The flow point is helpful when creating stippling or pointillism.

Circles. If you lightly touch the flow point to the wood it will make a small circle or dot. The longer you press into the wood, the larger the dot will become. You can use this to create dots of different sizes.

Versa-Tool: Tapered Point

Fine Lines. Gently drag the point downwards to create crisp, fine lines. Don’t use hard pressure because this point can easily bend. (Yep, this was the first point I used and I bent it immediately.)

Text. The tapered point works great for drawing fine and intricate text.

Grass. Because this point is so small, it doesn’t transfer a lot of heat to the wood. Therefore it can create some very fine and wispy grass.

Fur. Much like burning grass, this fine point can create light and delicate fur strokes.

Outlining and Details. This small point can burn intricate lines and details by lightly dragging the point across the wood.

Stippling/Pointillism. While time consuming, this tapered point creates some very detailed stippling or pointillism. Although, because it’s so tiny, I would recommend using this on smaller projects.

Inverted Teardrops. Lay the burner flat and gently press the point into the wood to create a tiny inverted teardrop shape.

Versa-Tool: Calligraphy Point

Text. As you might guess, the calligraphy point is designed for burning text in a calligraphic style.

Crisp Lines. You can also create fine, crisp lines by burning with the edge of the sharp point.

Grass/Fur. Use the sharp edge of the point in upward strokes to create grass or fur.

Solid Black. Lay the burner flat and to the side, then slowly draw it to the side to block in dark areas.

Triangles. Press the upper point of the bevel into the wood to create small triangular shapes.

Stippling. You can create an unusual and unique stippling pattern with the upper point of the bevel.

Squares and Rectangles. Lay the burner flat towards the wood and use the upper flat edge of the bevel to create small square and rectangular shapes.

Consistent Lines. Gently press the flat edge of the point straight into the wood to create consistent, short lines.

Diamond Shapes. Lay the burner flat towards the wood and gently press the upper point of the bevel down to create small diamond shapes.

Versa-Tool: Shading Point

Shading. Create gradients and soft shading by using the upper point of this versatile tip. Remember to set the point down gently, much like an airplane taking off and landing.

Lines. You can also use the upper point to draw fine lines. Don’t use excessive downward pressure or you can bend the point.

Solid Black. Lay the point flat on the wood and slowly move the point back and forth to create a rich, solid black.

Grass. Roll the shading point to the side and use the edge in an upward motion to create blades of grass.

Fur. Create soft or crisp fur strokes by burning back and forth motions with the upper point of the shading tip.

Leaf Shapes. Gently press the flat point onto the wood to create leaf shapes.

Stippling/Pointillism. Turn the point upside down and use the very tip to create tiny dots for stippling or pointillism.

Versa-Tool: Transfer Point

This point is designed to transfer an image onto the wood using an iron-on based paper. However, here are some other uses for the point.

Lines. This is an unusual way to use this point, but it produces an interesting effect. By using the side of the point and slowly rolling it forward like a tire, you can burn straight lines.

Shading. Place the point flat on the wood and slowly burn back-and-forth or in a circular motion to create soft shading.

Overlapping Circles. Press the point straight onto the wood and overlap the circles to create an interesting background or texture.

Partial Circles. To create a crescent shape, just burn with the outer edge of the point.

Versa-Tool: Hot Knife

This point is used mainly for cutting thin objects and doesn’t transfer much heat. It will cut into the wood but doesn’t leave a burn mark.

Versa-Tool: Stamping Points

Hot Stamps. These points each come with a unique shape that can be burned into the wood.

Razertip SS-D10: Overview

The Razertip woodburning tool comes as a base where you can purchase interchangeable pens separately. There is a huge variety of pens and nibs to choose from, and many of them are specially made for specific projects. Here are a few pens that are popular for general woodburning and work well for a wide range of subjects. These are some of my favorite pens, but I encourage you to experiment with these and other points to learn what works best for you.

Razertip SS-D10. This unit is found through online retailers and uses interchangeable wire tip pens and nibs. The pens are usually purchased separately since there are many to choose from, and they vary greatly based on the needs of the artist. The Razertip also comes with a variable temperature and reaches optimal temperature almost instantly once turned on. This burner reaches much higher temperatures and can burn very hard woods or bone.

Razertip: 1.5 mm Ball Stylus

Text. Use this small point to draw text, much like you’d use a pencil. Avoid excessive overburn markings by turning the heat dial to a lower setting.

Lines. You can easily draw in straight lines with this point, but again, use a lower temperature to create lines without overburn.

Stippling. This is a great point for fine stippling due to its smaller point size.

Varying Dots. You can create different-sized dots by placing the point on the wood for shorter or longer periods of time. Keep in mind that the longer the point is on the wood the more likely you’ll get overburn marks.

Razertip: Medium Spoon Shader

Fur. Create soft or crisp fur strokes by burning back-and-forth motions with the upper point of the shading tip.

Dots. Gently press the point flat into the wood to create uniform oval-shaped dots.

Shading. This is also a great point for creating soft shading. You don’t need to keep the point flat all the time; it’s okay to rock back and forth without creating harsh edge lines.

Solid Black. Lay the point flat on the wood and slowly move the point back and forth to create a rich, solid black.

Text. You can also use this point to create text with soft edges, as well as sharp lines and cross-hatching.

Razertip: Medium Spear Shader

Fine Lines and Crosshatching. Turn the pen over and use the sharp edge of the point to create fine lines and crosshatching.

Angles. Lightly press the upper part of the point against the wood to create small angled shapes.

Solid Black. Lay the point flat on the wood and slowly move the point back and forth to create a rich, solid black.

Shading. This is a great point for creating soft shading. Just keep the point level at all times, because you can create an accidental hard line if you rock the point too much to one side or the other.

Razertip: 3 mm Ball Stylus

The 3 mm Ball Stylus can do everything that the smaller 1.5 mm Ball Stylus does, but it’s a bit bigger and is well suited to larger projects. It is also great for blocking in areas as shown above.

Helpful Accessories

1. Needle-nosed pliers. For installing and removing interchangeable points.

2. Tape measure. Used to measure the wood dimensions for the design and layout.

3. Clear tape. To affix a reference photo onto the wood while transferring with graphite paper.

4. Sandpaper 220–600 grit. To sand the wood before burning.

5. Scissors. For cutting out the reference photo.

6. Knife blade. For scraping or removing woodburning mistakes.

7. Red ballpoint pen. When transferring an image with graphite paper, a red pen often shows up better than a black pen.

8. Graphite paper. To transfer a design or image onto the wood.

9. Timer. To keep track of hours on a project if you bill by the hour.

10. Glove. To help protect your hand from accidental burns.

11. Respirator. To protect your lungs when applying clear coats, finishes, stains, etc.

12. Dust mask. Always wear a dust mask when sanding.

13. Soft pad or beanbag. To help support your wrist while burning.

Wood Types

There are many different types of wood that can be burned on safely. I’ll be covering some of the more common and easily accessible wood species. Remember that even a safe type of wood becomes dangerous to burn once it has been clear-coated, painted, treated, etc. Always burn on unfinished wood only. If you’re unsure whether or not you can burn on a particular species of wood, please contact a forestry specialist.

Basswood

Basswood. Basswood is one of the most popular woods to burn on and is certainly my personal preference. It can be a little more expensive than other common wood types, but it can make a huge difference in your quality of work. Basswood is also known as linden and is found in eastern North America. It has a very light color, with minimal grain and growth rings, that makes it especially nice to burn on. Since it is a popular wood for woodburning artists and carvers alike, basswood comes in a variety of different sizes, styles, and cuts. The lighter color of basswood makes it great for a wide range of tones, from jet blacks to blonde highlights.

Birch

Birch. Birch is quite light and it has an overall uniform appearance with minimal grain. It’s often sold in a plywood form. If you choose to burn on birch plywood be sure you don’t burn deeply into the lower layers of glue. (As a personal rule, I never burn solid black backgrounds on any plywood-based wood to avoid releasing potentially toxic fumes.)

Pine

Pine. Pine is easy to find at most craft stores and lumber shops and it’s usually inexpensive. However, it can be challenging to burn on. The heavy grain can cause your point to zig and zag, which makes it difficult to burn straight lines. Some artists have good luck burning on “kiln-dried” pine, but most pieces of pine that are readily available haven’t gone through this process. Therefore pine contains a lot of pitch and it creates a lot of smoke when burned on. If you choose to burn on pine, I recommend using a respirator suited for particulates or working in a well-ventilated area.

Cherry

Cherry. Cherry is a beautiful wood that is quite soft. Even though the grain is very visible, the lines don’t interfere with the point of the burner. This wood burns on the darker side very easily, and lighter shading produces a slightly reddish tint. Because cherry is darker than other woods, adding paint or colored pencils after burning can produce amazingly vivid results.

Butternut

Butternut. Much like cherry, butternut is also a darker wood and is quite soft. I find that it is well suited to darker subjects and it combines nicely with paint or colored pencils. These butternut slices are quite large, with some interesting knots and irregularities. I purchased these from a private supplier but you can find them online from specialty lumber shops.

OTHER POPULAR SURFACES FOR PYROGRAPHY INCLUDE:

•Maple

•Italian Poplar

•Watercolor Paper

•Gourds

•Leather

Preparing the Surface

When selecting wood for a project look for one that is solid, with little or no cracks. Sometimes adding heat with a woodburning tool can make a small crack widen and expand, and in some cases can even split the wood apart.

Some imperfections in wood such as knots, mineral deposits, and blemishes are expected, but try to find a piece of wood with as few flaws as possible. Sometimes you can position those faults into a dark area of fur or hide them in a black background. Feel free to turn the wood for the best positioning.

Avoid touching the front of the sanded wood with your fingers. Our fingers and hands contain natural oils, which can be deposited onto the wood. These oils can show up after burning your image. Also avoid handling your wood after applying lotions to your hands. I get in the habit of washing my hands before burning to help remove any substances that might stain or damage the wood.

Most wood comes planed and ready to use, however it helps to sand the wood prior to woodburning. This makes an even surface and helps reduce the buildup of carbon on the woodburning points. Always wear a dust mask when sanding.

Start by sanding the front of the wood with a rough grit sandpaper and work towards a 220 grit sandpaper, then 330 grit. This is adequate for most purposes, but if you’d like an extra smooth surface you can sand with 400 grit or more. I usually sand to 600 grit but I know of other artists who sand up to 800 or 1200 grit; additional sanding is more of a personal preference. As a note, I don’t sand the backside of the wood.

After sanding, use a soft cloth to wipe down the surface of the wood.

You can even use canned air to remove the sawdust from rustic bark edges. Carefully gather up the sawdust and clean your workspace.

CHAPTER 3: WORKING FROM PHOTOGRAPHS

As a realistic artist, I find that working from high-quality reference photos is critical. Inspiration can be found all around us, especially in our digital world with access to millions of photos. However, be aware that you can easily violate copyright laws by making a woodburning from a copyrighted photograph. The safest way to avoid copyright infringement is to ask permission from the original photographer to create an artwork based on their photo. If that’s not possible, there are some fantastic websites and Facebook groups dedicated to offering reference photos; just search for “reference photos for artists.”

MINISA'S TIPS

Every artist usually experiences many difficulties on their artistic path; there may be bumps, blockades, and even dead ends. But the most important thing is to never, ever stop creating.

Where to Find Inspiration

One of my favorite sources for reference photos is www.wildlifereferencephotos.com. This is an amazing website with a wide range of wildlife reference photos. It allows you to purchase a license to create your artwork and they are very affordable! The photos have great quality and the managers have been very nice to deal with.

Another favorite is the Facebook group “Photos For Artists.” This is a group on Facebook where photographers contribute everything from wildlife to still life photos, and they allow artists to use these images as references for artwork. The image quality isn’t as high, but it’s a huge resource for free.

Finally, I like Pixabay.com. This is a huge resource of free photos for personal or commercial use.

As always, please read the fine print on each resource as their policies may change over time. Disclaimer: for copyright questions and laws, it’s best to contact a copyright lawyer.

How to Choose a Design

When selecting a design for woodburning, I often spend countless hours scouring over reference photos before finally settling on an image.

Here are some points I consider when choosing a new subject for my pyrographic artwork:

Personal interest. I burn images that I enjoy. An artist will often create better work when they are passionate about their subject. Remember, art is supposed to be fun!

Quality references. I generally work from photographs and can speak from experience that a reference photo with poor quality will produce an artwork of poor quality.

Composition. I’ll spend a lot of time searching for the right composition and design. In my opinion, it can make or break a piece. It shouldn’t be confusing or distracting. There should be no question as to what you’re looking at, therefore there’s no guessing on the part of the viewer.

Remove the distractions. If there are confusing parts, I do my best to remove them using artistic license. Removing branches or grass in front of the subject will make it stand out in a more crisp and clean manner. You can also add elements at your own discretion, but don’t allow minor elements to hide the most important features of your composition.

Light source. I prefer a strong sense of light in my work. It creates more depth and realism and brings more life to the subject. It is also more visually striking.

The pose of the subject. When creating a woodburning of a person or animal, I take careful note of how they’re posing. Is the subject standing in a funny pose that makes them look distorted? Can I see all the important features of the subject or are some of them hidden?

Cropping. Cropping is a great way to draw your eyes to the key elements of an artwork. Have I cropped out too much of the subject, or do I have too much dead space and need to crop out the extra fluff? Avoid splitting your composition directly in half. This is especially important with landscapes... If you’re burning a mountain scene with a river, you need to decide which part of the painting should have the most focus. If the mountains are more important, make sure they take up more than half of your composition.

Size. When composing an image with several subjects, I decide which one is the most important and make sure that it takes up the largest area of my “canvas.”

How to Adjust a Photograph

Once you have permission to use a photo it’s time to turn it into a pattern. I strongly recommend turning your reference photo into a black-and-white or a sepia copy first. This allows your eyes to focus on the shading and tones instead of the colors. I prefer to use a sepia version because the browns are more similar to those found in woodburning.

Original color reference photo by Karen Broemmelsick

PLEASE NOTE

There are many different forms of Photoshop and other photo processing programs. The instructions listed here are based on using Adobe Photoshop CS4, Version 11.0, and they may vary with different program versions.

Black and white filter

Sepia-toned copy

Using Adobe Photoshop to Make a Sepia-Toned Copy

Open the photo in Adobe Photoshop then select “Image” > “Adjustments” > “Hue/Saturation.”

Under the Preset drop down menu select “Sepia” and click “Ok.”

Now your reference photo has been turned into a sepia copy.

Using Adobe Photoshop to Adjust a Photo

Sometimes an image may be too light or too dark to see crucial details, so you can adjust the levels by selecting “Image″ > “Adjustments″ > “Levels.”

The tiny black triangle adjusts the darks, the gray triangle adjusts the midtones, and the white triangle adjusts the lights.

By sliding the white triangle toward the middle it will lighten the image. This allows me to see more details that were hidden in the shadows. (The photo is beautiful both ways—it was just a personal preference on my part to lighten the photo. Feel free to skip this step if you prefer the more dramatic lighting of the original.)

Using Adobe Photoshop to Apply a Filter

Sometimes it’s difficult to see all the subtle shades within a single photo. If you lighten a photo to see details in the shadows, then the lighter values can be lost and vice versa.

If you prefer to use a more simplified copy of your reference photo then you can apply a filter to accentuate the dark and light zones. Select “Filter” > “Sketch” > “Photocopy.”

Once the filter pop-up window appears adjust the “Detail” and “Darkness” options until you can see the different zones of the image.

Don’t Guess When It Comes to Details

Sometimes I will print three versions of a reference photo either in black and white or sepia.

Between the three versions I can better see all the shadows, midtones, and highlights of a piece. I don’t like guessing when it comes to details. I can use my artistic license at this point to make it look the way I’d like. With very difficult pieces I will also view my reference photo directly off a computer screen so I can zoom in to get better detail.

1. The first printout is as close to the original photo as possible. It has a good blend of midtones with some decent details in the highlights and shadows. This will be my working copy that I transfer onto the wood.

2. I print another copy that is much darker. The darkest values will be lost but I can see more details in the highlights.

3. The last copy is much lighter. The highlights are blown out and gone but I can see the details that make up the shadows better.

How to Transfer a Photograph onto Wood

Free Hand

After you have decided on your design, it’s time to put that image onto the wood. There are many ways to go about this. First of all, you can burn directly onto the wood without transferring any guidelines. This is a true free-handing method, which can be free and spontaneous but can also be quite risky. It’s easy to make a mistake while burning but very difficult to “erase” or correct those mistakes.

If you enjoy free handing your art but you’re afraid to go straight to the burner, you can draw your image onto the wood with a pencil, then burn over the top of your guidelines. This method allows you the freedom of free handing with less risk of making an uncorrectable mistake. However, graphite pencil can be difficult to erase on a wooden surface, so you can free hand your image on plain paper first then transfer your design onto the wood using graphite paper.

Some artists use a printout and a hot iron to transfer their image onto the wood, however I don’t recommend this method. Doing so can transfer printer ink onto the wood and burning over the top of the ink could produce health concerns.

I also recommend avoiding the use of “carbon paper” which leaves behind a potentially dangerous residue on the wood.

Topography Zones

When using graphite paper to transfer your guidelines, try to transfer more than just the basic outlines of the image. I think of this as using two different maps. The first is like a street map with simple lines that shows only basic information. The second is more like a topography map that shows the basic outlines and also the more in-depth lines that help create depth and detail. By transferring more details before you start burning, it can help you create a more realistic woodburning in the end.

Hot Tip

Don’t press too hard when using graphite paper or you could dent the surface of the wood and make transfer lines that are too dark.

Graphite Paper

If you don’t like free handing, or would like a faster method of transferring an image, you can use graphite paper. All you need is a printout of your photo, graphite paper, tape, and a pen. I prefer using a red pen to transfer my guidelines when using graphite paper. Sometimes a black or blue pen can be difficult to see against a black-and-white or sepia-toned photo.

Securely tape your image onto the wood and slide the graphite paper between your image and the wood. (Note: make sure that the dark side of the graphite paper is down, and the shiny side is up.)

Begin drawing over the top of your reference image to produce a duplicate copy on the wood. I usually start by following the outer edges of my subject, then transfer the main features such as eyes and noses, etc. Lastly I focus on drawing over the different “topography” zones of each subject. These are those irregularly shaped areas that help to give realism and depth to a piece.

After you’ve transferred your image, remove the graphite paper and assess your guidelines. If your transfer lines turn out too dark then I recommend sanding them before burning. Once you burn over them they can be very difficult to remove or hide later. I often refer to these guidelines as “underwear lines” because they are important for personal use but it’s best to keep them hidden from view.

CHAPTER 4: WOODBURNING BASICS

Woodburning is a fulfilling and exciting artform. Like any other new skill, it takes practice and patience to learn and here are some basic tips to help you get started.

Startup Time

When using a soldering iron type of burner, such as the Walnut Hollow Creative Versa-Tool, allow it to warm up for about 5 minutes before working. Always be sure that the burner is secure and don’t leave it unattended while warming up.

A burning unit with nibs or pens usually heats up immediately and doesn’t require a wait time.

Your hand will get hotter if you’re working on a flat surface. Try switching to an incline... it allows the heat to rise away from your hand instead of directly underneath. I use an art table that has an adjustable top. You can also use a small tabletop easel or just prop up your work using books.

MINISA'S TIPS

Inspiration vs. Comparison: We can often find inspiration when viewing the work of other artists. But you shouldn’t compare your art to other artists’ creations. This can be challenging but always remember this: Comparison can fill you with arrogance or jealousy, while inspiration fills you with joy and encouragement. I believe that art should be used to encourage and uplift others.

The Ever-Frustrating “Stop Spot”

One of the first things that artists learn when woodburning is that drawing a simple line will create a “stop spot.” This is a dark spot that appears at the end, and sometimes the beginning, of your line. It can be frustrating to see all these little spots when you’re trying to create smooth shading.

Keep in mind that you’ll also get a “stop spot” every time you change direction with the woodburner.

To help avoid the “stop spot” try placing the point of the burner onto the wood gently and gradually, much like an airplane would land smoothly onto a runway. Then once your line is complete, lift the point off the wood in the same smooth motion, like an airplane gently taking off. Practice this transition until it becomes habit so that each time the point touches down or leaves the wood it is done so gradually.

Hot Tip

Soldering iron-based woodburners, such as the Walnut Hollow Creative Versa-Tool, can cool down with use. The wood pulls the heat out of the point so it helps to be extra patient and allow the burner to heat back up after burning over large areas.

Be careful not to burn too hot, too fast. While it’s tempting to turn the temperature dial to maximum, this can easily damage the surface of the wood, especially when using pen and nib burners such as the Razertip. Burning too hot will also produce “over-burn” and can produce excessive carbon buildup on the points. Also, if your burner is digging into the wood, much like a farmers’ plow, then you’re using too much heat or pressing too hard.

Always use pliers to change out solid points. Note: Never change out points when the burner is hot! You can damage the threads or break the points and burner. Always wait until completely cool before switching out points.

Flatter Angle

Vertical Angle

If you’re burning on a piece of wood with a heavy grain, then it can make it difficult to burn a straight line. When holding the burner straight up and down the point wants to sink down into the wood fibers and these rings or lines can make the point jump to the side. Holding the burner at a flatter angle can help.

Controlling Temperatures

Most woodburning tools come with an adjustable temperature dial. This allows the user to easily increase or decrease the temperature of the woodburning point. When using a soldering-iron type of burner remember to allow a few minutes for the burner to adjust for temperature changes. Pen-type burners usually adjust temperature very quickly.

If your burner does NOT have an adjustable setting there a few ways to cool the point manually. You can set up a fan to continually blow air onto the point, or you can lightly blow on the point with your breath. (This is something I do often, even while using an adjustable burner. It’s a quick and easy way to lower the temperature while working.)

You can also control the darkness of your lines by practicing your stroke speed. The faster you move a point across the wood, the lighter the line will be. By contrast, your lines will be darker if you move the point very slowly.

Clean Up the Carbon

It’s common to develop some carbon buildup on your woodburning points over time. This residue can impede the transfer of heat and makes burning more difficult. Burning a lot of black tones and working on sappy wood such as pine can cause carbon buildup.

You can clean off the carbon by using an extra-fine grit sandpaper and lightly sanding the surface of the point.

HOT TIP

Don’t quit too soon! Most woodburnings are too light. Don’t be afraid to shade more and even a little darker than you think you should. This helps to create depth and will also resist fading more over the years.

Many burners have temperature control dials. This makes burning lighter tones much easier.

COMMON CHALLENGES

Overall, the dark strokes make this image look chaotic and confusing. There’s little or no blending between the different shades and it appears quite flat.

1. Dark outlines and edges. It can be tempting to begin your project by burning a dark outline on all of your transfer lines. However, this creates unrealistic and harsh edges that aren’t usually found in wildlife.

2. Excessive heat and over-burn. Using the hottest setting on a woodburner can easily scorch and damage the surface of the wood. This also creates a ghosting image of “over-burn.”

3. Burning too hot, too fast. Burning an area of solid black very quickly can lead to “over-burn” or damaged wood.

4. Using dark outlines to create key features. Avoid burning key features such as eyes, noses, ears, legs, etc. with solid, dark lines.

5. Consistent and solid fur. Burning fur strokes can be tedious at times, but try to avoid blocking in large areas of fur with consistent or solid strokes. Try not to “march” your burner across the wood by creating rows of fur strokes.

6. Creating “stop spots.” These spots easily appear if you don’t lift the burner with each stroke, or when changing stroke direction.

SOME TIPS

Overall, this burning uses light and shadow to create a soft and three-dimensional appearing squirrel. The fur strokes work harmoniously with each other and give the illusion of softness.

1. Soft outlines and edges. Allow your subject to have lighter edges and softer outlines. This gives an animal a more realistic appearance and helps it look more natural in its environment.

2. Use lower temperatures as appropriate. By turning down the woodburner you can create delicate lines that appear natural. This also allows you to shade by burning layers of fur, and gives you much more control when burning lighter areas.

3. Burn darks using layers. Take your time and build up solid black areas using layers. This helps to prevent damaging the wood as well as accidental “over-burn.”

4. Use soft edges and shading on key features. Instead of using harsh outlines, try to create the key features using layers of shading. Remember that darker tones usually look deeper or farther away, while lighter tones seem closer to the viewer.

5. Create fur strokes with slightly random strokes. Fur tends to follow a consistent path, however each hair is slightly different so allow the fur strokes to be slightly irregular. If each fur stroke is exactly parallel to ones around it then the fur will look odd.

6. Lifting the burner with each stroke. Avoid creating “stop spots” by setting the burner onto the wood gently and then lifting the burner off the wood after each stroke.

The Fundamentals of Shading

Shading is a range of tones that makes an object look three-dimensional. It’s a great way to provide depth in an image by visually pushing and pulling different areas to and from the viewer. Dark areas tend to push away from the viewer, while lighter areas usually pull towards the viewer. A great example of this is Egyptian hieroglyphs or other carvings. As you can see, the darkest areas appear deeper or farther away and the lightest areas are raised and appear closer. This ability to push and pull is a great way to create the illusion of depth in your artwork. This is also how to create fur or hair that looks thick and fluffy, with a three-dimensional realism.

THE FIVE-LEVEL SHADING SCALE

I like to break shading down into 5 basic levels. This simplifies the shading process and you’ll see this breakdown throughout the book.

•Level 1: The unburned wood

•Level 2: Light midtones

•Level 3: Midtones

•Level 4: Dark midtones

•Level 5: Black

(White is also added to this scale as level 0. Adding white colored pencil or paint is a personal decision of the artist.)

Keep in mind that this scale was created on basswood and different types of wood will produce slightly different shades. Feel free to experiment and create a shading scale like the one below on multiple types of wood.

Shading by the Numbers

Example 1. This simple image uses only level 1 and level 5. It’s basically a black and white line drawing. This example has no real shading to speak of. By leaving out the midtones, the image looks very simple and flat, with no depth.

Example 2. Next, this shows an image created with the lightest shading tones. This is very common with beginning artists who may be unsure of how dark to burn. This image has a lot more depth than the simple black and white version, however it’s still quite light and we are missing out on some of those rich, darker tones.

Example 3. This example shows a burning using only the midtones. Once again, this has more depth than the previous image, but by leaving out the lightest highlights and the darkest shadows, we don’t see much definition or contrast in the image.

Example 4. Here is an image that is burned with the darkest values on the scale. It has a lot of rich, deep tones, but overall it looks a bit too dark. By leaving out the lightest tones, we are missing out on those subtle and smooth highlights.

Example 5. Finally, we have an image that incorporates all of the levels on the shading scale. The whitest highlights paired with the dark black create a vivid contrast, while the midtones offer a rich variety of depth.

These examples are also a great way to create different moods within a project. If you want a softer, more delicate feeling, stay on the lighter range of the scale. If you’re looking for a dark and somber mood, then use the lower end of the shading scale.

Personally, I prefer dramatic contrast in my artwork so I tend to use the entire shading scale. Oftentimes, I’ll add white colored pencil after the burn for an extra level of depth, but this is a personal preference.

The shading scale shown above is much simpler when burning a smooth object, with little or no visual texture. However, when shading animals it’s important to create the illusion of texture also.

Texture is how an object should feel if you could actually touch it. The fur strokes help to create the texture for the lion shown below.

Shading and texture are equally important when creating realistic woodburnings.

Review. By creating different shading versions of the same image, it helps to train your eyes to see the different values within a piece.

In this example, the first photo shows the texture of the lion’s fur. But overall, the image is rather flat. In the second image there’s a lot more shading which makes the lion look more rounded and three-dimensional.

Here’s an example of how to use the shading point to create both texture and shading. By holding the burner at an extreme vertical angle, the sharp edge of the point creates hard, crisp edges. If you hold the point a little flatter you can create a softer edge. Using the point almost completely flat helps to make a very soft edge that’s useful for shading.

Burning a Black Background

Black backgrounds can add a dramatic feeling to your woodburnings. It allows dark subjects to retreat into the shadows, and helps lighter subjects to stand out.

If I’m working with a light subject then I’ll outline it before burning the black background. By burning a thin outline, and then a wider outline this helps to create a heat “buffer,” which protects the light subject from the intense heat of blocking in the solid black background. Without this “buffer zone” it’s easy to produce accidental overburn along the edge of your subject.

The biggest key to burning a solid, dark black background it patience. If you burn too hot and too fast your background will be patchy, with areas of scorched wood and other areas that are too light. Remember to burn with the grain, if possible, and burn small sections very slowly.

Try to keep the point completely flat on the wood when blocking in the background. If you rock the point to one side or the other it can dent the wood. Also be aware that your point will experience a significant amount of carbon buildup and it will cool down as you burn. You can set the burner securely off to the side for a few minutes (when using the Walnut Hollow Creative Versa-Tool) or for a few moments (when using the Razertip) to allow the burner to regain optimal temperature.

These dark backgrounds can also create a lot of smoke, so it’s a good idea to use a respirator or work in a well-ventilated area.

Start by using the upper part of the shading point to burn a dark outline around the outer edges of the lion’s fur. (Don’t worry about the jagged edges of fur right now, we will blend those later.)

Next, make the thin outline wider by using the shading point with a flatter angle. This helps to create a heat buffer and protects the white fur from accidental burns later. Take your time to build up a dark black and don’t press hard or you can bend the point.

Lay the shading point flat against the wood and widen the black outline one last time. Use a back-and-forth motion and work in small sections. Once again, don’t press down hard or you can damage the point.

Burn the solid black background. Now that there’s a nice, wide border to protect the lion’s fur, it’s time to block in the background. Lay the shading point flat against the wood and slowly move it back and forth in small sections. This works best if you burn with the grain. Once the wood is solid black then move on to another section of the wood.

CHAPTER 5: FEATURE STUDIES

This chapter offers an in-depth look at woodburning specific features that you will find in wildlife pyrography, namely eyes, fur, and whiskers. We’ll break them down into simple steps and use these techniques to help build a foundation of skills for later patterns.

Eyes

Eyes are often called the “window to the soul” and they can have a huge impact on your overall woodburning. One of the first, and most important, things to realize is that working from blurry photos can make or break the eyes. When planning a new woodburning, I look for high-quality reference photos where the eyes are in focus. While burning eyes may seem daunting, they are actually quite simple if you break the process down into a few easy steps.

MINISA'S TIPS

As artists we are often our own worst critics, but we should never critique our art too soon. Patience is a very important aspect to artwork, and most art takes many hours to complete. Be patient with yourself!

Start by carefully and lightly outlining the darkest areas of the eyes. Burn slowly and make these edges as smooth as possible.

Next, lightly outline the highlights of the eyes. Then, burn the darkest areas of the eyes, being extra careful not to accidentally over-burn the lighter parts of the eyes. Take your time during this step and switch back and forth between different areas. This helps the wood to cool down and prevent that accidental over-burn.

Using a low temperature, begin to shade the eyes by burning a gradient from the top down. Add shading at the edges of the eyeball to create a three-dimensional look. You can also burn slight imperfections inside the eyes to give them more depth.

HOT TIP

If you plan on adding color, avoid burning the colored part of the eyes too dark. Heat from the woodburning process can seal the fibers of the wood, which prevents color from adhering to the surface of the wood. For the owl eyes above, I didn’t burn the colored section at all. This allowed the colored pencil pigment to grab onto the wood.

Fur

Short Fur

Short fur comes in all types and textures. It can appear smooth and even, soft and fluffy, or coarse and scruffy. To create a woodburning of a furry animal, build up multiple layers of individual fur strokes and add shading and blending to create dimension. Remember, try to match the length of each fur stroke to the length of the animal’s fur. For example, a mountain lion has extremely short fur and the fur strokes would also be very short. An African lion, however, can have longer fur so its fur strokes would be a bit longer. There are many great points and pens for woodburning fur. Review Chapter 2 for the woodburning points overview and feel free to experiment with the different points.

Varied Strokes. Use both up-strokes and down-strokes when burning fur. This helps each stroke to blend into the areas above and below it, allowing for a more seamless body of fur.

Non-Parallel Strokes. Fur strokes should flow in the same general direction as those around it, but allow the individual strokes to vary slightly. Don’t get into the habit of making perfectly parallel strokes.

More Strokes. A single layer of fur looks too sparse and flat. Try adding multiple layers of varied and non-parallel fur strokes to build up depth.

Side Shading. Don’t forget to add some softer shading and blending within the sharper fur strokes. This smooths out the fur and tones down some of the coarse texture.

Strokes to Avoid When Burning

Zigzag. This stroke creates an up-and-down feeling, but the point never comes off the wood. This may be easy but most fur doesn’t look this way. Remember to lift the point gradually off the wood with each stroke.

Zigzag Fill. Sometimes artists will use the zigzag stroke to fill in large areas of fur. This creates predictable rows of shading with lots of “stop spots.”

Rows. While this stroke lifts off the wood each time, it’s also very predictable and creates an unrealistic approach to blocking in areas of fur.

Consistent Up-Stroke. This stroke tends to look more like grass than fur. Avoid using a repetitive and consistent stroke when burning fur.

Short Fur Demonstration

For this example I began by burning the basic features such as the eyes, nose, and mouth.

MINISA'S TIPS

To those artists who think their art isn’t “good enough”: keep creating! Whether you are a pyrographic artist or not, if you love to make art, then by all means, make art!

It can be very helpful to start burning the fur very lightly. This allows you to create a light “sketch” or “under painting” that will serve as a blueprint to follow later. During this stage, focus on matching the length of fur strokes, and follow the changing directions of the lion’s fur. If you keep your sketch very light then you can make corrections and adjustments later if you need to. A light sketch is also a great way to help boost confidence. It’s easier to see overall progress much sooner.

After the initial light sketch is complete, go back and begin to build off of what you’ve started. Look for the irregular “topography” zones of the lion’s face; those patchy areas where lighter zones meet darker ones. I find it easier to work on the darker zones first and then blend them into the lighter areas.

Keep adding layers of fur strokes to create depth and texture, and use subtle shading to soften and blend the fur.

Be very patient with yourself and take time when building up these layers. Sometimes I’ll burn and reburn an area many time to achieve the correct levels of shading, texture and overall balance.

Long Fur or Manes

Burning longer fur or manes isn’t much different than burning shorter fur; the main difference is the length of the fur strokes. Some of these longer strokes can curve or bend a lot, so do your best to match that change of direction.

You can even create the illusion of long strokes by burning several shorter strokes and blending them together; this is where starting light and burning in layers is especially helpful.

Much like burning shorter fur, start by creating a light “sketch” that outlines the length and changing directions of the fur. Don’t feel like you need to burn each and every hair. Instead, try to capture the overall flow and feeling of the larger clumps of fur and hair.

After the initial sketch, go over the area again and burn more layers of fur strokes. Create contrast by focusing on the darker areas.

Remember to create form with shading instead of burning a harsh outline. The area where one section of fur transitions to another area can have irregular edges so it looks more natural.

Keep in mind that very long strokes can cool the burner down, which will produce a much lighter stroke. It can be helpful to burn slightly shorter strokes in these areas and blend them together for a more uniform appearance. Take your time and be extra patient when burning longer strokes.

Continue to build up the layers of fur until you’ve achieved your goal.

Spotlight: Simple Steps for Fur

There are many different ways to approach woodburning fur. Here is a nice breakdown of simple steps.

Transfer Topography Zones

Sand “Underwear” Lines

Light “Underburning” Sketch

Darken the Dark Midtones

Add Overall Fur Texture

Add Midtones

Shading and Blending

Fine-Tuning and Adjusting

White Fur

Burning white fur isn’t much different than burning regular fur. You still need to be mindful of key features such as fur length and texture. The main difference is that white fur is much lighter.

Don’t be afraid to add midtones to a white subject. Avoid harsh outlines and embrace the lighter side of the shading scale.

Sand the transfer lines really well before burning. You won’t be able to hide them under the cover of darker tones. For this shaggy sheep dog, I’ve already burned the nose and mouth for reference.

Next, I’ll lightly burn the direction of the fur using long, flowing strokes. I’ll especially focus on the inverted Vs that help give form to the fur.

Once I have a light blueprint to follow, I’ll slowly start making my fur strokes darker and darker. The midtones are what gives depth to a burning with white fur.

I’m still focusing on the darker areas of the subject and building up these values with multiple layers. Remember that you can’t have light without dark and you can’t have dark without light.

HOT TIP

Remember that just because you see a white subject, that doesn’t mean that everything will be solid white. Even pure white items will have lighter and darker areas. (Remember the shading example of the white roll of toilet tissue.)

Hot Tip

It’s okay to start slowly and sneak up on burning white fur. Turn your temperature down and build up the fur strokes in layers.

All that’s left to burn is the whitest and lightest areas of fur. I’ll burn the fur strokes very lightly.

Optional: For extra dimension, you can add white colored pencils after the burn is complete.

Whiskers

Whiskers are seen with many animal woodburnings and there are a couple ways to achieve them.

One of the easiest ways is to burn the subject first then scratch the whiskers into the wood afterwards. I rarely do this because it can be unreliable at times. If the wood was burned too dark then you’ll need to dig down deep to bare lighter wood. But this technique is possible, and I suggest experimenting with scratching on a scrap piece of wood first.

My preference is to burn around the whiskers, although it can take a little more time. Follow these tips to burn around whiskers.

Based on photo by Stephanie J Fleet

I started by burning most of the cat, including the dark shadow behind the whiskers on the right.

Keeping the whiskers extra thick, I’ll burn an outline on one side of each whisker.

Then, I’ll turn the wood around and carefully burn the other side of each whisker.

HOT TIP 1

Whiskers against a light background need to be transferred on very lightly. Instead of drawing my transfer line directly through the whiskers, I’ll add a faint line just underneath each whisker. This creates an illusion that your transfer line is actually the underside or shadow of the whisker.

HOT TIP 2

When transferring whiskers against a dark background, it helps to draw them in extra thick. This helps protect the delicate whiskers from accidental over-burn. Then we will make them thinner as we go.

I’ll often make the outline around the whiskers a little thicker before proceeding.

Once the whiskers are outlined and thickened, burn the area in between the whiskers.

Slowly start making the whiskers thinner by burning along the outer edges.

Continue burning along the edges until you reach the desired thinness.

To burn whiskers on a light background, simply burn a faint line beneath each whisker. Sometimes I’ll stop at this step because it creates a nice illusion of whiskers, especially if you apply a little white colored pencil on the whiskers.

You can also burn a faint line above each whisker. Make sure that you burn the exact thickness that you want, because you won’t be able to make them thinner later.

CHAPTER 6: ADDING COLOR AND FINISHING

Adding color to a woodburning can be exciting! It’s a great way to give pyrographic art a different dimension. The choice to add color is simply up to you and your preferences. Don’t be afraid to try new combinations of colorful mediums to your woodburnings.

Please remember to wait until the burning is complete before adding color of any kind. Burning over any paints or pigments can produce potentially toxic fumes. Always protect your health first by adding color last.

When planning to use color, it’s helpful to decide whether you want bold colors or more subtle coloring. I usually consider my subject when making this decision. If my woodburning includes a subject that is naturally very colorful, like a flower, then I’ll add brighter and bolder colors. However, if my subject is naturally more neutral, such as animal fur, then I’ll only add a touch of subtle coloring.

Bold

Bold color is achieved by using paints, including watercolors, acrylics, oils, inks, and markers.

Subtle

Subtle color is created using colored pencils or very thin washes of paint.

I burned a test gradient on basswood then applied different mediums over the top. As you can see, the darkest areas accept little to no pigment.

Colored Pencils

Colored pencils are an easy way to add color without the setup and possible mess of using paints. They work best on mostly unburned wood, which allows the pigment from the pencils to adhere to the wood. There are many colored pencils on the market and most work fine on wood, although higher-quality pencils will definitely produce better results.

Before adding colored pencils, analyze the photo and select the colors you think you’ll need. I’ll often make a test scribble on a blank piece of paper first to be sure of the color.

To maintain the purity of the color, I often apply white first to the highlights and whitest areas.

Next, just color directly onto the wood. You can apply different layers of colors and blend them together quite easily. Remember that colored pencils can be quite subtle so you may need to build up several layers. But overall, just experiment and have fun!

Acrylic Paint

Acrylic paint offers a great range of bold colors in an easy-to-use water-based medium. Acrylics tend to be quite opaque, but they can also be applied to a woodburning in thin, watered-down layers.

I don’t pre-treat my woodburnings before adding acrylic paints. As long as you don’t use too much water, there’s very little risk of wood swelling or cracking. Just paint directly onto the wood.

Woodburning before paint

Woodburning after paint

To paint on a woodburning you would need acrylic paint, soft brushes, water, and a palette. For this example I’m using a piece of glossy photo paper for an inexpensive palette.

A little paint goes a long ways, especially when thinning it with water. It’s a good idea to experiment with acrylic paint on a scrap piece of wood before applying it to a woodburning. This helps to learn how to use the paint in watered-down layers.

Acrylic paint dries very quickly, which allows for easy application of multiple layers.

Watercolors

Watercolors are a great medium for free-flowing expression. The paint can be transparent or opaque, and offers an interesting twist to a woodburning.

Using watercolors directly on untreated wood can be quite frustrating because the water and pigments immediately soak into the surface of the wood. This prevents the artist from being able to manipulate the watercolors, and worse yet, the water-soaked wood can swell and crack. But, with a few simple steps to prepare the wood, you can enjoy watercolors with woodburning.

The wood surface must be primed and sealed before using watercolors. I use Liquitex Clear Gesso because it dries translucent and offers a great “tooth” for holding the paint.

For this example I chose a simple subject that would work well with a visually interesting background. I wanted the viewer to recognize the watercolor medium so I combined soft washes with hard-edged water lines.

Protect your workspace with paper towels or newspaper and elevate your project. I used paper cups under my woodburning. This keeps the project from sticking to the paper towels.

Pour a small amount of clear gesso onto the wood.

Spread the gesso out across the wood with a fine-bristle paintbrush. To maintain transparency, don’t apply too much gesso. A thin, even layer works best.

Lastly, smooth out the random brush lines with even strokes. Gesso must dry at least 24 hours before painting.

I will be applying a liquid masking fluid to protect the hummingbird woodburning before adding watercolors. This paints on in a liquid form and dries into a flexible sheet of latex.

After the wood surface has been primed and the gesso has dried for at least 24 hours you can apply the liquid masking fluid to the hummingbird. All you need is your woodburning, a liquid masking fluid and a small paintbrush. (Keep in mind that the masking fluid will most likely adhere to the paintbrush bristles and ruin the brush.)

Dip the paintbrush into the masking fluid and apply it to the subject. Be very careful to follow the edges with precision, and cover the subject with a thin layer.

The masking fluid looks milky when wet, but will become semi-transparent as it dries.

Once the masking fluid is completely dry, you can start painting.

I’ll be adding a wash behind the hummingbird so I prep the surface with a layer of water.

Apply your chosen colors for the wash. Control the transparency of the paints by adding more or less water.

Since this is a book about woodburning, I won’t delve into the details of watercolor art. There are many wonderful books dedicated to watercolors so I’ll be showing a simple wash in this example. These are my supplies for the project; at the minimum you’ll need watercolor paints, brushes, a palette and water.

Allow the watercolor wash to dry completely.

Using your finger, begin at the edge of the masking fluid and gently start pulling towards yourself until the masking fluid begins to roll up. Then you can carefully start peeling off the masking.

Use a wet cotton swab to clean up any paint that may have escaped onto the burning.

After the masking fluid has been removed, you can leave the woodburning as is.

Or you can also apply watercolors to the hummingbird.

15 I wasn’t quite happy with the light green background; I felt that the bird blended in too well. So I remasked the hummingbird and added a wash of purple to increase the contrast between the background and the bird.

16 Add a clear-coat to protect the woodburning. I apply three coats of Polycrylic once the burning and painting is finished. I haven’t had any problems with the paint running or bleeding when using this method, even so, I would recommend that you don’t over brush the first coat or use a spray-on finish. Feel free to substitute the clear-coat of your choice.

Alcohol Inks

Alcohol inks are fast-drying, highly pigmented inks designed for non-porous surfaces. I’ve been experimenting with alcohol inks for quite a while and I’ve recently started combining them with woodburnings. They are incredibly vibrant, fluid, and tend to have a mind of their own. There are several steps to follow before adding alcohol inks to a woodburning.

Please note: Adding alcohol inks to a woodburning carries a certain level of risk. If applied incorrectly they can possibly ruin your artwork. Please experiment beforehand on smaller pieces or even blank pieces of wood first. I learned how to use alcohol inks by applying them to a plastic-based paper called “Yupo” paper. This usually costs less than high-quality wood.

SAFETY TIPS

•Alcohol inks are alcohol-based and can be diluted with isopropyl alcohol. These are both highly flammable! Never work with alcohol inks around any possible source of flame or ignition. Vapors can travel to a source of ignition and flash back.

•Odors are hazardous. Always wear a NIOSH approved respirator that is specified for isopropyl alcohol.

•Never, ever, drink the inks or isopropyl alcohol. If these are ingested accidentally, immediately call a hospital or poison control center.

•Protect your skin and eyes. Isopropyl alcohol and inks can be absorbed into the skin and cause health concerns. Always wear nitrile gloves, long sleeves and eye protection when working with alcohol inks.

•Alcohol inks are super fun to work with, but please follow these safety guidelines. I usually work in a sealed-off room to protect myself, my family, and pets from the odors of the alcohol.

Before Using Alcohol Inks

Alcohol inks are designed for use on a non-porous surface. You must seal your woodburning with several layers of clear-coating before using alcohol inks. I apply between 3-6 coats of Polycrylic to my finished woodburning until the front of the burning is glassy smooth. This seals the wood fibers and creates a non-porous surface for the inks to flow across. (You can also apply resin to the woodburning instead of clear-coating.)

Mask the Subject

There are several brands of liquid masking fluids on the market. This particular fluid comes with or without a yellow coloring. The yellow version dries with a slight hint of color.

To protect my subject, I apply a liquid masking fluid. This paints on in a liquid form and dries into a flexible sheet of latex. Simply dip an old paintbrush into the masking fluid and carefully paint it onto the wood. (Remember that this will probably ruin your paintbrush.)

As the masking fluid begins to dry, it looks a lot like Swiss cheese.

When the fluid is completely dry, it can be difficult to see when looking straight-on.

The masking fluid is easier to see when viewed from the side.

Applying the Alcohol Inks

Protect your work environment with plastic, and please review all safety guidelines before using alcohol inks. For this project, I’ll be using Ranger brand alcohol inks and isopropyl alcohol (91%). My woodburning is propped up on plastic cups to avoid soaking the bottom side with alcohol.

Spray the surface of the wood with isopropyl alcohol, then squirt the inks on top.

There are many ways to manipulate the inks, including a paintbrush, tipping the wood, or even a hairdryer. For this project I used canned air to move the inks to the desired areas.

Alcohol inks will dry very quickly but can easily be reactivated with more layers of inks and/or isopropyl alcohol. Keep adding either of these and move them around on the wood until you’re happy with the outcome.

5Wait until the ink is completely dried before removing the masking fluid. I usually wait about 6-12 hours to allow the inks to fully dry.

To remove the masking fluid, drag your finger along the edge of the dried masking fluid until it begins to roll up.

Continue to slowly roll or pull off the masking fluid.

After the masking fluid has been removed, there may be small bits that are still stuck to the wood. Gently roll your finger in a circular motion to rub off the remaining dried fluid. Occasionally, some ink may bleed through the masking fluid and stain the burning. (Yellow tends to bleed more so than other colors I’ve tried.)

To remove these stains, use isopropyl alcohol on a cotton swab to gently rub off the inks. Keep replacing the colored cotton swabs with new ones until the ink has been removed. Be careful not to get the isopropyl alcohol too close to the background or it will reactivate the inks and cause bleeding or running of the colors.

When the burning has been cleaned up, it should be sealed to protect the inks. Most types of clear-coats will reactivate the inks, so I recommend using Kamar Varnish by Krylon. It’s the only spray that seals the inks without changing them.

Follow all safety guidelines when using these sprays. I apply three thin coats of the Kamar Varnish, then I add three additional coats of UV Resistant spray, also by Krylon. This helps to keep the alcohol inks bright and vivid for years to come.

Protect and Seal Your Work

It’s important to protect and seal your finished woodburning. There are many great products on the market with multiple finishes such as matte, semi-gloss, and glossy. I’m currently using three coats of water-based Polycrylic by Minwax, then add one coat of Permalac for UV protection. I encourage you to experiment with several options to see what works best for you.

Brush-On

Acrylic Paint

Colored Pencils

For most woodburnings I brush on three coats of Polycrylic by Minwax, including the front, back, and sides. This works well for me on pyrographies without color and also when using acrylic paint or colored pencils.

HOT TIP

Always experiment with new techniques and finishes on test pieces before using on an important project.

Spray-On

Water-based Markers

Watercolor Paint

If you have used strong colors on your woodburning such as markers or water-based paints, it can be helpful to use a spray-on finish to avoid smearing the colors.

HOT TIP

When applying the first coat over colored pencils, be careful not to over-brush or the colors can run and bleed.

UV Protection

Woodburning art can be quite sensitive to the harmful effects of the sun, so it’s helpful to apply a UV protectant. Some finishes come complete with UV protection but can create a yellowing effect. Other products are non-yellowing but do not contain a UV protectant. Once again, feel free to experiment with different products. Even with a UV protectant, I encourage artists and customers to hang their woodburning art away from direct sunlight. Some clear-coating products are advertised for “exterior” use and will help to protect the wood, however, most woodburnings can fade significantly if placed in direct sunlight.

SAFETY NOTE

Always follow the product instructions carefully and wear appropriate safety equipment.

CHAPTER 7: PROJECTS

A lot of pattern books offer very simplistic patterns with little or no instruction. In this section, not only am I giving you patterns, I’m also burning each pattern myself and taking you along by the hand. I try to show you what works well for me while offering you artistic freedom and variations to turn the patterns into your own works of art.

I strongly encourage you to read the tips and steps for all of the animals in the patterns section before creating a burning of your own. Some patterns have more in-depth explanations than others, and these explanations carry over to other patterns.

Note: to attempt to woodburn these projects, copy the transfer patterns—enlarged to a size appropriate for your piece of wood—and transfer them to the wood (see here for instructions).

Butterfly

Butterfly woodburnings are fairly simple to create and it’s fun to add color to these pieces for an extra level of realism. This burning was made on a 6 inch round piece of cherry, and I used acrylic paint after the woodburning was complete.

MINISA'S TIPS

We are fluid and ever-changing souls. Why should our art be any different? Don’t be afraid to venture away from the known. Charge boldly into the unknown because you never know where a path may lead. Never lose your drive to explore! Sometimes, we can only be found when we are completely lost.

Photo by Karen Broemmelsick

Transfer pattern

This butterfly has a lot of very dark designs so I will start by lightly outlining these darkest areas. I’ll also lightly burn the veins and structure of the wings.

Burn the darkest patterns of the butterfly. (Remember that these areas aren’t completely black. The outer edges of the wings are slightly lighter due to natural highlights.)

Add a stippling effect to the upper edges of the wings and the tooth-shaped panels on the lower wings. Be sure to add more stippling to the bottom edges to create a gradient appearance.

Apply light shading to the wings to finish the burning. You can stop here or add color.

These are the colors used for this butterfly woodburning.

Bunny

This sweet little bunny is a great example of strong backlighting. His fur is very short so be sure to use short strokes to match. This was a smaller project and can be used as an ornament when finished.

MINISA'S TIPS

While it’s easy to compare your art with other artists’ work, don’t. I repeat, don’t! Every artist travels their own “artistic path” and no two paths are alike. Viewing your art next to someone else’s is not a true comparison; you may have just began the journey on your path while the other person has been on their path for decades. The only way to measure your artistic skills is to compare your art with itself, over time. You may see a steady progress in skill, or you may only see progress once in a while... that’s okay. The most important thing is that you keep trying.

HOT TIP

Burning on an end cut can take a little longer because the wood seems harder. However, the very center is softer and can burn dark very easily.

Photo by Chris Allsebrook

Transfer pattern

Burn an outline around the darkest part of the eye and the small “v” to the inside of the eye. Block in the nose with an inverted triangle.

Shade the eye with a gradient above the highlight. The lower half of the eye is mostly dark, but with a slightly lighter lower edge.

Burn the darkest values of the bunny. Since he’s fairly light overall, there aren’t a lot of dark areas so I burned level 5 and level 4 at the same time. I also burned a light outline around the rabbit.

Next, burn the midtones, (level 3) using fur strokes and blend these areas into the darker zones.

To complete the bunny, softly burn the lighter midtones (level 2) and blend them into the midtones.

Optional: Adding a background with a gradient can help give your subject a fuller and more realistic appearance.

Horse

This is a very captivating image and I love seeing the flow of motion in the horse’s mane. You can also feel the power and energy in the muscles as the horse is running. This was burned on an 8″ x 10″ piece of basswood and I added colored pencils after the burn was complete.

MINISA'S TIPS

Artwork is fun, yes. But artwork also takes work. That includes being patient with yourself and working through the challenges. Try to think of each new artwork as a rosebud instead of a “masterpiece.” A rosebud can be beautiful in its early stages, but if you give it more time and treat it with care it can bloom into a stunning rose. Don’t walk away from your art too soon! Give it a chance to grow into something more beautiful.

Photo by Karen Broemmelsick

Transfer pattern

Because of the light image, I wanted to create a dramatic contrast so I burned the background solid black. To learn more about burning a black background please see here.

Start by burning the darkest areas of the horse and also the eye. I used multiple layers and short strokes for the fur.

Burn the darker midtones (level 4), again using multiple layers and short fur strokes.

Continue using short strokes to burn the midtones (level 3) and blend them into the surrounding zones.

Lastly, burn the lighter midtones, (level 2).

HOT TIP

Sometimes it’s hard to distinguish between the different levels and zones. In these gradient areas, just blend them as best you can as you progress through the burning.

Optional: I used only three colored pencils to add a hint of color to this piece.

Bobcat

Cats are one of my favorite subjects to burn and I love the regality of this bobcat. Its gaze resonates a fury at rest and I especially love the poofy paws!

MINISA'S TIPS

If you break apart the word “artistry” you get “art is try.” One of the best ways to learn and grow as an artist is to try new techniques and ideas. Try things that may or may not work, but the first step to expanding your comfort zone is to try. Push yourself off the cliff of the uncertainty... you might just fly.

Photo by Emmanuel Keller

Start by carefully and lightly outlining the darkest areas of the eyes. Burn slowly and make these edges as smooth as possible.

Next, lightly outline the highlights of the eyes. Then, burn the darkest areas of the eyes, being extra careful not to accidentally over-burn the lighter parts of the eyes. Take your time during this step and switch back and forth between different areas. This helps the wood to cool down and prevent that accidental over-burn.

Using a low temperature, begin to shade the eyes by burning a gradient from the top down. Add shading at the edges of the eyeball to create a three-dimensional look. You can also burn slight imperfections inside the eyes to give them more depth.

HOT TIP

Animals with dark spots or speckles usually don’t have really hard edges around the spots. Rather, these dark areas gently blend into their surrounding areas slightly. Avoid burning a hard outline around any animal’s spots or speckles.

Start by burning the darkest areas of the bobcat. Be sure to keep a softer edge on these areas so you can blend them into the next shading zone. Lightly outline around the whiskers and keep them extra thick. Burn around them carefully. Over time we will burn closer and closer to them and “shave” them to make them thinner.

Burn the darker midtones and blend them into the darker areas.

Burn the midtones using multiple layers.

Burn the lighter midtones and adjust the overall image if necessary.

It’s time to burn the rock underneath the bobcat. This step can be a lot of fun because rocks can be very abstract. Start by adding texture to the darkest areas using a random “wiggle worm” technique. Imagine that the point of your burner is a confused and lost worm, wandering around in random circles. This creates a fun and abstract pattern for texture.

Focus on the midtones and keep adding layers of the “wiggle worm” technique.

HOT TIP

Use crisp edges of fur to draw it into focus, and use softer edges to blur areas into the background.

Continue adding layers of texture and shading until you get the darkness and definition that you want.

Burn the whiskers. To help preserve the lightness of the whiskers, start off by outlining them fairly thick and chunky. Then, slowly burn around them to make them thinner and thinner. For more information regarding whiskers please visit here.

After the bobcat was complete, I decided to add a black background to add extra emphasis on the cat.

Optional: Add a touch of color with colored pencils.

Hummingbird

Hummingbirds are incredibly dainty little birds and I find them fascinating. For this example, I wanted to show that you don’t have to be restricted to woodburning alone, or even to use simple methods of color. This little bird was woodburned then I applied an abstract watercolor wash for the background.

MINISA'S TIPS

Have you ever tried to learn a new skill? Learning something new often follows a specific path. First there’s discovery, where you are initially exposed to the skill. Something about it captures your attention and creates a personal connection with your soul. Secondly is the motivation where you’re filled with joy and anticipation to try the new skill out for yourself. Next comes frustration, where you actually try to emulate the beautiful works that you’ve witnessed, only to discover that it’s not as easy as it looks. The final stage has two different outcomes; you can either quit because learning is too difficult and frustrating, or you can show dedication and persistence by carrying on. Rome wasn’t built in a day so never, ever give up!

Photo by Gary A. Peters

Begin by burning the darkest area of the eye and add subtle stippling around the eye.

Shade the lower part of the highlight and add shading around the eye.

As an exception to the rule, I’ll add a light outline around the hummingbird. (I want to show how to add watercolors to a woodburning, so, instead of a black background, I’ll add a light outline around the bird to help define the edges for later steps.) Burn the darkest areas as well as the darker midtones to the wings and underside of the beak.

Add darker sections to the lower tail feathers and back using a hatching motion.

Burn the midtones of the bird.

Lastly, burn the lighter midtones and blend them into the other zones.

If you’d like to add watercolors to your burning, see here for tips.

Moose

Moose often have wet fur, which is an interesting variation to furry animals. Wet fur tends to clump together and you’ll see lots of inverted “V” shapes within the fur.

MINISA'S TIPS

“I want to create a masterpiece!” Many of us artists hear this voice in our heads when starting a new project. We’re filled with excitement and motivation when we begin a new woodburning, painting, or sculpture etc. However, 30–60 minutes into the project that initial motivation is often replaced with frustration. We start hearing other voices such as “This doesn’t look right!”, “My art will never be good,” or “I’m not talented enough to be an artist.” These voices can drown out our inspiration and we hang our heads and walk away from a potential masterpiece. Never let these voices stop you! Whether your artwork turns out or not, perseverance is one of the greatest teachers.

Photo by Gary A. Peters

Transfer pattern

Sometimes, fur directions and patterns can seem overwhelming so it can be helpful to create a simple “underpainting” type of sketch before burning dark. Lightly burn the fur as it changes directions and length throughout the image. This initial “sketch” can be quite abstract and imperfect. These light guidelines can be very helpful though as you begin to burn the different shading zones. After this initial sketch, I burned the darkest areas of the moose.

Burn the darker midtones and blend them into the darkest tones. Remember to keep an irregular stroke length in order to keep a more natural feel.

When burning short fur and hair, it’s especially helpful to add multiple layers. If you try to burn everything in one pass your animal will appear too uniform. Burning in layers helps to create more depth and realism. Avoid shading entire sections completely. It’s important to keep irregular bits of light and unburned wood.

Burn the midtones using random fur strokes and include some darker, inverted Vs. This helps the fur to look wet and clumped together.

Burn the lighter midtones and add colored pencils if you’d like.

Optional: Add alcohol inks to the background for a fun splash of color. For more information on using alcohol inks please see here.

Mountain Lion

I envisioned this majestic cat emerging silently from the darkness. In order to achieve this illusion, I’ll burn the cat first and then carefully blend it into the black background. If I were to burn the background first, it would be easy to have an indented outline around the feline and I would have lost the dark, enveloping illusion that I’m seeking.

MINISA'S TIPS

If you tend to get frustrated or overwhelmed with a piece, it’s good to take a break sometimes. Work on a different area within the piece, work on another burning, or simply put them aside and go out for a walk. The change can do wonders for your art, and your mind!

Photo by Emmanuel Keller

Transfer pattern

As always, I begin by burning the eyes. For more details on eyes, please visit here. Then, burn the darkest areas of the image, including the nose, eyes, forehead crease and shadows in the fur.

Burn the darker midtones of the image.

HOT TIP

This cat has very short fur so your strokes must also be very short... almost to the point of stippling certain areas.

Now, I’m lightly burning the midtones of the cat, although I’ll darken and add to them in the next step.

HOT TIP

Sometimes when working from a photo, you’ll notice parts of the image will be in sharp focus, while other areas may be quite blurry. This can help you create a sense of distance.

The cat’s face and front leg show the sharpest focus, therefore they will have the clearest details. You’ll see the fur strokes crisply and vividly. The rest of the cat is quite blurry with softer shading and very few details. Burn the lighter midtones and gently blend them into the unburned wood for a smooth appearance.

After initiating the midtones, I continue to add to them. Most of the cat consists of subtle midtones. Take your time during this step and be patient. It may take several layers of burning, darkening and blending to create the look you want.

Burn the lighter midtones and gently blend them into the unburned wood for a smooth appearance.

When burning the black background, I’ll be very careful to avoid indenting the wood along the edge of the mountain lion. Burn slowly with heat instead of downward pressure.

Burn all around the mountain lion to create a heat buffer for the next step. For more information on burning black backgrounds please see here.

Complete burning the background and leave a slight gradient where the darkness meets the foreground.

Burn the foreground and gently blend it into the black background. Sign your name.

Optional: I added colored pencils to the cat’s eyes, nose, and fur.

Elk

Elk are beautiful and majestic creatures and I wanted to omit the background to showcase this bull.

MINISA'S TIPS

Beware the “Rut.” If you’ve ever traveled down an old road, then I’m sure you’re familiar with a rut. A “rut” is a well-worn trench that forces your vehicle’s tire to travel the same route as every other tire. Moving down the road takes very little effort because the path is “tried and true.” You get a predicted outcome with little, to no, risk. In terms of an artist, you’ve created art that is successful or comfortable, and that’s great! The only problem is the longer you travel that rut, the deeper it becomes until you realize that you can no longer leave this path and you’re stuck to create the same... old... art. Sticking with the “tried and true” may seem secure, but you don’t allow yourself the room to grow. Growth is life! There’s an old saying: “If you’re not growing, then you’re dying.” I strongly believe this for myself and encourage other artists to keep this in the forefront of their minds. Yes, ruts are safe and secure, and more importantly they may provide the income to keep food on the table. But I encourage you to devote even the smallest amount of time to self-exploration. Don’t be afraid to break away from the rut! The “rut” will always be there, try something new once in a while and you will add more flavor and intrigue to your art.

Photo by Gary A. Peters

Transfer pattern

Transfer your pattern onto the wood using graphite paper. If your graphite lines are too dark, sand them down to lighten them up. It’s important to do this before you begin burning. Once you burn over the graphite lines it is much more difficult to remove them.

Then burn the darker midtones, (level 4) and gently blend these areas into the darks.

Next burn the midtones (level 3) using varied fur strokes. Add multiple layers to create depth.

Finally, softly burn the lighter midtones (level 2). Turn your burner down or blow on the point to cool the tip.

Optional: Add colored pencils.

Optional: Add color to the background; for this project I used alcohol inks. For more information about using alcohol inks please see here.

Owl

I often laugh at myself because I love creating woodburnings of birds, but I hate burning feathers. I think I’m drawn to birds because they have such a wonderful and elegant composition. Their edges and positions can be so clean and dramatic. However, those pesky feathers can definitely be challenging! Once again, though, I’m drawn to this fantastic owl with colorful eyes and a majestic appearance.

MINISA'S TIPS

Beware the Ugly Duckling phase! Every piece of art that I’ve created goes through an “Ugly Duckling” phase. I’m sure that many artists have experienced this as well. That point where you’ve spent a considerable amount of time on a project and it isn’t looking the way you’d hoped. Unfortunately, it’s easy to become discouraged at this point and quit.

Try to remember that the “Ugly Duckling” phase is very common. But more importantly, it’s only a phase. It can be difficult, but you must push through this stage and trust yourself to continue. Keep working and you may be surprised at how well your work turns out. Even if you’re disappointed with the end results, be proud of the fact that you didn’t quit! Perseverance can be a tremendous teacher.

Photo by Cindy Fry

Transfer pattern

Start by burning the eye of the owl. (For more details on the eyes, please see here.) Then begin burning the darkest areas of the owl’s feathers.

Begin burning the darker midtones of the owl. Once again, this step can be quite free and abstract. Just remember to slightly blend these dark tones into the black ones to create a sense of harmony and continuity.

Burn the midtones. Keep close attention to the direction and flow of the feathers. They can change directions often. Once again, be sure to blend them into the previous level.

HOT TIP

Like many birds, this owl may seem a bit complicated. The feathers create many different patterns and textures, and it may seem a bit overwhelming. The fun part about this image is that it can be fairly abstract. Don’t think that you need to draw in each and every feather. Feel free to have fun and experiment with a looser style.

You don’t need to burn each and every feather pattern. The use of negative space is very important when burning the speckled, light-colored feathers. Use random strokes and create lots of negative space. It’s helpful to burn several layers to give it more depth.

When burning the lights, smooth out any rough areas, and blend and soften harsh areas. This gives everything a continuous and well-rounded appearance.

Optional: Add colored pencils for a hint of color.

Optional: For added interest I masked the owl and applied alcohol inks to the background. For more information on using alcohol inks please see here.

Bighorn Sheep

This bighorn sheep is a wonderful symbol of my home state of Colorado, and I love the texture of their horns. With such a light subject, I would normally apply a black background to help create contrast. However, this project was created on a thin basswood panel and if I burn too dark or too deeply, I could risk heating the glue that holds the panel together. This might release potentially toxic fumes. So for this example, using inks or paint for the background would be a safer option.

MINISA'S TIPS

Learning can be difficult. If learning was easy then everyone would be an expert at everything. Learning takes time and more importantly it takes perseverance. Don’t be afraid of experiencing failure along the way, because failure and challenges are some of life’s greatest teachers. If your failures are stones don’t use them to build a wall of defeat…instead, use them as stepping stones and build a bridge to greater heights.

Photo by Lorraine Logan

Transfer pattern

Start with the eyes. Burn the darkest area around the eye and also the center.

Shade the overall eye and burn a slight gradient along the bottom and top edges.

Lightly shade the highlight of the eye and burn the dark areas around the eye.

Let’s focus on burning the bighorn sheep first then we’ll burn the horns last. Begin by burning the darkest areas of the sheep first, including the shadow under the jaw, and key features such as the nose, mouth and ear. Remember to burn multiple layers of dark fur strokes instead of blocking in the dark areas with a solid border.

Burn the darker midtones. This sheep has fairly short fur and it’s quite uniform. It lacks a lot of the 3D fluffiness that you’ll see with bears or wolves. So this fur pattern will be quite consistent and the fur strokes will be closer together and more parallel.

Burn the midtones. For large areas of fur, it’s helpful to lightly sketch the general flow and direction of the hairs. This acts as a guide as you build up the layers of fur. Then burn these areas of fur in layers to help create depth.

Burn the lighter midtones and burn a light outline around the outer edge of the sheep’s face and horns. This will help to create a light guideline when applying the background.

The ridges of the horns are one of their most distinguished features. To help create the illusion of depth, notice that each ridge has a hard edge towards the bottom and then fades upwards. To begin, lightly burn the most noticeable ridges. You don’t need to burn each and every ridge; sometimes just hinting at a repeating feature creates more realism than drawing each and every line.

Darken the ridges. Remember that they aren’t a solid dark. Blend them into their surrounding lines.

Time to add the midtones to the ridges. Be sure to blend them into the darker zones.

Next, add some darker midtones for the shadows and add a few perpendicular lines to show the evolution of the horn growth.

Optional: Add colored pencils if you’d like.

Optional: Add paint or alcohol inks to the background. For more information on alcohol inks please see here.

Zebra

Zebras are a unique subject to woodburn and the lighting is spectacular with this one. I decided to add a gradient background to this little zebra to enhance the 3D aspect of the photo. Backgrounds don’t always have to be just black or white; it’s fun to mix things up a bit.

Zebras are known for their black and white stripes. However, it’s important to remember that the black stripes won’t always appear solid black; they will have lighter areas due to a light source. The same is true for the white stripes. They may appear darker due to the shadows of a light source.

MINISA'S TIPS

Like anything in life, art is a skill that must be practiced. Very few people are instant “masters” of an art, and those you think of as “masters” will confess that they are still learning and growing. The more you create, the more you learn. The more you learn, the more skill you develop and the better your art becomes.

Photo by Karen Broemmelsick

Transfer pattern

Sand your guidelines before woodburning.

HOT TIP

When burning on rounds, or end-cuts, keep a light pressure or the point of the burner can easily sink down into the softer grains. You’ll notice that the center of an end-cut piece of wood can burn much easier and darker than the outer edges.

To protect the zebra from the heat of the background, burn a thin outline around the subject.

Normally, I would use my 5-step shading scale to explain this woodburning, but that would be a bit complicated with this particular subject. The zebra has so many stripes that it can be difficult to keep them all straight, so I’ll focus on the black stripes first.

Begin by lightly shading the black stripes. This will help to isolate them from the white areas. Remember not to burn too dark at this point because this step is simply a guideline for later.

Now that the zebra stripes are lightly blocked in, it’s time to go over them again and darken them up. Remember that the stripes in shadow will be darker than the stripes in a direct light source. I’ve also added subtle lines within the stripes to create the illusion of wrinkles within the zebra’s skin.

Burn the midtones of the subject, mostly the nose and ears.

Lightly shade the white stripes to help give contour and depth to the zebra. Keep your temperature turned down for this subtle layer of shading. You can finish here or...

Optional: You can add a touch of white colored pencil or paint to the lighter stripes for an extra level of shading.

African Lion

African lions are one of my favorite subjects to burn. It amazes me how expressive their faces can be and how different they each appear. Tattered ears and scarred noses help to tell their stories of struggle, victory, and defeat.

This large male has a great example of short fur, whiskers, and longer fur patterns. I also find his eyes to be mesmerizing!

When creating your own woodburning remember to pay attention to the changes in fur direction.

MINISA'S TIPS

Art is a journey. It is a lifetime of growth. If your goal is to “arrive,” then you might be missing the point of art. I believe that art isn’t a straight line, but rather it’s a meandering adventure of personal discovery.

Photo by Chris Allsebrook

Transfer your pattern onto the wood using graphite paper. If your graphite lines are too dark, sand them down to lighten them up. It’s important to do this before you begin burning. Once you burn over the graphite lines it is much more difficult to remove them.

Burn the black background (see here), then burn the darkest areas of the eyes, nose and mouth. These areas are some of the darkest values of the image. Be careful not to get accidental over-burn in these areas. It’s okay to build up these dark areas with additional lighter layers.

Shade the eyes. Carefully burn a gradient starting at the top of each eye. Be careful not to burn the highlight of either eye. For more control, either turn down the temperature of the burner or blow on the point with your breath to cool it down.

Burn the darkest areas (level 5) by building up layers of fur strokes. It’s okay to start out lighter and gradually burn darker.

Look for the darker midtones (level 4) and burn them using fur strokes. Fur often has inverted “V’s” and gradients work well in these areas. Remember to follow the direction of the fur with slightly random strokes.

Add fur strokes and texture to mid-tone areas (level 3). Be sure to add some darker bits of fur as you go, and be patient during this step. A lot of the image is covered with midtones and it can take time to build up these layers. This step also adds some wonderful bone and muscle structure to the lion. If your midtones aren’t dark enough during this step, you can lose some of that realism when you move on to the lighter midtones (level 2). It can take many layers of burning to build enough depth. Be careful not to burn dark outlines on the topo zones! Keep them soft and feathered.

Burn the lighter midtones (level 2). It’s helpful to turn down the temperature on your woodburner for this step. This will help to avoid burning too dark by accident. Once again, be careful to burn the hair directions correctly! Blend the lighter midtones (level 2) into the midtone (level 3) topo zones as you go. It’s important to see the different zones, but it should be fairly subtle.

It’s time to burn the lightest areas of the lion (level 1). Turning your burner down is very important to keep these shaded areas light. If you can’t turn the burner down, try to move it quickly. The “White Fur” technique works well in this stage.

Use the upper part of the shading point to thin out and blend the fur into the black background. Soften their edges and make them look more natural. Darken random sections of the ends of this fur to create the illusion of depth.

Once all the levels have been burned take some time to fine-tune and adjust the overall shading balance if need be. Darken up the midtones, add some extra layers of fur for added depth, look for any missed sections and sign your name.

Optional: Use colored pencils if you’d like to add some subtle color to your woodburning.

Acknowledgments

I’d like to thank my husband for his constant support and encouragement for me and my art throughout the years. He has allowed me the flexibility and freedom to pursue my artistic goals and growth by his unwavering commitment to our family. I am and always will be grateful to him for his sacrifices in time, effort, and especially sleep to work long hours so that our family is able to function with what they need. His sacrifice has given me the ability to stay at home with our children, raise them, homeschool them, and love them as they should be loved. I hope to repay him through the efforts of my artwork, and this book is a big step in that direction.

My sweet children are a huge part of my life and this book would not be possible without their support, patience, understanding and cooperation. Homeschooling three kids is never easy, but homeschooling three kids while running an art business and writing a book seems like climbing Mt. Everest. Much like oxygen on Everest, time is always in short supply. My children have stepped up to help with so many tasks over the past many years, I can’t even name them all. Their love and support constantly drives me to become a better mother and person and I’m forever thankful to them.

I’d also like to thank my parents for their belief in me ever since I was a young child. My mother is also my dearest friend and strongest supporter in every area of my life. She has offered insight, council and encouragement throughout the years. My father is a professional artist and helped fuel the spark of creativity in my heart. I grew up watching him paint incredible landscapes and he’s taught me more than he could ever know.

Many thanks to everyone who has encouraged me through their kind words of support. I’m honored to share my art and knowledge with you all.

Thank you to all of the photographers who’ve given me permission to reference their photos in this book. I’d also like to offer a very special thank you to the following photographers who were kind enough to allow me to create patterns based on their reference photos. Your generosity is extremely appreciated.

Chris Allsebrook

chris@ribsters.com

Lorraine Logan

Wildlife and nature photography, plus digital art

www.LLoganPhotography.com

Gary A. Peters

“After retiring from a 25-year career as a U.S. Special Agent (Criminal Investigator) with the U.S. Treasury, I purchased a cheap camera off the internet and started learning/experimenting/evolving. Something about the entire process of taking and processing images just clicked in my mind. It was truly an epiphany; causing me to ask why I had not done this before.”

500px.com/photogapic

Karen Broemmelsick

“I love photographing animals, particularly horses—capturing their power, beauty, and energy.”

kbphotographyandart.com

Cindy Fry

Cindy is a wildlife photographer from Hershey, Pennsylvania. Her love of animals is reflected in her artwork, and she is most well known for her animal portraits and bird photography.

www.cindyfryart.com

Emmanuel Keller

“I’m an amateur photographer who mostly focuses on animal photography (mostly in zoos, but also in the wild).”

www.tambako.ch

Meet the Author

Minisa Robinson was raised in the mountains and backcountry of Colorado and grew up with a strong appreciation of art. She is the daughter of a professional artist and was blessed to watch him capture the world around him using oil paints. Minisa is self-taught in many areas of art including oil painting, sketching, graphic arts, acrylic painting and alcohol inks. However, she is most known for her realistic woodburnings, also known as pyrographic art.

Minisa stumbled across pyrography by accident in 2009 when exploring the art of woodcarving. Since then she has taught herself to create highly detailed woodburnings and has also become a leader and teacher in her field. She pushes the limits of pyrography and encourages others to view the art in a new light. Minisa enjoys a challenge and continually explores new techniques and ideas while growing as an artist.

After graduating high school, Minisa spent 12 years as a self-taught graphic designer and published state-level newspapers, in addition to co-creating an online e-magazine. She now spends most of her time as a homeschooling, work-at-home mother of three. She also enjoys snowmobiling and playing competitive softball, and she is a 3rd degree black belt in Taekwondo.

My studio is usually very busy, and serves as a workspace, office, shipping center, framing space, photo booth and storage. With so much going on it can often be a bit crowded, but I love the sense of peace that it offers. In addition to pyrography I paint in acrylics, watercolors and oils, create resin castings and art, as well as make pendants and jewelry.

I’m blessed to live in the remote mountains of Colorado with my husband and children. My studio faces west and I love watching the sun set from the top of the world.