My good friend, Danielle, is a master baker of cupcakes. When the Cake Expo came to Orlando last year, we went together to attend some classes, watch some live competitions, and view the amazing entries into the decorating contests. So when her birthday rolled around this year, I wanted to do something bakery themed.
Perusing Pinterest for some unique gift ideas, I came across images of wooden spoons with designs burned into them. Quieting the voices in my head that told me I would just end up burning my skin off, I looked into what it took to do Pyrography.
Basically, you need a wood burning tool, some tips for the tool, and something to burn. Control of the tool involves managing how long the tool touches the wood. Pressure shouldn't be used to burn the wood because it just causes the tips to bend while they're hot. Some tools allow you to adjust the temperature that they heat up to. It seemed rather simple.
So I bought some inexpensive bamboo cooking utensils, a rather inexpensive wood burning tool set that came with some burning and embossing tips, stamps, a cutter, a stand to set the hot tool on while its in use, and a nice case to put everything into. I also bought a guide book and perused the internet for some cute clip art designs of baked goods that I wanted to put on the utensils. I drew the designs on both sides of the utensils (in case she wanted to stick them in a jar) with a regular graphite pencil. After triple checking that my work space wasn't in danger of bursting into flames, I began burning.
Some things about wood burning: the tool gets really hot. I may invest in an extra close-fitting oven mitt just to use with the tool. A tip that isn't screwed in all the way doesn't get hot enough to burn the wood, but is too hot to tighten until the tool is off and completely cooled down. Curved pieces of wood, like the bowl of a spoon, make it a little hard to get a good angle sometimes. Also, wood grain really interferes with the smoothness of your burning. My tool would bump against the almost imperceptible edge of the grain and get snagged there, causing a little dot in what would otherwise be an even line. Sanding down the wood grain was a thought, but would only be unnoticeable on plain and unfinished wood.
But overall, the experience was pretty effortless. It was a lot like regular drawing, but with the added task of having to be mindful of what was near my tool and how I grabbed it. Some lines I had to go over multiple times to get it dark enough, especially with outlines, but it was a lot easier than I thought. And now I have a new medium to work in. I can't wait to do more of these projects!
Perusing Pinterest for some unique gift ideas, I came across images of wooden spoons with designs burned into them. Quieting the voices in my head that told me I would just end up burning my skin off, I looked into what it took to do Pyrography.
Basically, you need a wood burning tool, some tips for the tool, and something to burn. Control of the tool involves managing how long the tool touches the wood. Pressure shouldn't be used to burn the wood because it just causes the tips to bend while they're hot. Some tools allow you to adjust the temperature that they heat up to. It seemed rather simple.
So I bought some inexpensive bamboo cooking utensils, a rather inexpensive wood burning tool set that came with some burning and embossing tips, stamps, a cutter, a stand to set the hot tool on while its in use, and a nice case to put everything into. I also bought a guide book and perused the internet for some cute clip art designs of baked goods that I wanted to put on the utensils. I drew the designs on both sides of the utensils (in case she wanted to stick them in a jar) with a regular graphite pencil. After triple checking that my work space wasn't in danger of bursting into flames, I began burning.
Some things about wood burning: the tool gets really hot. I may invest in an extra close-fitting oven mitt just to use with the tool. A tip that isn't screwed in all the way doesn't get hot enough to burn the wood, but is too hot to tighten until the tool is off and completely cooled down. Curved pieces of wood, like the bowl of a spoon, make it a little hard to get a good angle sometimes. Also, wood grain really interferes with the smoothness of your burning. My tool would bump against the almost imperceptible edge of the grain and get snagged there, causing a little dot in what would otherwise be an even line. Sanding down the wood grain was a thought, but would only be unnoticeable on plain and unfinished wood.
But overall, the experience was pretty effortless. It was a lot like regular drawing, but with the added task of having to be mindful of what was near my tool and how I grabbed it. Some lines I had to go over multiple times to get it dark enough, especially with outlines, but it was a lot easier than I thought. And now I have a new medium to work in. I can't wait to do more of these projects!
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