Skip to main content

Niki and Max's Wedding Cutting Board


With a handful of wood-burning projects under my belt already, I tackled yet another cutting board for a wedding present. RJ's cousin was getting married and she was doing a fishing theme, something I thought totally made sense for a cutting board.

I found a fairly large sized board with an interesting wood grain, the kind with a groove cut into it for catching juices while carving. Even if they wouldn't be physically using the board, it seemed particularly fitting. As for what I was going to burn into it, I imagined an underwater scene, with some seaweed and coral, and of course, the initials of the couple.

So, I got to work sketching various images out and laying out the tableau of the little underwater world. When I finished, I was very happy with the fishes I had selected and types of coral I had incorporated. Thin lines and bulbs of the seaweed were nicely contrasted with the larger pieces of coral. And I had even found a really cool little jellyfish to toss into the background.

But I noticed a few flaws. Since I started with the fishes, then the background, and finally ended with the initials, I ended up squishing the "M" and "N" where they wouldn't interfere with the fish... which meant that they were off center and looked like the after-thought that they were.

Also, being used to working in portrait view with most drawing projects, I had done the same with this board, and missed out on utilizing the amazing wood grain lines that had attracted me to the board to begin with.

I was suddenly discouraged. Was it worth redoing all my work to redraw the entire board and turning the composition horizontal? I debated it for several nights and finally decided that I wouldn't be happy with the final project if I went ahead and burned it and didn't do it "right". So I took up my eraser and started all over again.

It was a painful, and getting rid of pencil lines is always a chore that I hate having to do. Sometimes they never fully go away unless you take a bit of sandpaper to the wood which I really didn't want to do to this board. But in the end, it was totally worth it.

The wood grain running horizontally brought to mind the lines of the ocean and used the space of the board much more effectively. Additionally, the initials were back in the center of the board where they could take the focus of the eye like they should.

Since I had started the board, sat on it in debate, wiped it, and started over, I was hitting my deadline on completing the board a tad too close. With more time I would have made the burn of the initials and the shading on everything just a little bit heavier than where they ended up. But rethinking the orientation was completely worth it and left me with a project that I was much happier with than I would have been otherwise.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Applique Evening Cape

When we got invited to RJ's cousin's wedding, it was decided that the family would wear black so that we would all be coordinated for family photos. Now I normally wear quite a bit of black, but usually not in formal wear, and especially not for a wedding. It's the one time I like to get super girly and pick out bright colors or florals and go all out with the jewelry. In fact, before learning about the black palette, I had pictured wearing a ballgown with an illusion style bodice embroidered all over with flowers. After a few sessions of trying to find a black dress that wasn't boring or unflattering, I decided that maybe I would try to put together what I wanted. So I spent a few hours combing Amazon and found a sheer black cape and several beautiful appliques in the craft section. I ordered several, most embroidered flowers in various colors, from cherry and magnolia blossoms to orchids and roses. In the end, I skipped the flowers and went with peacock f...
Post a Comment
Read more

Caleb's Sketchbook

Like all kids, my nephew loves to draw. He scribbles and colors. And every so often I get a present of a drawing made just for me. I wanted to encourage the hobby, and also give him a way to keep it collected and see how his drawing improves over time. So I bought him a sketchbook and decided to decorate it and make it feel special, like each of those wonderful sketches that he gave to me. I had picked the hardback black sketchbook because it was sturdy and durable. But not as expensive as some premium artist sketchbooks can be. Unfortunately, the black color made it near impossible to draw on, so I had to track down some metallic Sharpies, which come in limited colors. I contemplated the design for a while, and because of the metal shine of the markers, I ended up getting inspiration from the stars. I thought it was appropriate, after all, art is only limited by the imagination, as boundless as the expanse space and filled with wonder.
Post a Comment
Read more

Bakery Themed Wooden Cooking Utensils

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...
Post a Comment
Read more