I got a Firewriter some time ago but never used it before, so this is my first attempt. I decided my pastels needed a new home so I decorated a box by picking some designs out of traditional works such as the book of Kells and Lindesfarne text (which I have compiled in a brilliant book called Celtic Design by Aidan Meehan) after learning how to do the knotwork I free-handed the designs onto the box , altering them to suit how I wanted the box to look.
If anybody hasnt heard of Pyrography before its a pen like tool that burns into wood like a soldering iron. You can see the technique I used in the last picture - pointilism, which also texturised the wood. The victorians used to use hot pokers in the fire to paint this way, or a magnifying glass can be used so its a way of decorating wooden objects that can be used out by the campfire as well as at home.
Incidentally I found when the fire pen hit the grain of the wood it went up in a puff of smoke and quickly burned a blotch, which is why the pointilism worked best for me. I got a peice of pine to do a nice big picture on only to find the pen skidded over the grain instead and pointilism caused the tar to leak out and cause havoc. Does anybody have a good idea as to what wood would work best? I dont know what wood the box is.
If anybody hasnt heard of Pyrography before its a pen like tool that burns into wood like a soldering iron. You can see the technique I used in the last picture - pointilism, which also texturised the wood. The victorians used to use hot pokers in the fire to paint this way, or a magnifying glass can be used so its a way of decorating wooden objects that can be used out by the campfire as well as at home.
Incidentally I found when the fire pen hit the grain of the wood it went up in a puff of smoke and quickly burned a blotch, which is why the pointilism worked best for me. I got a peice of pine to do a nice big picture on only to find the pen skidded over the grain instead and pointilism caused the tar to leak out and cause havoc. Does anybody have a good idea as to what wood would work best? I dont know what wood the box is.
Wow! Beautiful work. There is a good book on pyrography "Pyrography Workbook, A complete guide to to the art of woodburning, by Sue Walkers
