How to Become An Expert Pyrographer – Your Pyrography Ph.D
There are three elements that will allow you to burn anything at any time. Mastering them gives you a high level of understanding so I call them the Ph.D of pyrography. These three controls can be used to troubleshoot any issue and address any challenge you may ever have in burning.
These three elements are important because they control the quality of your line based on the pyrographic process itself, which is different from other art mediums.
And in this article I am going to explain what they are, how they work, and when you can use them. They form the acronym Ph.D for Pressure, Heat and Duration. And so knowing and understanding how to use them allows you to have an advanced ability to troubleshoot intelligently and approach challenges with efficiency.
P is for Pressure
The first element is pressure. Applying more pressure will give you a darker burn. This also allows you to engrave on the surface of the wood, creating texture. Easing up on your pressure will result in a lighter burn mark.
Pressure allows you to adjust your burns immediately without losing time turning your heat up or down.
Design wise, pressure can create interesting textures and subtleties in your artwork that are impossible with other two dimensional mediums.
H is for Heat
It may seem obvious that more heat will result in a darker burn and less heat in a lighter burn but this bears repeating. Adjusting your heat based on what you are working on can help you maintain a comfortable rhythm just as we discussed in the previous lesson.
Remembering that your comfort is directly related to the amount of control you have while burning, gives you the ability to understand when to use this element as opposed to others to troubleshoot and correct.
If you have a critical area in your design, one that requires precision, turning down your heat gives you the time to position your pen properly and make adjustments if there is an issue. I use this extensively when working on eyes since I know that any deviation will dramatically change the artwork.
D is for Duration
Your duration or speed is perhaps the simplest adjustment you can make for your burning. Because it is the heat that is doing the work, the longer your pen remains on the wood the darker the burn will be.
This is the main principle in shading. Slowing down in the darker areas and speeding up in the lighter areas helps you to maintain smooth and steady rhythm without having to wait for your tool to heat up or cool down.
This is also an excellent element to adjust when you work with grain or soft/resistant areas of the surface. Hitting a soft spot can result in extremely dark burns so if you notice this simply speed up your stroke when you hit that section. The same is true for hard/resistant areas, simply slow down to allow your tool to do its job properly. This will create a consistent look to your burning.
In addition burning on wood with a skew – particularly when doing animal fur or feathers – can become challenging when you burn parallel with the grain. The blade of your skew will tend to sink into the grain and produce a darker burn. Employing a faster speed will keep your burns consistent, even if you do sink in.
Congratulations! You now have your Pyrography Ph.D! And just like any Ph.D it is time to put this knowledge into practice.
Find a simple pattern and play around with each element so you can experience the differences. Sometimes you may find you need to use one or all of these elements together in order to successfully burn what you want.
Understanding these three elements allows you to approach your work from a place of confidence because you understand the physics of what is happening and how to control it. These elements may not necessarily make your work easier or faster but they will allow you to make the necessary decisions to burn successfully on any surface.