Pyrography Magazine 2018

Woodburning Patterns, Techniques & Inspiration
Pyrography
The Art & Craft of Woodburning 2018

24 ALL-
NEW

PyrographyPROJECTS
Techniques
for wood, leather,
paper & gourds
Super Simple

PyrographyShading
Tricks to make
you an expert!

5 Easy
Ways

PyrographytoMake
Your Own Patterns DISPLAY UNTIL JUNE 11, 2018

Beginner Woodburning A Special Interest Publication of
Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts magazine
13 Pages of Helpful Basics and Tips

NEWS AND NOTES

Pyrography at
the International
Woodcarvers
Congress

Photography by Marc Featherly

Now in its 52nd year, the At left: Greek Vase, 11" (28cm) tall, by Joan Overhouse of
week-long convention Dubuque, Iowa, took first place in its class.
known as “Congress”
is famed for both its At right, top to bottom: Safe Place To Be, 7" (18cm) wide,
fierce competition and by Don Stephenson of Huber Heights, Ohio, took second
its comprehensive class place in the pyrography group.
schedule; together they form
the most prestigious carving Alpha Wolves by Stacey Irish-Nehl of Marion, Iowa, won
event in the country. Here first prize in the pyrography group.
are the top winners from the
2017 Congress. For many more Don Stephenson of Huger Heights, Ohio, took third place
photos, please visit the show’s in the pyrography group and won a special award with
website at www.awcltd.org. Mother Teresa, 8" by 10 ½" (20.3cm by 26.7cm).

The contest welcomes entries
from around the world in more than
100 categories; wins are treasured for
years. Plenty of education takes place,
too. Hobbyists of all ages and abilities gather
to learn woodworking techniques, including pyrography,
from experts like Michele Parsons.

The event used to focus on carving, but Larry Yudis of the
Woodcraft Shop, a Congress organizer, said the scope of the
community has changed. “This led us to add new categories
to the competition,” Larry said. “One new category that has
flourished since being added a few years ago is pyrography.”
Ribbons are awarded for nature scenes, people, animals,
mythical, religious, and more, plus best-in-category winners.

In addition to the classes and competition, attendees love
the fellowship. They treasure the chance to interact with fellow
woodworkers, meet their favorite authors and instructors, and
spend a week doing what they like best.

The 2018 International Woodcarvers Congress, hosted by the
Affiliated Wood Carvers, Ltd., will be held June 9–17, 2018,
in Maquoketa, Iowa. Mail-in entries are accepted for the
competition. For information, visit www.awcltd.org. For more
shows that include pyrography, see page 6.

8 PYROGRAPHY

Technicolor
Dreams

Merideth Berthiaume breaks
all the rules to create works
saturated in color and details

By Kathleen Ryan

Idream in Technicolor, and it creeps into
my work,” said Merideth Berthiaume of
Brimfield, Mass. “Sometimes I have to
hold back on the color when creating a
custom piece, but most of my clients actually
encourage me.”
In addition to being wildly colorful,
Merideth’s work is also subtly complex.
The more you look, the more you see—
butterflies, flowers, vines, animals, and
human faces are tightly packed into each
scene. “My mother would always tell me,
‘Less is more, Merideth,’ because my pieces

Woman in
Pink Roses
is 12" by 33"
(30.5cm by
83.8cm).

18 PYROGRAPHY

PYROGRAPHY GALLERY

In the Arms of Love Instrumental Parade Fox in the Leaves African Wildlife
by Heather Bergquist of Joliet, Ill., is by Tony Fernandes was burned into a was designed and made by Sarah Bell by Hendrik Vrey is burned onto
61/2" by 10" and portrays Heather’s cleaned and smoothed coconut. Tony of Staffordshire, England. Sarah burned vegetable-tanned bovine hide. He
son with his newborn daughter.“The said,“Burning on coconut is much this miniature scene, 1" by 11/2", on glued the leather to a thin plywood
hardest part for me was my son’s eyes,” harder than wood because the surface birch.“I really enjoy creating pyrography backer and burned the image with
said Heather.“I had to scrub them out is round and the coconut is brittle.” jewelry, although it is sometimes soldering irons and woodburners.
and redo them several times to get [email protected]. challenging to work in miniature and “I shorten, hammer, and file the
them right!”www.facebook.com/ still include all the relevant details,”she tips to suit my hand," he said.
Heathers-Glorious-Gifts. said. www.sarahdesignsuk.etsy.com. www.hendrikvrey.com.

26 PYROGRAPHY

Beautiful Butterfly
Practice
Gourd

Experiment with
shapes, texture,
and shading
while you make
a “gourd”geous
spring project

By Jenn Avery

G ourds TIP
are my SANDING SAFETY
favorite thing
to burn because Sand gourds outside while
the shapes are wearing a dust mask. Gourd
interesting, dust is very fine
the shell colors and a strong
complement the allergen.
burned tones, they burn
well, and each one is www.pyrographyonline.com 31
unique. As an introduction
to burning gourds, I’ve designed
a project that will give you a feel for
working on the texture and shape of a gourd, as
well as let you practice basic shading techniques.

Getting Started
You can use any clean, dry gourd with a smooth shell; mine is a
kettle gourd. Either buy a prepared gourd or scrub off all of the
mold and skin. Let it dry, and then sand the outside with 250- to
400-grit sandpaper. Wipe the dust off with a damp paper towel
and let it dry. Transfer the patterns to the gourd, using the full
butterfly three times and the folded one twice.

It is essential to test the temperature of your burner on a
scrap piece of gourd. If the setting is too hot, the pen will sink
fast into the gourd, and if it is too cool, you will get a thin line
and the pen will be hard to control.

Super
Simple

7SHADING
TECHNIQUES
Master these methods and you’ll be
able to shade any object
By Michele Parsons
S hading a simple line drawing can be a
challenge if you don’t have a reference
photo or guidelines to follow. Seven simple
techniques to the rescue! These methods will
help you give a line drawing the illusion of
some dimension—and teach you the basics for
doing the more complex shading necessary to
create realistic 3-D renderings.

Getting Started
For any project, start by thinking about the
light source. Imagine a location for the sun or
room light that is illuminating the objects in
your burning. The rays from the light source
will shine most brightly on the side of the
object nearest the source, making that side
light and the opposite side dark (shadowed). If
necessary, draw a sun on the pattern to remind
you which side of each object should be light.

Different Shading Methods Scribbling
Stippling
In addition to the flat, tonal shading I demonstrate here, you can use these Hatching
techniques with other types of shading. You can add shading to a line Crosshatching
drawing using a writer pen by scribbling (drawing overlapping looping Flat, tonal
circles, similar to writing e’s or o’s) or stippling (drawing overlapping
dots). If the scribbles or dots overlap a lot, the shading will be darker; less
overlap creates lighter shading. You can also shade using either writer
or skew pens by burning lines. This method is called “hatching” when
all of the lines run in the same direction and “crosshatching” when the
lines crisscross. If the lines are closer together, the shading will appear
darker; if the lines are farther apart, the shading will appear lighter. (See
Lora Irish’s article “Hatching a Horse” on page 86 for a project that uses
crosshatching. Jenn Avery’s butterfly gourd project on page 31 uses
assorted shading methods.)

40 PYROGRAPHY

Green Man on Leather

80 PYROGRAPHY