Posted on September 12, 2022September 12, 2022 by Andrea — Leave a comment

Let’s Split!

Author Andrea Pate holding a new book featuring her works

On a hot summery day, nothing cools you off quite like ice cream. Some of my favorite ice cream concoctions are mint chocolate chip with Magic Shell. hot fudge sundaes and banana splits. That was my motivation for this sweet design. This Banana Split template pairs perfectly with my Just Chillin’ Template. I like to display these pieces together during birthday parties, ice cream socials, or with my summer décor. You can find my “Let’s Split” template in The Wood Burn Community Book of Templates Vol 2 by Rachel Strauss.

This book features 64 templates created by 34 artists with templates ranging from beginner to advanced skill levels. You can purchase your own copy by clicking on the link below.
https://www.woodburncorner.com/community-book-of-templates-volume-ii

Supplies Needed:

Pyrography Pen
Template
Transfer Paper
Pen
Tape
Wood
Varnish
Paint or Colored Pencil (Optional)
Stain (Optional)

To get started, select your wood. I wanted something I can hang to display. There are various types of wood you can use. I typically purchase wood at my local craft or home improvement store. You can also find a wide selection of wood available at your local dollar store. I found this wood sign at my craft store for under $10 with a coupon. You can simply remove the backside of the sign making it easy to transfer the design to the wood.

Simply tape the template and your tracing paper to the wood and start tracing your design. To ensure you don’t miss transferring any part of the template, it’s best to use a red or blue pen. This makes your markings easily visible as they won’t blend into the shaded areas of the template.

Once you have transferred the image, make sure you didn’t miss any areas. Slightly lift the template and tracing paper off the bottom of the wood but keeping the top portion secure to the wood with tape. You need to do this carefully as you don’t want the template to shift. It will keep your template in place and allow you to trace any missing areas with ease.

Since this template has thick bold lines and a lot of solid black areas, you can burn those areas at a higher heat. Be mindful not to go too high as it can create scorch marks and an uneven burn. In the areas where there are a lot of white and smaller marks, lower your heat.

There are different shading techniques you can use for this design. I chose to shade this design by stippling. Stippling is simply a technique using dots to differentiate between light and shadows. The darker the area, the more dots are used. As the area is lighter, the dots fade. This is a fun technique to use in pyrography. No matter your preference, you can’t go wrong with how you draw this. Do what feels most comfortable to you. Get a spare piece of wood and practice the various techniques to see what you prefer.

Tip: You can opt out of coloring in the cherries on top of the sundae. Add red paint or colored pencils for a pop of color.

Once I have completed my burning, I did a very light coat of stain. Once the stain was fully dried, I took white and yellow-colored pencils, and colored in the ice cream and banana just to make the image stand out a little more.

Again, make this design your own. You can just burn the outline and fill in the areas using paint or colored pencils or not fill them in at all. That’s the beauty of art. There is no wrong way, and you personalize each piece by making it your own.

Please tag your burning to @patespyrography and share your finished piece to
#patespyro
#thewoodburncommunitybook
#truarthq

I hope you enjoyed this template and don’t forget to get your own copy of The Wood Burn Community Book of Templates Vol 2 for more amazing designs from talented artists around the globe. Also check out @woodburncorner for tips, community challenges, inspiration and so much more.

Andrea Pate
Pate’s Pyrography

Posted on September 1, 2020April 16, 2022 by Andrea — 1 Comment

Types of Wood – What Works with Pyrography

While the art of pyrography can be performed on various surfaces, different types of wood remain to be the most popular medium. This natural “canvas” comes with many characteristics that cannot be found in any other material. Grains of different shapes and sizes, various wood sap consistencies, and the plethora of hues can all pose different challenges for the artist. But when these challenges are overcome, the result is a unique and lasting piece of art.

It is therefore important that artists have at least a little understanding of the characteristics of wood and how to make the most of it be it your wire-nib pyrography pen or solid-point pyrography pen. This also includes knowing whether it is safe to work on certain pieces of wood or not.

Here we will cover the basics in relation to pyrography and these include:

Hardwood
Softwood
Plywood
Treated wood
Untreated wood
Wood tones

Hardwood

Hardwood comes from flowering, seed-producing trees that are from the angiosperm family. They are often from the deciduous species, which typically display annual growth rings. Oak, maple, walnut, and hickory are just a few examples of the various types of hardwood. Hardwood is generally difficult to burn images on and is not typically the wood of choice used for this medium. There are certain types of hardwood that are actually softer than some softwood. Poplar is an example of a type of hardwood that works well for pyrography.

Walnut

Oak

Maple

Softwood

Softwood comes from the gymnosperm family and belongs to the seed-producing category as well. This is the preferred type of wood to use with pyrography. Basswood, birch, and pine are examples of some softwood that are excellent for wood-burning.

Bat is burned on basswood

Logo is burned on pine

Plywood

Plywood consists of layers of wood veneers that are glued together to create a flat sheet. Plywood’s best features are its resistance to warpage, shrinkage, and water. Generally, it comes with both surfaces sanded. Since the Douglas fir is most commonly used throughout the US and Canada, this is another great wood source to burn your images on.

Turtle burned on a piece of plywood

Treated wood

Before you start your burning you must first identify whether the wood you chose is treated or untreated. Treated wood consists of wood that has been painted, varnished, stained, and pressure treated. You also want to avoid any type of fibreboard. It is extremely dangerous to burn on treated wood. Inhaling the fumes that are produced by burning treated wood is toxic and harmful to your health. If at all possible, DO NOT burn on any treated wood.

This Coffee sign had to be created with pen and markers because the wood is treated. Notice the wood is painted which was done prior to burning making this treated wood dangerous to burn on.

Untreated wood

Untreated wood is wood closest to its natural state. You can find several pieces of untreated wood and your local craft and hardware store. Many craft stores have pre-cut wood pieces available for purchase to fit your needs. Lumber yards are also wonderful places to go to find freshly cut, seasoned, and reasonably priced wood pieces.

Wood color tones

The white soft layer of wood is called sapwood. Sapwood is formed between the heartwood and bark. Heartwood is the innermost part of the tree trunk. Heartwood color varies depending on the species. This is why we have a wide array of wood tones. Exposing cut, dry wood to light, specifically UV light, will darken the wood. Air, heat, and water exposure can also impact the color of the wood as it ages. Most wood will darken with age while others may change to a rust hue. Varnishes and oils can also impact the color of the wood. Working with a lighter shade of wood may prolong the effects of aging, however, there isn’t much we can do to prevent this natural process from happening.

Additional information

Gourds, leather, paper, and bones are alternative materials that you can successfully burn images onto. Burning plastic or rubber items will not only melt and cause burns but will create toxic fumes. If you are not certain, don’t do it. Err on the side of safety first and always do your research.

Dollar burned on paper

There is so much more to learn about wood but things like different shakes (a wood defect), rays, rings, and interlocking grains among others. These natural characteristics are very useful. Imagine whorls, swirls, and minute cracks inculcated into your wood-burning as accents or natural details of your burn subject. Your imagination is the only limit!

Andrea Pate
Pate’s Pyrography

Posted on March 11, 2020 by Andrea — 1 Comment

Spring Decor Wood Burning Project

I’d have to say that Spring is one of my favorite seasons that just warrants a complementing Spring Decor. Baby birds are chirping, fragrant and colorful flowers are blooming, and butterflies are gracefully fluttering about. Everywhere you look, it is bursting with life. When thinking of Spring, naturally, thoughts of cute little rabbits come to mind. I wanted to create a cute design that displays a traditional representation of spring. In this piece, you will combine some simple shading techniques as well as applying multiple colors to your design.

Spring Decor Supplies:

• Wire-nib pyrography pen or solid-point pyrography pen
• 10in x 0.13in (254 mm x 3.302 mm) diameter plywood circle
• Colored ballpoint pen for tracing
• Scissors
• Scotch tape
• Measuring tape or ruler
• Graphite paper for tracing
• Sponge
• Melamine foam eraser (magic eraser)
• Colored pencils (dark brown, light brown, pink, black, white)
• Stain (optional)
• Spray sealant (ex. polyurethane)
• Old rag for staining

Pyrography Instructions

STEP 1:

Your pyrography pen needs to be set at a low to medium-low heat. The letters on this sign are rather thin so you will need to be aware of your pen settings and you need to be careful with the amount of pressure applied to your pyrography pen while burning. Be sure your letters are not burned at such a low temperature that the burn marks appear to be faint. When you reach the larger words, you can slowly increase your heat and/or pressure as needed.

TIP:

Remember, sometimes it is easier to burn the outline of your letters first and then go back to fill in the empty space. This helps you stay within the parameters of your image and minimizes any stray marks. When you are burning your letters, if you come across any gaps where you should have a solid burning, go back to fill those gaps in at a very low heat so that you don’t burn outside the lines.

STEP 2:

Let’s hop to it! It’s time to burn our image of the rabbit. Start off by tracing the outline. You want your outline to be burned in medium thickness. The purpose of the medium thickness is to have the outline dark enough for the image to stand out if you were to stain your sign.

STEP 3:

It’s now time to work on the rabbit’s ear. You will notice the inside of the ear has a “Y” shape pattern. Burn the stem of the “Y” and at the tip of the crevice – start a dark burn. As you work your way up the ear, slowly decrease your temperature to create a lighter, softer burn. As you burn softer, you should not apply much pressure to your pyrography pen. Repeat the same process on the opposite side.

STEP 4:

Start burning the marks and lines that indicate fur patterns within the rabbit design. Darken the area around the rabbit’s nose and darken the eyes.

STEP 5:

Now it’s time to stain your wood. Be sure to cover the surface completely. Since your image has some fine lines, be cautious not to add too much stain or your image will not be easily visible.

Tip:

If you do not wish to stain your wood you can go ahead and color your design. Once your design is colored, I recommend using a spray sealant to protect your image once completed. You can go ahead and color your design first and then stain your wood if you prefer, but it will leave your image looking dull and minimizes the details in the drawing.

STEP 6:

Take out your box of colored pencils. You will need a dark brown, light brown, black, white and pink. Start by taking your dark brown colored pencil and tracing the outline of the rabbit. Continue to add the dark brown colored pencil to the fur lines and marks within the image of the rabbit.

STEP 7:

Color the rabbit softly with the light brown. Do not color the inside of the ears brown. Leave that area untouched for now. Once the light brown has been applied to the rabbit’s fur, take your white colored pencil and softly blend it into the light brown areas. This blends the colored area more evenly and softens any harsh lines. Never use a lot of pressure when coloring. You do not want hard scratch lines that are hard to smooth out.

STEP 8:

Add a light pink to the nose and ears. Again, burn lightly and add white to smooth and soften the colors.

STEP 9:

Take a black colored pencil and color in the eyes and outline the nose and mouth. If you need to enhance your image, you can go back over the design and retrace your image using the black or dark brown colored pencil.

STEP 10:

Once your rabbit is complete, spray sealant over everything and allow it to dry. This protects everything.

Every bunny will love the finished product.

If you have any questions, suggestions or anything you would like to comment on, please do so in the comment section below and I’ll get right back to you as soon as possible.

See you next time,
Andrea Pate
Pate’s Pyrography

Posted on February 13, 2020February 13, 2020 by Andrea — Leave a comment

Valentine Pyrography

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, a Valentine pyrography project is called for. Here are some inexpensive and fun ideas to spruce up your home.

I have found several seasonal wood cutouts available at my local dollar store and for Valentine’s Day, I picked two different types of heart-shaped wood cutouts.

You can also create your own cutouts with varying sizes out of scrap plywood or other pieces of wood lying about. Simply find a template, print it out and transfer it to your wood with transfer paper. For detailed instructions on how to do the transfer, check out a previous post I made.

I recommend going online to find various quotes and fonts to burn onto the wood. Another suggestion is to find a stencil or letter stamps and create your own conversational candy hearts. These would look great displayed over a fireplace or hung outside your door.

Add some color to them or a little bit of stain to make them pop.

The possibilities are endless and you can’t beat the price. I suggest looking around your local dollar store a month prior to the holiday. These wood cutouts don’t stay on the shelf long as they will make wonderful gifts for those you love and hold dear just like this Valentine pyrography project. This would be a great project for any age group.

As always, if you have any comments or suggestions for a project, I’ll be very glad to hear about it.

Andrea

Pate’s Pyrography

Posted on October 8, 2019October 8, 2019 by Andrea — Leave a comment

Halloween Skull Wood Burning Design

Halloween skull

One of my favorite images to burn is the Halloween skull. I love the way the burned marks give the skull image an aged and tarnished look. I also love the look of the various tonal values that you apply to the skull to give depth and dimension to your burning. In this tutorial, I will also provide you with a template that you can use to create your very own skull.

Let’s get started!

You will need:

Halloween skull template (found at the end of this article)
TRUArt pen
Carbon paper
Ballpoint pen
Magic eraser
Tape
Fine-sanded wood

Step 1:

Take your wood, template, carbon paper, pen and tape. Tape your paper to your wood and begin the tracing process. For instructions on how to complete this process, please refer to my previous post here.

Step 2:

Once everything has been transferred, start your shading process. I started in the nasal cavity. Be aware of where light will hit and cast shadows. I started working on the darker end and slowly lightened my shading as I moved up. This is not an easy skill to master. For shading tips, please view my shading tutorial here.

Step 3:

Once I completed the shading in the nasal region, I began the same process in the eye sockets of me Halloween skull. The template should be used as a guide to indicate where areas should be darkened. Don’t worry about your tracing being visible through the shading, you can remove those lines once your image has been completely burned.

Step 4:

Start shading around the jawline. Remember to burn in a light tone here. We do not want our darker tones to blend with the lighter. We need to decipher what parts of the image are further away than the rest or what area has more depth. The shading around the skull is only meant to indicate where the shadows lie.

Step 5:

Begin working your way up the skull. Notice the crack lines on the template. At a lower heat, trace the lines to show cracks on the skull. Be sure your heat is not too high or you will create splotches instead of crack lines. You can always increase your temperature if needed. Add more lines if you wish.

Step 6:

When outlining the skull, the shading should be a darker value around the top portion of the head. You still don’t want this to be a dark shade, just a tonal shade darker than the bottom of the skull. Slowly fill in the center of the skull with a lighter value as you go inward.

Step 7:

Once you have completely burnt your skull image, start burning the background. This is an extremely time consuming process. You will also need to use high heat so this step must be done with caution. An alternate option would be to use paint to fill in the blank space or just leave it untouched. I personally love the look of the background burned. If you choose to do this, start on one spot and work your way down keeping your strokes as uniform as possible. This prevents an uneven burn and makes the completed piece look more polished.

Now that your burning is complete, take a dampened magic eraser and erase the lines that are visible from your tracing.

I hope you have fun burning a skull of your own. Remember, this takes time and practice. You stick with this and it will get easier every time you try. I hope everyone has a safe and Happy Halloween.

See you next time,
Andrea Pate
Pate’s Pyrography

Template

Posted on September 23, 2019October 8, 2019 by Andrea — Leave a comment

Fall Décor Garland

I look forward to Fall every year. The cooler weather, the amazing aroma of spices, cinnamon and apple pie stir in the air and of course, all the decorations.

This Fall season, I wanted to find an affordable and easy project to create for my home. I went to my local dollar store and found these adorable plywood cutouts. Each package comes with five cutouts so you can easily create a garland for just a dollar if you wanted to. I wanted multiple designs so I bought five packages. Some universal designs can be found here.

Once I opened my package, I looked up clip art patterns online to give me an idea of how I wanted to sketch out my design.

With my patterns picked and sketched on, I started the burning process. I started with a thick bold burn outlining the outermost part of the wood and continued with a solid burn while tracing my pattern.

With the patterns completed, I began the shading process (please see previous post for shading instructions). If this technique is too difficult, you can always fill in the empty space with colored pencils.

For the areas needing white, I used a white paint-based marker. The paint markers work great since they don’t tend to bleed when applied to the wood. I tried to keep my colors soft so I added touches of color with colored pencils to enhance each character.

Once my cutouts were completed, I tied a string through small holes and displayed the garland over the fireplace. As an alternate choice, you can also tie a piece of string on the wood and use them for tags, gifts, or to wrap around a napkin for a cute Fall tablescape.

I hope this has given you some fun and very affordable wood burning ideas. This is going to be even greater when you get everyone involved in it. Ask your kids what they would like to work on and watch their imaginations fly! This is one the best times of the year to take your pyrography pen out. Start creating fun and amazing décor with everyone!

If you have any questions or would like to suggest other ideas, leave a comment below and I’ll get right back to you.

See you next time.
Andrea Pate
Pate’s Pyrography

Posted on May 6, 2019May 29, 2019 by Andrea — Leave a comment

A Gift For Mom – A TRUArt Mother’s Day Pyrography Inspiration

This Mother’s Day, make your mom something special! What I love about pyrography is that it is unique and beautiful and burnings make excellent gifts. Much like painting, you can literally wood burn anything from quotes and designs to images of animals and people or whatever you fancy.

Let’s get started. First, take your pattern of choice and transfer it onto your wood (see transfer instructions on Wood burning tutorial).

Burned quote "you are the mom that everyone wishes they had" TRUArt Mother's day

Burned quote "home is wherever mom is" TRUArt Mother's day

When burning fine, delicate lines into your wood, be careful not to press too hard. This will create a splotchy, uneven image. Also, don’t start burning with your pen at a high temperature, start low and work your way up so your strokes don’t run outside of your design ( for more how to instructions see Shading Technique in Pyrography).

wood burning of quote with TRUArt 60W pyrography pen TRUArt Mother's day

wood burning of quote with TRUArt 60W pyrography pen TRUArt Mothers' day

When choosing your wood, think about mom’s sense of style and choice of décor. Does she like serving trays or cheese boards? Does mom like to decorate her dining room with a beautiful tablescape or does she like to display decorative signs in her home?

burned quote "Home is wherever mom is" TRUArt Mother's day

burned quote with other collectibles on shelves TRUArt Mother's day

Take your design and burn it onto any piece of unfinished wood. At your local hardware or craft store, you can find large pieces of wood that are perfect for creating serving trays. Once your image is burned, stain your wood, add a coat of mineral oil and attach the handles.

burned quote on wooden circular serving tray with handles TRUArt Mother's day

Another meaningful gift idea that works well for a mom with young children is to get the young child to draw or write a note to mom. Simply transfer the image onto the wood and burn the design. This will make a wonderful keepsake for years to come.

Burned signatures and names of well wishers TRUArt Mother's day

Wood spoons to rolling pins, picture frames to coasters. Think about what mom likes and let your imagination go wild. There are so many functional items available out there that you can personalize just for mom.

I hope you found these Mother’s day gift ideas useful. Take your time when first starting out. You will feel more confident and at ease as you work your way through your project. Have fun and enjoy the process.

See you next time!

Andrea Pate
Pate’s Pyrography

Posted on December 8, 2018December 23, 2019 by Andrea — 1 Comment

DIY Holiday Gifts and Decorations

I love the Holidays! The decorations are beautiful, the food is plentiful as well as delicious, and I am constantly busy. Ever since I started my pyrography business, I have been commissioned to make an unbelievable amount of gifts. If you are looking for some inspiration for creating something beautiful and affordable, I’ve got some amazing ideas.

This Holiday Season, go to your local craft store. In the wood section, they have a large selection of wood that is easy on the pocket and there are several items that are packaged with multiple pieces. These stores often offer discounts and many of these items are available in their holiday section which is often marked down.

I always create ornaments for my neighbors and my children’s teachers. You can also get some plywood rounds in various sizes that are sold as a set of 4 or more. I purchase these plywood rounds along with some stands and they make a great gift for any occasion. You can create a sign with Holiday decorations or even something a little easier such as an inspirational quote or their last name. TRUArt also has supplied some easy-to-burn Christmas stencils that you can download for free.

I also purchased wood slabs from a local lumberyard for an amazing price. You can find a sanded wood slab, ready to use, at your local craft store as well. These make amazing cutting boards, serving trays, display pieces, signs and chargers for your tablescape.

For my sample, I looked online for some clip art images of snowflakes. You can also search for snowflake patterns and find other great images to use.

Once you have found your image, transfer the design onto the wood (see my post on Wood Burning Tutorial for instructions on how to do this).

There are two ways you can burn this image.

Option 1: You can burn the actual design and leave the background bare

Option 2: You can burn the background and leave the actual design untouched

Once you are done with your burning, erase any tracing lines, stain (if needed) and varnish.

With pyrography, your handmade gifts can have the appearance of a store-bought, detailed piece but will be treasured by your loved ones for years to come.

I hope these tips have helped and that some of my ideas have inspired you to create the perfect gift.

Lastly, I hope you all enjoy the holidays! See you next time.

Andrea Pate
Pate’s Pyrography

Posted on October 4, 2018February 19, 2020 by Andrea — 1 Comment

Cactus Stencil Wood Burning with TRUArt Carbon Paper

What you will need:

TRUArt Carbon Paper
Pen for tracing
Tape
Wood
Colored Pencils
TRUArt Stencil
Your TRUArt Pyrography Pen

Sometimes, in pyrography, trying to find the right image to burn can be extremely tricky. When you are an artist, copyright laws can make it challenging to find a great image to burn. Fortunately, now TRUArt has FREE printable stencils available. Once I came across these stencils, I couldn’t wait to get started.

There are several unique designs available to download but, ultimately, I decided on this cactus stencil. This stencil is available under the clock category. I loved the pattern so much that I modified the stencil to make it my own and decided not to trace the numbers.

I found this stencil to be a quick and easy burn. This is a great project to do with your family. My children had fun picking out the colors of the various pots and helped me find the right shade of green for each plant. We spent the day going over different stencils and both my children found something that appealed to each of them.

Once the image was burned and colored, I decided to give the background a nice, thick solid burn. This technique gave my burning some depth and made my image pop.

I was extremely happy with the ending result. This was a fantastic family project that is exciting for children to do. These prints are also a useful tool to help you practice your pyrography skills. My children loved working with these stencils and they are both excited about working on our next burning together.

See you next time,
Andrea Pate
Pate’s Pyrography

Posted on July 27, 2018February 19, 2020 by Andrea — 1 Comment

Back To School TRUArt Pyrography Tutorial for Kids and Parents

Materials:

This is a fun and quick project to make for any teacher. Get your kids involved and let them help burn and/or create the designs that are used for this banner.

To start, draw or trace some items that are commonly associated with school (for tracing tips, check out my previous post Wood burning Tutorial). Keep the drawings simple. Make sure you only use one drawing per work piece. Outline your image with your pyrography pen.

To make your image pop, I recommend burning the background. You can make the background a solid dark burn or you can do some light shading (for shading tips, check out my tutorial Shading Technique).

Once your burn is complete, add some color to your wood.

String your wooden circles on some twine. Once you pull one circle through, knot it at the top of the hole to keep the wooden piece from shifting.

Give this to your child’s teacher as a sweet “Back to School” gift. If the banner is not for you, as another option, you could use these wooden circles as an ornament or they could even be used for decoration on a wreath. Practice with different designs and see what works best for you and your kids.

If you have any questions whatsoever, please leave them on the comments below and I’ll get to them as soon as possible.

See you next time!

Andrea Pate
Pate’s Pyrography