Trying my hand at Pyrography

Pyrography is the posh name for Wood Burning. While searching online for information about my new-found hobby of Marquetry I came across several videos on wood burning. I became equally interested in having a go so dropped a hint in my annual letter to Santa. As always, he came up trumps and presented me with an inexpensive Wood Burner so I could dip my toe in this particular pond. 

I grabbed a scrap of hardboard from my garage, gave it a light sanding, and marked out a rough outline of a Hare in pencil. Once my burner was up to temperature, I set too burning the wood with a fine pointed tip. As a pen and ink artist I found the process of 'drawing' quite familiar and was very pleased with my first effort. There are obviously lots of differences to drawing with a pen. The slower you move the burner, the more burnt the wood so the darkness of line is achieved by the speed of the nib. 

Lots to learn, that's for sure, but I certainly enjoyed this first effort.

Iris

I moved into my present house in the winter when the garden was as 'dead' as it could be. I could see that I had inherited many Iris plants, and that pleased me as they are one of my favourite flowers. What I hadn't expected was the range of varieties in the garden. Some with small flowers, many with regular size flowers, and one with giant flowers. And the colours range through bright yellows, cold blues, warm oranges, autumn colours and deep Indigo's. 

That first summer I couldn't wait to get outside with my camera and as each bloom opened I was delighted to discover 16 different varieties. As a fairly useless, uninformed, wanna-be gardener I have no idea what the names of them are so I lump them all into one category ..... "Gorgeous". 

It was obvious that I'd have to paint them at some point, and the one above is the first.

 

Second attempt - A different technique

I've now had a second go at marquetry using a different technique. Without getting technical, the first one was done using the "window" method and this one using the "Double Bevel" method. This technique involves cutting two veneers at the same time, but that ensures the shapes fit together better, with much fewer gaps and a much tighter fit. So that I had a sound comparison between the two methods I used the same Robin picture as before, but reversed. What I hadn't expected (though I should have) was the huge effect the veneer choices had. The two Robins look quite different from each other and although I'm happier that this piece is more technically sound, I prefer the overall look of the first piece despite its faults. Lots to learn, that's for sure.  ;)

Marquetry - my first attempt

I've always liked the look of wood, especially polished wood with pronounced grains. I have a very old wooden model boat that I wanted to restore and while researching online how I could strip it back and polish it up, I stumbled across Marquetry. Though I put it out of mind initially, the idea of making pictures from wood veneers kept niggling at me. Obviously it was an itch that just had to be scratched.

Many hours were spent watching online video's and reading articles on the subject, but I've never been one to learn that way. I'm very much a hands-on, trial-and-error, figure-it-out-as-you-go sort of guy, so I sent for a small pack of mixed veneers so I could have-a-go. Though many sites suggested very simple shapes to begin with, I thought I'd learn more by trying something a bit more testing. 

From my own collection of photos I chose a picture of a Robin that I've painted and drawn many times, and I traced over it just in very approximate outlines. I played with various veneers considering the direction the grains should run and the overall 'tonal value' of the wood. Viewing the photo in greyscale helped a lot when choosing lights and darks.

There are a number of different techniques with Marquetry. As a beginner I chose the "Window" method as it looked the easiest. The first thing I learned when cutting is how easily the knife slices through the wood when going with the grain, but how hard it can be when cutting across the grain. Cutting irregular shapes proved harder than I'd expected and the very thin veneers often split. I'm hoping experience will help me get better at that.

Finally I had all the pieces taped together and I glued the whole thing onto a scrap of wood. I gave it a good sanding and several layers of Shellac varnish to finish it off.

Though this isn't an accomplished piece of work, I'm not disappointed in it. The gaps between the  various pieces leave much to be desired and the veneer choices could have been better, but I learned so much from the process. Next I will try a different method to see if that suits me better. If YOU have experience of Marquetry I'd love to hear from you.

As for the model boat.... I'll be covering that in a future post.

A change of emphasis

It's been almost 2 years since I last posted and I just can't believe where the time has gone. One of my main reasons for not posting has been a shift in my interests. I found myself spending more time with other hobbies, and also getting involved in new ones. Suddenly I didn't seem to producing 'art', which is what this blog was all about. Don't get me wrong, I still draw and paint but much less so than I did, and I still have my Art Forum which remains as active as ever. Looking back at some of my posts I was amazed to see that I eluded to this very thing back in May 2021. It's time to do something about it.

I considered having multiple blogs for the other subjects, but didn't want to spend all my time managing blogs. The only solution that seems to make any sense is to have an eclectic blog that covers anything I get involved with, so that is what I'm going to try.

Going forward to intend to post about my radio controlled scale model Toyota Venture 4x4 vehicle, my photographic endeavours, my growing collection of postage stamps, my beginners efforts at both Marquetry and Pyrography (wood burning) and an occasional drawing or painting. It will be an interesting journey and I hope some of you will tag along. 

Hobbies A1 Treadle fret saw

When clearing out my fathers attic I came across a few parts of his old treadle saw. I recognised it instantly and very fond memories of watching him use it flooded my mind. I searched his loft space for the rest of the saw and was delighted to find every part. 

As a young boy I remember watching my father pedalling away as he skilfully turned the wood to cut out various shapes and patterns. Many a toy was made by him .... castles, garages, farms, dolls houses, jig saws, etc. Dad used to sit at this saw pedalling away for hours on end. 

Once I had the various parts of the saw back home I laid them out and tried to figure out how they all fitted together. It was a bit of a puzzle but I managed to assemble it. As expected, it was no longer in workable condition. 

So what to do with an old 1940's fret saw that doesn't work? Easy! I used wire-wool to remove the small bits of rust and polished it with a wax polish to restore it's shine and give it a protective coat. I fashioned a few new wooden components and gave them a varnish just to make it look complete and functional. Then ...

... I stood it in my garden. 

I'm well aware that over time the weather will take it's toll and the rust will eat it's way back into the metal, but in the meantime, every time I step into my garden I see it standing there and my mind races back to when I was a boy watching dad knocking together the next thing for me to play with.

It's been a while

I can't believe it's been well over a year since I last posted. It's been a very different year for all of us, that's for sure. Though I've produced the odd picture here and there I've mainly been busy working around the house and garden and messing about with a few of my other hobbies. There have been several things I thought I might share with you but they haven't come under the heading of "Art", in fact, I have been thinking I might expand the scope of my blog to include none-arty stuff but haven't made a decision about that yet.

So why am I posting now? Recently I discovered a large number of my paintings and drawings being displayed on other web sites, and some of them actually being offered for sale. I was appalled and massively surprised by the number of "stolen" images I have out there. I decided to tackle the issue head on and have been having some good success and it occurs to me that anyone who posts their work online might well have the same problem. As a result I began a series of pages on my website explaining about Copyright Infringement, what can be done about it, and how I'm tackling the issue of having the offending images removed from the internet. I will be posting more on the subject soon but in the meantime, if you're concerned about your own work, visit my website.

The drawing above is of a mid-20th century Hobbies A.1. Treadle Fret Saw that used to belong to my Dad. More about that in my next post.