Week 34: Wood Burning
Welcome to week 34 of 52 weeks of art! What are we doing this week?
We are now about 2/3 of the way through out 52 week art adventure. Can you believe it? Week 34! That means we have now tried out 34 different mediums. Wow. When I first thought of doing this crazy adventure, I didn't even think I could find enough mediums to last a whole year. Now? Now I'm always finding new mediums and thinking, "why didn't I add that to the list?" One of the first mediums I added was wood burning. I have been looking forward to doing this one for a weeks now. 34 weeks, actually.
Wood burning, or pyrography, is made using a heated metal tip that you burn the wood with. I have never done this before, but I was super excited to try it. I went to Amazon, because why not, and I ordered myself a basic wood burning kit. It included several different tips to use to create different shapes. It even has some basic shaped tips like hearts, circles, etc. So many different things to explore.
My amazing brother-in-law, Rebecca's husband, cut different pieces of wood for us to use. Now, I'm no wood expert, but I do know that we had some MDF and maybe some plywood? I'm not sure. We started practicing on the MDF, thinking it would work really well because it's so smooth. Wrong. It didn't work great at all. Maybe it's just because I don't really know what I'm doing, but I really struggled with getting a smooth line on the MDF. Next we tried the maybe-plywood. I know that it was at least a real piece of wood. Worked so much better. Phew. If it didn't work, I was worried I was really going to fail at this project. I mean, kids do this sort of thing at camp. At least my kid did. So, if kids can do it, I should be able to do it.
The tool goes up to 450 degrees. That's hot. Like burn your skin off hot. Why kids are allowed to do this, at camp no less, I have no idea. I was so worried the whole time that I was going to burn myself. Luckily, no injuries occurred. Phew. I did have to eventually stop because the tool was getting too hot to hold, even on the part of the handle that was supposedly safe to hold.
I will say, if you are going to try pyrography - which is just fun to say - you should do it in a well ventilated area. I kept breathing in the smoke because I had my head right over my project so I could see what I was doing. Also, be warned, you will smell like you've been sitting around a campfire.
Even thought the whole kit came with multiple tips, if I wanted to try out a different tip, I had to wait for it to completely cool off before changing the tips. Then I'd have to wait for it to heat up again. It actually heated up and cooled down a lot quicker than I expected, but it was still about 15 minutes from cooling off to heating back up again. So, switching out tips is really not quick. If you were going to make something that required the use of several different tips, it's going to take you a while.
Now, I do not have any progress shots because I was so worried about burning myself on the stupid tool I completely forgot to take pictures. Yeah, I know, that happens all the time. So, here's my attempt at pyrography:
Wood burning, or pyrography, is made using a heated metal tip that you burn the wood with. I have never done this before, but I was super excited to try it. I went to Amazon, because why not, and I ordered myself a basic wood burning kit. It included several different tips to use to create different shapes. It even has some basic shaped tips like hearts, circles, etc. So many different things to explore.
My amazing brother-in-law, Rebecca's husband, cut different pieces of wood for us to use. Now, I'm no wood expert, but I do know that we had some MDF and maybe some plywood? I'm not sure. We started practicing on the MDF, thinking it would work really well because it's so smooth. Wrong. It didn't work great at all. Maybe it's just because I don't really know what I'm doing, but I really struggled with getting a smooth line on the MDF. Next we tried the maybe-plywood. I know that it was at least a real piece of wood. Worked so much better. Phew. If it didn't work, I was worried I was really going to fail at this project. I mean, kids do this sort of thing at camp. At least my kid did. So, if kids can do it, I should be able to do it.
The tool goes up to 450 degrees. That's hot. Like burn your skin off hot. Why kids are allowed to do this, at camp no less, I have no idea. I was so worried the whole time that I was going to burn myself. Luckily, no injuries occurred. Phew. I did have to eventually stop because the tool was getting too hot to hold, even on the part of the handle that was supposedly safe to hold.
I will say, if you are going to try pyrography - which is just fun to say - you should do it in a well ventilated area. I kept breathing in the smoke because I had my head right over my project so I could see what I was doing. Also, be warned, you will smell like you've been sitting around a campfire.
Even thought the whole kit came with multiple tips, if I wanted to try out a different tip, I had to wait for it to completely cool off before changing the tips. Then I'd have to wait for it to heat up again. It actually heated up and cooled down a lot quicker than I expected, but it was still about 15 minutes from cooling off to heating back up again. So, switching out tips is really not quick. If you were going to make something that required the use of several different tips, it's going to take you a while.
Now, I do not have any progress shots because I was so worried about burning myself on the stupid tool I completely forgot to take pictures. Yeah, I know, that happens all the time. So, here's my attempt at pyrography:
On to rating wood burning...
Just a reminder on the criteria for rating each medium.
Ease of use: How easy was this medium to use.
Affordability: How affordable supplies are for each medium.
Accessibility: How easily accessible supplies are for each medium. Example, are specific tools required that are hard to find?
Fun to Use: How much enjoyment I got out of using this medium
So, for wood burning, my rating is: 16
Ease of use: 3
I don't think that using the tool was easy, but after using it for a while I found it easier to use.
Affordability: 4
Amazon sells a whole variety of wood burning kits. You can easily get some for $35 or less.
Accessibility: 5
You can easily get a wood burning kit online. Arts and crafts stores sell them. Walmart has them. Even Harbor Freight has one. Yeah, they are easy to find.
Fun to Use: 4
At first I didn't think it was all that fun when I was trying to use the MDF. Once I switched to using the maybe-plywood it became must more enjoyable.
If you would like to go on this epic art adventure with me, next week we will be doing...
If you choose to follow along, please post your work using #52weekartadventure!
No comments:
Post a Comment