Wood Burning – BOBCAT pyrography tutorial

In this pyrography tutorial blog, I’m going to explain how to create the Bobcat artwork.  I will show you my zigzag burn stroke technique to creating realistic looking fur.  The reference photo for this artwork was taken by my husband, Todd, while we were visiting the Oregon Zoo.  The bobcat was sitting in a patch of morning sunlight and the sun’s angle created some deep shadows on and around the cat.  I instantly loved how dramatic the photo looked and knew I had to create a pyrography version of the image.   

You will see the term pen tip and nib used in this blog.  They refer to the same thing.  Why do I use one versus the other?  No reason.  If you want a reason, then let’s say it’s for variety.

Let’s get burning.

Click on the image to the left to watch the YouTube video version of this tutorial.   

Ear – this video is a compilation all of the video clips showing how to create the the ear.  To watch the tutorial on just the ear click on the image to the left.   

This tutorial explains how to create wispy hairs that stick out against a dark background.

SKILL LEVEL: 2

MATERIALS NEEDED:  

• Writing tip
• Shading tip
• 10 x 10 inch (25.4 x 25.4 cm) piece of wood
• Attached pattern (shrink or enlarge as needed)  Bobcat pattern
• White Charcoal Pencil (optional) – – DO NOT USE A COLORED PENCIL! 

I use General’s brand of white charcoal.  Here’s an Amazon affiliate link to the brand I use:  https://amzn.to/3a3GFfq

You should check your local craft store as they will probably have the pencils cheaper than Amazon does.

Here’s the reference photo

STEP 1 – PREP THE WOOD

Smooth the wood surface by sanding it with at least 220 grit sandpaper. 

Then thoroughly wet the board by misting it with water or running it quickly under the sink faucet.  Let the board dry and then sand again.

This will produce a super smooth surface and the smoother the surface is the better the burn results will be. 

STEP 2 – TRANSFER PATTERN TO WOOD

Use your preferred method to transfer the pattern to the wood.  I personally print off the pattern on lightweight paper (standard copier paper is perfect), coat the back of the pattern with a graphite pencil, position on the wood graphite-side-down, and trace over the pattern.   

Some people prefer to use carbon paper.  I don’t because the brands I’ve tried are either difficult to see, or very difficult to erase.  Where as the method I use is cheap, easy, and gives me control on what I want to include and how dark the trace lines are.  

Make sure to check the trace results for accuracy before removing the pattern.   

STEP 3 – EMBOSS THE WHISKERS

I began by embossing or embedding the whiskers down into the surface of the wood.  The whiskers are white and the area around them is very dark. 

Since the whiskers are embedded into the wood, I can burn over them and they will remain white.     

It is important to use the flat of the shader when burning over the embossed whiskers.  The flat of shader will glide over the embossed lines.  

There are a number of ways to handle the whiskers.  I have a video that shows a few different ways to handle white and/or pale whiskers.    Click on the video thumbnail to watch the video.  Or click on this link:  https://youtu.be/dYG_Iz73FPQ

STEP 4 – EYE

With the whiskers embossed, we will burn the eye and some of the trace lines around it.   

Use a writer pen tip to burn short dark lines along the top of the eye.

Then burn in the remaining pencil lines on the eye. 

Make sure to use a light hand pressure when burning.   Writer nibs are not very big, so they are more prone to sink into the wood surface compared to a shader.  The harder you press, the deeper the nib will sink.  It can become difficult to control the line direction if when the nib is sinking into the wood surface.

I switched to a small flat shader, but you can continue to use a writer pen tip.  I have the shader angled so I am using the edge or side of it.  This produces a very thin line.

Burn over the trace lines immediately around the eye.  Make sure to burn the lines in the same direction as drawn on the pattern.  I drew the lines in the fur’s growth direction, so it’s important to burn them the way they were drawn.  

MAKE SURE TO BURN THE TRACE LINES TO A LIGHT TAN COLOR!   Keeping the lines pale will make it much easier to blend them in with the fur.

Fill in the eye to the left of the iris with a dark brown or black color.   If you look closely, you can see that I’ve burned over a number of the trace lines in the vicinity of the eye.

Burn darkly along the top of the eye.  Make sure to keep the hairline jagged.  The hairline I’m referring to is the lower edge of the eyebrow. 

Varying the length of the lines along the eyebrow creates short wispy hairs that stick out here and there.  Plus, it adds to the realism of the fur.

Rotate the wood and burn along the bottom edge of the eye.  Rotating the wood will make it easy to keep the pen tip in optimal position while burning.   

What is optimal position?  It is my term to refer to the best position of the pen tip to ensure you stay within the boundaries of the object you’re burning.   

The front edge of the shader should be on the line, and the body of the shader should be angled over the eye.   Positioning the shader this way ensures only the eye is burn in and not the adjacent fur.

Burn the eye to a dark brown/black color, but don’t burn over the part of the iris that is showing.

Burn over the iris.  The top part of the iris is much darker than the bottom.    I burned the top part to a brown color and the bottom a dark tan.

STEP 5 – BACKGROUND, SHADOWS, & LEFT EAR

In this step we will burn the background around the contours of the face, the dark shadows on the face, and burn in the left ear.

Begin by burning in the all of the trace lines. 

Again it is up to you if you want to use a writer pen tip or the razor edge of the shader as I am doing.

Remember to burn the lines in the same direction as they were drawn on the pattern.

Also make sure to keep the lines pale in color.

DO NOT burn the wispy hairs on the ear as we’ll handle those differently.  I will explain that step a little latter one.  A yellow circle marks the lines I’m referring to. 

In fact, leave the trace lines for the ear hair on both ears unburned. 

Continued work.

Use a white charcoal pencil and draw over the wispy hair lines. 

Always start the lines on the ear side.  End the line on the background.  This will create a nice tapered end to the line.

DO NOT USE A COLORED PENCIL!   Color pencils will melt and char under the heat of the pen tip. 

Charcoal, on the other hand, resists the heat.  Keep in mind it won’t block it completely.   I like using white charcoal on wood because it is very easy and avoid.   Just don’t leave the charcoal on the board for extended periods of time.  If found that the charcoal can be difficult to erase if it’s left for more than a hour on the board.   

Use a shader of your choice and start burning the background behind the white charcoal lines. 

Avoid burning over the lines!

Notice how well the white charcoal shows up against the burn marks?  It’s why I love to use white charcoal. 

Charcoal smears very easily, so avoid touching, rubbing, or resting your hand on any area that has charcoal on it. 

Now burn short dark lines on the background just above the top of the head.  

Make sure to burn the lines ON THE BACKGROUND.  You can extend the lines slightly onto the cat’s head, but the majority of the line should be on the background. 

These lines will give a jagged look to the area and it creates the look of little bits of hair sticking up here and there.   

Create a buffer zone by burning a dark brown to black color band that is 1/4 inch wide (0.64 cm).  Be careful to keep the jagged hairline as you work.

Rotate the wood, if needed, to keep the pen tip in optimal position as you burn along the edge of the ear.

Once you have burned around the ear, erase the charcoal lines.  

Burn tan pull away strokes along the base of the ear. 

Start the stroke on the base of the ear (where it touches the top of the head) and pull the stroke up away from the ear base.  Angle the burn strokes so that they curve gently towards the wispy ear hairs.   Stop the stroke once it is around 1/4 inch (0.64 cm) long.

It will take several layers of pull-away strokes to build up the color on the ear.  You want it to be slightly darker at the base and lighter at the end of the burn stroke. 

Burn strokes start darker than they end, so it’s important to start the burn stroke on the ear base.

Now burn new pull-away strokes, but start these strokes where the old ones ended.  Pull the stroke towards the ear hairs. Let a few of the strokes extend to the end of the hairs.  

Make sure to vary the color just a little with the strokes.  This will give the impression of different colors and hair density.  

Darken up where the new pull-away strokes started (the base of the wispy hairs).  This will create the end of the ear proper, and the start of the wispy ear hairs that stick out against the background.

Now we’re going to create a buffer zone around the cat’s face. 

This is done by burning short dark lines on the background right next to the edge of the fur.  Allow some of the lines to cross over into the fur area.  

Then the background lines so that they are approximately 1/4 inch (0.64 cm) long.  They can be linger if you prefer.  

Why create a buffer zone?   The buffer zone allows us to work more quickly on the background because we don’t have to get close to the cat where precision is needed.

I’ve found that my whisker lines stay cleaner if I burn along one edge.

Then I rotate the board and burn along the opposite edge.  This keeps the pen tip in optimal position while burning.   

Why don’t I burn right over the embedded whisker lines?  I have the heat up pretty high on by burner.  Higher heats can darken embedded lines unless they are really, really deep.  My lines are that deep.

Continue to work your way around the contours of the cats’ face creating a buffer zone.

I burn around the whiskers on the jaw just like I did on the eyebrow.   There is one difference, I didn’t burn the area as dark.  Instead I burned the shadowed cheek to a medium brown versus the dark brown to black color I used on other places. 

Along the edges of a fur patch, I burn a series of dark tan lines.   

Continued work.

Once the buffer zone is complete, then burn in the background. 

You will see that I’ve already burned in sections of the fur on the cat.  Don’t worry about that at this time.  I will cover it later.

I recommend using the largest shader you own.  Set the heat on your burner to get a medium to dark brown color.  If your pen tip turns red, the heat is too high.    

Burn carefully around the whiskers.

If you should accidently charred some of the whiskers, like I did, then use the tip of a sharp knife to gently scrape away the char. 

Then finish burning in the background.   

To get smoother results, the start the burn stroke in the buffer zone.  Then pull the pen tip down towards yourself. 

It is easier to keep your burn strokes consistent when pull down versus pushing up.   

Also, if possible, burn with the wood grain.  Sometimes the nib likes to ‘bounce’ when burning across the grain.  When this happens the color isn’t as uniform as it is when burning with the grain.    Before we start creating fur texture, I need to talk about the zigzag burn stroke I use.  

ZIGZAGS vs SINGLE LINES

When creating short fur texture, I like to use a zigzag burn stroke. This burn stroke is not comfortable or liked by everyone.  Also, it has a bit of a learning curve to be able to use it correctly.   If it’s easier for you or if you don’t care for the zigzag burn stroke, then burn single lines instead.  Both methods produce great results.  There isn’t a benefit to one method over the other.  Instead it is a matter of personal preference. 

What is a zigzag?   A zigzag is literally a line burned in a back and forth or zigzag motion.   Each zigzag line should vary in size, color, length, width, height, and gaps.  Also, you should vary where to start and stop each line.   

By the way, gaps refer to the amount of space between the up and down lines.  If there is little space between them, the overall color will appear darker.  If there is a lot of space between them, then the overall color will appear lighter.

The photo shows some very basic zigzag burn strokes.  The area I’m burning on is an area where there are several separately burned zigzag lines touch and often overlap. 

The red circle shows a small patch of zigzags.  

DO NOT burn bands or rows of zigzags!

Burning in this fashion does not even remotely produce something that looks like fur. 

Instead, vary where you start and finish each zigzag line.  

Flat vs Edge

This photo shows two patches of zigzags.  The one to the left was created using the flat of the shader.   The one on the right was created using the razor edge.   

Or to put it another way, the left one was created with a lot more of the nib being in contact with the board.  The one on the right was created with very little of the nib being in contact with the board.  

Flat of the shader produces thick softer lines.  This is good when you want the subject to seem slightly out of focus.  This would be used on the body of an animal to make it seem further in the background.  

Whereas the edge of the shader produces thin crisp lines.  This is perfect for the face of an animal because it the thin crisp lines make the fur appear to be in-focus.  You want the main subject of an animal (it’s face) to be in focus. 

Hand Pressure

The patch of zigzags on the left was created using a heavy hand pressure.  The patch to the right was created using light pressure. 

Notice how deep the burn marks are on the left patch.  To create realistic fur texture requires burning several layers of either single lines or zigzags.  When your burn marks are really deep, it becomes difficult to add more layers of burn marks.  Instead, the nib wants to follow the channel created by the previous burn.

Growth Direction

The last thing I want to demo is the fur growth direction.

It is extremely important to burn the zigzag and/or single lines in the same direction that the fur grows. 

I created a video tutorial that demonstrates how to use the zigzag burn stroke.   

In the video I burn the face of four cats, each with a different type of fur. 

To watch just click on the video thumbnail or this link:  https://youtu.be/KYxpEhYopIM

STEP 6 – FUR PATCH 1

Now that we have a better understanding of zigzags, let’s create fur texture starting with the nape of the neck.

This is a perfect area to begin testing out your preferred burn stroke.   People will see the neck, but they are not going to pay that much attention to it.  

I do want to point out that my goal with the fur on the neck is just to create the general impression of realistic fur.  I did not try to replicate every detail on the reference photo.  Instead the reference photo was used to help determine darkness level and shadow placement.

Make sure the heat is turned down on your burner. 

Equip the shader pen tip of your choice.    Adjust the heat on your burner to get a medium tan burn result. 

If needed, rotate the board around until so that you can burn in an up-down direction.  This is much easier than burning in an left-right direction.

Remember to vary where you start each burn stroke. Also vary the gap between the lines in the burn stroke if using the zigzags.

As you can see, there are quite a few small un-burned gaps on the fur patch.  That is perfect.  We want that because we will be adding several layers of zigzags.  As more layers are burned in, the tonal depth and texture of the fur increases.

I’m using a small flat shader.  Colwood refers to this as their J shader.  Colwood also calls it a tight round shader. 

You can use any shader you like.  You can even use a writer nib and burn single lines.  There isn’t one set way to create fur texture.  I’m just showing you my preferred method.  You should try both methods and see which one works best for you.     

With the first layer of zigzags done, add a second layer. 

I’m starting at the bottom and working my way back up to the top.  You can do the same or start at the top and work your way down.  It really doesn’t matter.

What does matter is following the rules or guidelines we used on the first layer while burning in this layer.  In fact, the rules apply for ALL layers of zigzags.

Here’s a composite photo showing how the fur patch looked after the layers of zigzags were done.  As you can see, there isn’t a huge difference.   

I’m not burning at a very high heat.  My burner is set just to the point where I get a medium tan burn result. 

I much prefer to burn at a lower heat for two reasons.  1) The handset doesn’t get uncomfortably warm, so I can burn for longer periods of time. 2) I can burn more layers of fur without the overall color getting too dark. 

Does this mean you have to do things the same way?  No.  I’m just explaining how I created the artwork and why I did things a certain way.  Use the aspects you like, and ignore the rest.

Continue add layers of zigzags or single lines using the same rules that we did during the first layers.  To refresh you; vary where you start each burn, vary the number of lines in each burn, and vary the gap or space between the lines in each burn.

As you add layers, make sure to burn over the transition zone.   The transition zone is where the fur texture ends and the shadows and/or background begins.   With the neck, the transition zone is along the right side of it.

This composite photo shows the difference between the 4^th & 5^th layer of zigzags.  Each layer of lines darkens the overall color of the fur.  

I ended up burning six layers of lines on the neck.   Not all of the layers were burned over the entire neck.     For example, the top of the neck is darker than the bottom.  The top of the neck received fewer layers than the bottom. 

It might be easier to see the differences in this close up photo of the neck.  

STEP 7 – FUR PATCH 2

Our next patch of fur is just below the nape of the neck.

Here’s our reference photo for this patch of fur.  The fur is a touch longer in this patch, so let me explain how I handled that.

Along the left size, I burned the normal zigzags and/or single lines. 

Then I burned some slightly longer thicker lines.  The lines started in the transition zone and ended in the fur.   

The reason for this is that burn marks tend to start darker and thicker than they end.  This mimics what real hair tends to do. 

With this patch of fur, I worked along both ends.  I did start the burn strokes on the fur and ended them in the shadows.   The fur in this area has mor tonal variety because of some slight shadows here and there.  Make sure to increase the tonal variety of your burn strokes. 

This is done by burning either faster or slower.  The faster you move the nib across the board, the lighter the color will be.  That’s because the nib isn’t in contact with the wood for very long.   As you slow down, the nib stays in contact with the board for longer amounts of time, and the resulting burn stroke becomes darker.

After a layer of fur has been burned in, they start re-burning over the fur.  I burned 4-6 layers of fur on this area too.   

One big difference between this fur and the neck I just covered are the long pale hairs seen here and there. 

These are created by burning around the spot where I want a long hair to be.   

If it’s easier, use white charcoal pencil and draw in the lines.  Then burn around them.

Another option is to scrape the pale hairs into existence.   I don’t have good luck creating curved lines with this method.  If you’re burning on plywood, I do not recommend using this method.  The reason is that I have pieces of the plywood chip off.  This has only happened in areas where two or more lines overlapped each other.  

Here’s how the fur patch looks after I was done.   

With the remaining fer on the neck and shoulder, use the techniques for this patch of fur.  I’m not going to explain them, but the YouTube tutorial does cover them.

STEP 8 – FACE

To finish the artwork we need to burn in the fur on the face.  The face has a lot more tonal variety and there are markings on the face.  This isn’t anything that is complicated to handle.  Instead it is just a matter of how many layers of burn strokes you do.

Here’s the reference photo.

Keep the reference photo nearby as you work and consult it often.   Anytime you rotate the board, make sure to rotate your reference photo to match.

I started by burning short lines and very small zigzag lines along the inner corner of the eye.

Make sure to follow the curve of the cheek as you burn down towards the whiskers.

The front of the face has a number of different directions the fur grows in.  It is important to burn your zigzags or single lines so they match the fur growth direction. 

The inset reference photo has yellow lines drawn on it indicating the growth direction of the fur.

Burn in the dark marking on the brow that starts at the dark corner of the eye.   The inset photo has the area I’m referring to marked with a yellow circle. 

Remember, you do not need to increase the heat setting on your burner for this.  Instead, just slow down your hand speed.  You can get an almost black color even if your burner is set to a really low number.  Granted, you’d probably have to hold the nib in place for a little bit, but it can be done.   

As I burn in the first layer of fur, I make sure to capture shadows and markings as I go. 

I don’t burn them as dark as they need to be.  That’s because I will be burning more layers of fur, and each layer will darken the color of the fur. 

As always, rotate the board as needed to make burning easier and/or ensure clean lines.  For example, the upper edge of the nostril opening has a fairly defined edge, so I rotated the board to keep my nib in optimal position while burning along it.

Burn in the dark spots along the jaw. 

I did not increase the heat setting on my burner for this.  Instead I slowed down my hand speed, and reduces the gaps between the up/down strokes.   

I will admit that I don’t like to constantly adjust the heat setting on my burner.  I’m a set it and forget it type of person.  With the heat set to get a medium tan result, I can work on any area on the face without worrying about the burn results being too dark.  

Even though the whiskers are embossed down into the board surface, I avoid burning them.  The reason is that I’m using the edge of the shader, so it can easily fit down into the embossed lines and darken the wood.  I don’t want that, so it’s easier to avoid them.   

A reminder that if you do accidently darken up a whisker line, then gently scrape away the color using the tip of a sharp knife.

Burn some single lines on the cheek.  Burn more lines along the right side of the cheek, and fewer the closer to the nose you get.

This will help give the cheek a 3d appearance.  

Burn over the nose.  Keep the upper edge of the nose a little jagged.  This will create the transition from skin to fur.   

The nose does have some darker spots on it.  It is not absolutely necessary to replicate them.  No one will notice if they aren’t there. 

Because the nose is pretty small, I switched to a writer pen tip to work on the finer details like the line running down the nose.   

Something I like to do is add a layer of tiny dots over animal noses.  This is something I started after I had worked on this artwork.  To me the tiny dots give the nose that slight bumpy texture animal noses have.  I must emphasis that if you choose to add dots to your nose, make sure they are tiny.  Also, make sure they are 1-2 shades darker than the nose.  The dots shouldn’t be extremely noticeable.  Instead they are a subtle addition that I think adds a little more realism to the artwork.   Obviously, they are optional.  My artwork doesn’t have them.

Back to creating fur texture.  I’m adding a layer of lines as I work my way up the nose.

The forehead has a number of markings on it. 

I burn in the dark markings first.  This makes it easier for me to match up areas when I compare my artwork to the reference photo. 

Yes, I check with the reference photo often.  I check to see what direction the fur is growing.  What color is the fur in the area I’m burning.  Does the section of fur I’m burning have anything special like a marking or shadow.   

Notice how I’ve burned in most of the darker markings first.  After the dark markings are blocked in, then I work on the medium or tan colored fur.  I leave the pale markings for last.   

I should point out that when I burn the tan colored fur, I burn right over the dark markings.  The tan color isn’t going to negatively impact the dark markings.   I do avoid the pale markings.  I want them to stay light in color, so they only get a few single lines here and there. 

The main way pale markings are created is by burning the fur around them to a darker color.  This defines the edges of the pale markings, and provides contrast so the markings look pale.  

Be aware of the fur direction change below the ear.  The key to realistic fur texture is to capture the direction it is growing. 

For example, the fur on the forehead wouldn’t look right if the lines were burned in a horizontal direction.  

Now a lot of people find wispy ear hair difficult to create. 

My best advice is to work slow and at a low temperature.

Block in areas to a tan color.  When you’re happy with the basic shape, then you can reburn to darken things up. 

To begin, burn tan lines along the pattern lines.  At this point my pattern lines are pencil marks.  I haven’t burned over them until now.

I’m burning single lines using the edge of the shader.  I’m taking my time.  This isn’t a race.

The left side of the ear has short fur texture.  I block in the area using the same zigzag burn stroke I used on the facial fur.  Again, single lines can be burned instead.

The right side of the ear has a small border of white fur that frames the dark ear opening.

Burn a series of lines close together along the left edge of the white fur.  Make sure to vary the starting and ending spot on the lines to create a jagged edge along the fur. 

Once the lines are done, then re-burn to dark them. 

Notice the pale wispy hairs sticking how here and there.  Those are created by burning around them.  This is similar to the whiskers.  The difference is that we didn’t emboss the ear hairs.

Work your way around the edges of the dark ear opening.  Keep the edges jagged.

If it’s easier, use a white charcoal pencil and draw over all of the wispy ear hairs.  Then burn in the dark ear opening, but avoid burning over the white charcoal.

Creating the wispy ear hairs is probably the most difficult and intimidating area on the bobcat. 

Take your time.   Rushing to get the job done seldom produces good results.   If need be, take a break.  Either put the artwork away, or work on a different area.

Last thing I want to point out is that I’m burning the ear opening to a dark color.  You might feel more comfortable burning the area to a lighter color and then reburning to darken up the opening.   

The ear hair grows in a number of different directions.  Plus, it varies in length.  The top and left side of the ear features short fur.  Around the dark opening the hairs tend to be much longer.

I’m creating a band of color that is made up of short lines. This band of color runs almost down the center of the ear. 

The lines along the right side of the band are angled towards the right.  The lines on the left are vertical or angled slightly to the left.

Here’s a progress photo. 

Notice how far apart the lines on the band of color are.  The gaps will help form the wispy hairs. 

The wispy hairs are created or defined by burning around the area you want a wispy hair to be.  Or to put it another way, you are defining the outer edges of a wispy hair.  This is very similar if not identical to how we created the pale markings on the face.  

I’m adding another layer of lines along the left side of the ear.  I’m starting at the base of the ear and working my way up towards the top.

Along the base of the ear is a seam, for lack of a better word, where the ear hair and facial fur meet.  Think of the seam as an imaginary line that goes through the area.  The fur above the imaginary line angles upward. The fur below the imaginary line angles down.  If you look closely, you can see that I’m burning really short lines along the seam that have a slight curve to them and differ in direction depending on their location.

I’m back to working on the forehead.  I’m reburning over the area to further darken and define markings. 

Basically, I’m taking a break from the ear. 

Anytime I’m working on a difficult area or I’m feeling frustrated, I take a break.  I might put the artwork away and work on it later.  Or I work on a different section of the artwork.  Later I come back and work for a little bit more on the difficult area.  Slowly it gets done.   

This approach has really helped me get through some challenging artwork.

Start blocking in the fur on the side of the face.

If you look closely at the side of the face on reference photo, you can see that this area has several transition areas where the fur changes direction.  I simplified the fur direction by having all of it angle towards the right.  No one will notice this slight deviation from the reference photo.  

As I work on the side of the face, I also reburn over adjacent areas.  I want to make sure I don’t lose any markings or shadows.  Or to put this another way, I don’t want the fur to end up uniform in color.

The fur along the right edge of the face is a touch longer than the front of the face.  All you need to do is increase the size of your lines. 

If you’re burning single lines, then burn longer single lines.  If you’re burning zigzags, then make the up and down strokes longer. 

There is a small area of fur just behind the ear that is visible.  I think the cat has a torn ear.  Make sure to keep the right edge of this fur jagged.   

Here’s a progress photo. 

I’m burning a number of longer thin lines on the lower patch of ear hair.  I start each burn at the base of the ear and pull it up towards the top.  This creates a line with a tapered end. 

It is okay to overlap some lines. 

Afterwards, I reburn over the area again, but this time I burn short lines.  I burn the lines randomly over the area to break up the fur. 

Next, I add some tan lines to the adjacent patch of hairs on the left that angle towards the ear opening. 

Then I take a break and go back to working on the side of the face. 

A benefit of jumping around the artwork working on different areas, is that it forces you to re-examine each area.   

I find that if I work in one area for too long, I don’t pay as close attention to it.  If I jump around, then I have to really look at the new area and compare it to the reference photo before I start burning.  I ask myself questions during the comparison.  Questions like, what spots need another layer of fur.  Is the color getting close to where it should be?  Are the pale markings or white fur that need some tan lines? 

Speaking of pale markings and white fur,  don’t leave them unburned.  It doesn’t end up looking like white fur.  Instead it looks like you forgot to burn a section of the wood.   

Areas on the bobcat that are darker in color get more layers of burn strokes than pale areas. 

This process of reburning to build up the color and texture of the fur might seem a bit drawn out and tedious to you.  This is how I create fur.  Is it the best way?  I have no idea.  Instead, it’s the way that I’m comfortable with and I think it produces good results. 

Along the right edge of the face, burn a series of lines that start in the shadows and end in the fur.  More lines increase the jagged appearance of the fur.  Make sure to vary the length of the lines.  Also, add a few short lines here and there in the fur.  The short lines create little shadows between hairs.   

Continued work on the side of the face.   

Most of the fur in this area is same length as the front of the face; short.  The fur along the far right edges is a touch longer. 

Try to create a gradual transition from the short fur to the longer fur found along the edges.  This will make things look more natural.

Reburning over facial markings. 

If the marking is pale or white, then it might not need to be reburned over.  You will have to look at your artwork and determine that. 

Here’s a progress photo. 

I’m back to working on the ear. 

I’m breaking up the long streak of unburned wood running down the ear into two sections. 

Afterwards, I burn a series of lines along the right edge of the lower section to create the wispy hairs.   This isn’t anything new or different.   

Next,  I reburned over the upper portion of the ear.  I’m darkening the color, and adding a number of short lines. 

It is very similar to creating wispy hairs, except I’m burning over the hairs so that they are a light brown color. 

Because this area is pretty dark, no one is going to pay that much attention to it.  Don’t stress about getting it right or perfect. 

There are some longer wispy hairs along the upper portion of the ear.  These hairs are created by burn the area around the spot where a white wispy hair is desired. 

Again, I remind you that it might be easier to draw the wispy hairs in with white charcoal.  Then burn around the charcoal.

Some of the wispy hairs are in shadows since they are deep in the ear.  For these I just burn over them using the flat of the shader.  

Here’s a progress photo. 

If you cat ear doesn’t look exactly like mine, that’s okay.   

If I were to create this artwork again, it’s extremely doubtful that the ears would look identical. 

Also, our only goal is to create something that resembles an hair with wispy hairs sticking out here and there.   We are not trying to create an exact replica of the reference photo. 

Now I’m back to re-burning over areas of the facial fur.  I like to concentrate on areas that give the face shape.  These are known as contouring shadows. 

For example, the side of the nose has a contouring shadow that gets darker as you get near the eye. 

Adding more color along the right side of the face. 

Here’s a close up picture as I burn in this area. 

There are some longer hairs, and a number of shorter ones. 

The longer hairs are created by burning around them.  Then a number of short lines are burned over the area to break up the hairs.

Continued work on the side of the face. 

If you look closely, you can see that there are a number of light stray hairs overlapping onto the top dark marking.  Those stray hairs are made the same way wispy hairs are; the area around them is burned in.  Start the burn stroke on the dark marking and pull it a short ways into the pale hair below.  Viola, a stray hair has been created. 

Fine tuning the wispy ear hairs.  While it might be easier to see the ear from start to finish, I want to emphasize that I took many breaks from working on the ear.   

I did create a video that compiles all of the video clips for the ear.  That way you can watch just the ear being created.   

You can click on the video thumbnail or this link to watch:  https://youtu.be/6AE2-nHayjU 

The side of the face is the area that needs the most work on my artwork.  Mostly it needs to be darkened up, so I’m burning a lot more lines in the area.  If you look closely, you can see that I have burned a number of very short lines.  The lines are short enough to be called dashes.   

The lines are my attempt at replicating the shadows and choppy fur texture in this area. 

I spent a bit of time building up the color and texture on the side of the face.  

IN CONCLUSION

I’ve always loved big cats, so for me creating the bobcat artwork was a complete pleasure.  I’m rather pleased with how the artwork turned out and I hope you will try it.  Whether you use the zigzag burn stroke, or burn single lines it doesn’t matter.  What matters is the experience you gain from creating the artwork.

Now to answer a couple of questions I get asked frequently.  This artwork was burned on bass wood that measures 10 x 10 inches (25.4 x 25.4 cm).  It took me a total of 10 1/4 hours to complete the artwork.  

If you want to support my website, then please watching my YouTube videos.  My YouTube channel generates ad revenue and that pays for the costs associated with having this website.

Until the next blog,

Brenda

May 10, 2019

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