In this tutorial I’m going to explain how to create The Christmas Race artwork. The artwork is based on a drawing by David Young. I loved the humorous and whimsical nature of his drawing. It is a lot of fun to use a line drawing and transform it into whatever you want. Even though I will be explaining to you how to do what I did, I encourage you to let your creativity through. Mostly I want you to have fun and improve your pyrography skills in the process.
I do realize that there is a lot going on in this artwork, but don’t let that intimidate you. This will be much easier to do that you might think, because I have broken down the artwork into small more manageable steps. Please keep in mind that you can easily customize the artwork by toning down the details, adding color, etc.
Click on the image to the left to watch a YouTube video version of the tutorial.
There is also a time lapse version of the artwork available.
Now, let’s get to work.
SKILL LEVEL: 3
MATERIALS NEEDED:
- Writing tip
- Shading tip
- 5 x 7 inch (12.7 x 17.8 cm) piece of wood
- Pattern (enlarge or shrink as needed) *line drawing – see below
- Graphite pencil
- White charcoal pencil (optional)
- White colored pencil (optional)
- Skew pen tip (optional)
- Metal straight edge (optional)
- X-acto Knife (optional)
* Here is the pattern. It’s the line drawing that David sent.
The original drawing had roundish, solid black sleigh runners. I drew a slightly different style of runners for the sleigh. I put that sketch in the lower right corner.
To add the alternate runner, trace out the pattern but leave the runners off. Then cut around the alternate runner, line them up on the sleigh, and trace over them.
STEP 1 – PREP THE WOOD
Wood burning is much easier if you take the time to prepare the wood surface. Always 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.
The board should be damp to the touch, but not soaking wet.
Let the board dry and then sand again.
This piece of plywood board is broken up into three sections. The far-left section is how the board looks without any prep work. The board has a rough texture. The middle section of the board shows how it looks after it was sanded, and the surface is a lot smoother. The right section of the board shows it after it was lightly misted with water and allowed to dry. Notice how rough the board looks, but a quick sanding will remove that and leave an ultra-smooth board.
Doing the 4-step process (sand, mist, dry, sand) produces a super smooth surface, and the smoother the surface is the better the burn results will be.
Plus, if you should add liquid color (paints, markers) it will prevent the board from getting fuzzy.
STEP 2 – OUTLINING
I find it very helpful to very lightly burning in the trace lines. It begins by transferring the pattern to the board. My preferred method is to print off the pattern onto standard copier paper, coat the back with a layer of graphite, secure the paper graphite side down on the board, and trace over the pattern lines.
I wanted Santa and the Elf to be as large as possible on my board. Once I got them as large as I could and still convey the scene, some of the background trees on the drawing didn’t fit. I moved the location of the trees. I also increased the angle of the drawing on the board to better convey a sense of traveling downhill.
I have a dark border around the edges on my board. To create this, I drew lines that were ¼ inch in from the edge of the board. Then I used a metal straight edge and a sharp knife to score the pencil lines.
After that I used a skew tip to darken up the scored line. I’m using a really thin skew, so the tip fit down into the cut line on the board. This will not only darken the line, but it widens it.
Lastly, I burned the border to a dark brown or black color using a shader.
I transferred the pattern to the board before I did the border. I would recommend doing the border first, and then transfer the pattern to the board. I had to be super careful to avoid smearing the pencil lines.
I do have a tutorial that goes into greater detail about creating border frames on your artwork. Here’s a link to that blog: Border Frames
Use a writer pen tip and very lightly burn in the trace lines.
I can’t emphasize enough the need to burn the trace lines to a light tan color. Some of the lines represent objects that are white or pale in color (like the snow), and we don’t want dark lines in these areas.
Here’s how the board looks thus far. I left out the trees near Santa from the drawing. The reason is that I need to move them because they didn’t fit on my board.
I had enlarged the drawing as much as I could and still fit Santa, the elf, and some of the hill behind them. Once those trace lines were burned in, then I could easily add trees without messing up the foreground.
I cut out the trees from the pattern so that they would be easier to position them on the board.
Before removing the pattern, always check for missing lines.
I added some extra trees onto the background. This was done for three reason. First it will help breakup the skyline. Second the dark trees will provide contrast for the Santa. Third, the darker the background is the more the foreground stands out.
Don’t worry about the pencil lines overlapping onto Santa.
The pencil marks that overlap onto Santa can be erased.
Truthfully this can wait until after the new trace lines are lightly burned in.
Use a writer pen tip and lightly burn in the trace lines for the new trees.
Afterwards rub a pencil eraser over the board to remove any residual graphite.
STEP 3 – LIGHT SOURCE
Before starting a project of this sort, it is a good idea to set where the light source is in your artwork. The reason is that the light source determines where the highlights and shadows should be placed.
I decided to place the sun or light source above and to the left of Santa.
This means that the highlights will be on the side closest to the sun, so the left and/or upper sides of objects.
The shadows will be on the opposite side, so the right side.
It can help to place a post-it note on the board to help remind you of where the light source is located. I’ve done this on numerous projects.
I recommend printing out the pattern onto lightweight paper and shading it with a pencil. This allows you to play around with tonal values, and where you want the highlights and shadows to be.
This image is of my pencil shaded printout.
STEP 4 – SANTA
I will be breaking this section into 3 parts; Santa, Santa’s clothing, and Santa’s wand. Because of this you’ll see that things have been done that I haven’t explained yet. Don’t worry, I’ll get to everything in its due time.
Eyes
Begin by using a white charcoal pencil to color in the highlights on the eyes. The charcoal will make the highlights easier to see, and it helps block the heat of the pen tip. Keep in mind that this is an optional step; it’s just something I find helpful.
Do not use a colored pencil for this step. Colored pencils contain wax that will melt and char under the heat of the pen tip.
Then use a writer pen tip and burn in the iris. Avoid the white charcoal.
I initially burned the pupil with a dark center and lighter edges, but later on I make then a uniform dark color.
Make sure to burn in the pupil on the other eye.
Next, reburn the lines around the eye to darken them up. Make sure to thicken up the eyelashes.
Don’t forget to erase the white charcoal once it is no longer needed.
Use a writer pen tip and burn over the iris. I used a loose circular motion burn stroke for this. Basically, I drew a bunch of overlapping circles. Each new circle overlapped three-quarters of the previous circle
Then draw lines on the iris that radiate outward from the pupil. How many lines you draw will control how dark the iris looks.
Is this step absolutely necessary? No. I’m just telling you what I did, and you can decide what aspects you want to incorporate into your own artwork.
If needed, re-burn over the lines around the eye including the lashes.
If you didn’t burn the irises to a uniform dark brown or black color to begin with, do so now. Make sure to avoid burning over the highlight.
Very lightly burn over the whites of the eye. I used circular motion for this.
This is how the eyes looked once I was completely done with them.
Mouth
Darken up the lines around the inside of mouth.
Then burn the mouth opening to a dark brown or black color. I’m using a writer pen tip for this, but you may prefer using a shader.
Re-burn over the lower edge of the lip to darken up the line.
Next, burn a number of gently curving single lines that start on the outer edge of the lip and end on the inner edge of the lip.
Repeat this process, but start the lines on the inner edge of the lip. This will make the edges of the lip darker than the center of it; giving the lip texture and a 3d appearance.
I darkened up the outer edges of the lips a little more by burning short lines along the edges.
Lightly burn over the teeth. They are in shadows, so shouldn’t be bright white.
Skin
Be mindful of your light source. Since my light source is above and to the left of Santa, the highlights are found on the upper left side of the face. The highlights are indicated with yellow on the drawing.
Shadows are found on the opposite side of the highlights. Brown marks the location of the shadows.
Use a writer pen tip and burn a small cast shadow from the hat onto the forehead.
Just don’t burn over the top of the eyebrow! The red arrow is pointing to my mishap. I had to scrape away the burn marks once I realized my mistake.
Switch to a shader of your choice and start burning in the skin on Santa’s face.
I am using uniform strokes as my main burn method, but I also used some circular motion.
I do want to point out that In this photo you can see that the dark line from the upper edge of the eyebrow has been removed. More accurately the line has been lightened up.
How dark you make the skin is your choice.
My only goal with the skin was to burn it dark enough that it provided decent contrast with the white facial hair.
Use the shader to extend the cast shadow from the hat a little further down on the forehead.
Even though I’m adding highlights and shadows to the face, you do not have to. You can simplify the artwork by burning the skin to a uniform color.
To add highlights and shadows just follow a 3-step process.
Step 1. Burn the skin to a uniform base color that you want the highlight to be.
Step 2. Re-burn over the skin, but avoid the highlights. This will be the color you want the overall color of the skin to appear as. A good guideline is to aim for a color that is a couple of shades darker than the highlights.
Step 3. Re-burn over the skin one last time, but this time only burn where the shadows are. A good shadow color is one that is a couple of shades darker than the skin color created in step 2.
Facial Hair
Use the edge of a shader to burn thin lines on the mustache. Burn the lines following the contours of the mustache.
Next, burn along the base of the eyebrows. Vary the color and width of the burn strokes. Plus burn the strokes in the direction the brow hairs are growing. We are creating the subtle shadows on the hair.
Burn lines on the beard. Just like we did with the eyebrows, the lines should vary in width and color. Some of the lines that I burned were very thick or wide, so they were more like bands of color.
I do recommend darkening up the beard adjacent to the mustache to help differentiate between the two. Also, darken up along the bottom of the beard. The purpose is to create the subtle shadows.
Now we’re going to repeat the process using a writer pen tip. This will create much thinner lines that we’ll use to give the facial hair texture and a bit more shape.
Don’t be afraid to burn a lot of lines. Just keep the color in the tan range.
If you look closely, you can see that I’ve burned a lot of lines onto the facial hair.
Lastly, use a white colored pencil and add some highlights along the top of the eyebrows.
Also add some highlights along the middle part of the beard. Don’t extend the lines to the shadowed ends. This will help give the beard a curved look.
It is very important to do this step after ALL of the pyrography is done. I’m only explaining the step now to keep everything together.
Adding the color was the VERY LAST thing I did on the board.
Pointing Hand
Use a shader pen tip and burn over the pointing hand.
As you burn in the hand, be mindful of the highlights and shadows if you are including them. With this hand, the top of the thumb and pointing finger should be the lightest area on the hand.
The rest of the hand is in shadows, so I’m re-burning the non-highlighted areas.
Here’s how the hand looks at this point.
I’m using a writer pen tip to burn some dark lines between the fingers. The lines represent shadows.
I also burned a dark line next to the thumb to create a shadow.
Grasping Hand
Then burn over the hand hanging onto the wand. With this hand the top left side of the hand is in light.
Here’s how the hand looked after I was done.
You should always rotate the board, as needed, to keep your pen tip in optimal position when burning along edges. This is what keeps your lines crisp and clean.
Here’s how the hand looks now.
Next use a writer pen tip to burn in the shadows around the fingers.
Lastly, I thought the hand was too uniformly in color for my liking, so I’m re-burning over the shadowed areas to darken them up.
SANTA’S CLOTHING
Here is the guideline of where I plan to place the highlights.
This image shows the planned shadows.
Use the shader of your choice and burn the area under the sleeve a dark tan to light brown color.
Then burn in the sleeve. I used a short, horizontal zigzag stroke for this because I was trying to make the suit look like velvet. That didn’t work, so use the burn stroke of your choice.
If I were to do this over again, I would use uniform strokes and/or circular motion as my burn methods.
If needed, rotate the board and burn along the edge of the sleigh. This area is in shadows, so should be a dark color.
I’m working my way around the edge of the sleigh. The reason I’m burning in this direction because the pen tip is in optimal position, so the edges will be crisp and clean.
I burned the boot to a black color that faded ever so slightly along the left edge. The background behind it is a touch lighter in color. The color gets darker the further away from the boot you get.
Now fill the pant leg with a layer of color.
Re-burn as needed to get the pant leg as dark as you want it to be.
Continued work.
There are two little lines that form the crease in the pants, make sure to keep the them the darkest part on the pants.
Use a writer pen tip and burn the inside of the sleeve to a dark color.
Do the same thing on the other sleeve.
Also burn a dark line on along the edge of the fur trim on the cuff. This is creating a cast shadow from the cuff.
Burn a dark line along the edge of the beard. Like the cuff, these lines are forming cast shadows. Plus, they provide contrast to help the beard to stand out.
Make sure to burn a line along the edge of the fur on the other cuff.
Granted this line isn’t forming a shadow because the light striking it wrong. Instead, the line is just providing contrast between the fur and the cuff.
I ended up making the hat a bit darker than planned, so I’m re-burning over the suit to make it match.
The highlight on the sleeve is subtle because I didn’t want the fabric to appear glossy.
I also re-burned over the pants to darken them up too.
Next, burn over the satin cuff adjacent to the fur trim. On this sleeve there isn’t much of the cuff showing, so I kept the color fairly uniform. The top is a touch lighter than the bottom.
Rotate the board, if needed, to burn the cuff adjacent to the fur trim.
Now burn in the satin cuff on the other sleeve.
Since we can readily see this cuff, I created a highlight on it in the same location as the sleeve.
The last thing to do is lightly burn over the fur trim. I’m using a really small circular motion burn stroke for this.
Make sure the heat on your burner is set to get a light tan burn result before you start working on the fur trim.
Of course, the fur trim on the other sleeve must be burned over. I made the right side darker than the left. The right side is the side adjacent to the pointing hand.
After all of the pyrography is done, then use a white colored pencil and add a very small highlight along the top left edge of the fur trim. This will help it stand out from the snow.
I also added a highlight along the left edge on the fur trim on the other sleeve.
HAT
Burn in the first section of the hat to a color that matches Santa’s suit.
If you’re adding highlights and shadows, then re-burn as needed to create the shadow.
If needed, rotate the board to burn along the bottom side of the hat. I’m only burning the dark stripes, so every other stripe.
Rotate the board back to it’s normal position and finish burning in the dark stripes.
Then burn over light stripes on the hat.
Finishing up the light stripes.
Then burn over the fur trim on the front of the hat. I’m using circular motion for this.
Rotate the board to burn adjacent to the eyebrows. We want the color on the fur hat to be several shades darker than the top of the eyebrows. This will provide some contrast to help the eyebrows stand out.
Also burn over the fluffy fur ball at the end of the hat.
To help the fluffy fur ball stand out from the background, I used a writer pen tip to burn a line around the edges of the fur ball.
Lastly, after all of the pyrography is completed, use a color pencil to draw a few highlights along the upper left of the fur trim on the hat.
SANTA’S WAND
Use a writer pen tip to burn darkly around the edges of the dark stripes on the wand.
Then use a white charcoal pencil to draw a line down the length of the wand where you want a highlight to be. This is optional, but I find it is helpful for visualizing and maintaining a straight line.
A reminder that you must use charcoal and not a colored pencil for this step.
Now burn in the dark stripes to a dark color, but avoid the white charcoal.
Switch to a shader and burn over the right side of the wand. Try to make the color darker on the far edge and let the color get gradually lighter as you approach the white charcoal.
Once the charcoal is no longer needed, then erase it with a pencil eraser.
Next, use a shader to burn a dark thin line along the edges of the star. The burn short pull-away strokes along the edges.
Start the burn stroke on the edge and pull the pen tip towards to opposite edge of the star point.
Burning along both edges of each point will leave the center of the area lighter in color. This will give the star a puffed or 3D appearance.
Rotate the board as needed while you work. Some angles are easier to burn on than others. Which angles that will be depends on which hand you use to burn with. I’m left-handed, so most of you will be opposite of me.
Use a writer pen tip to burn a light and loose circular motion burn stroke.
Here’s how the star looks so far.
Next, use a writer pen tip or a ball tip and stipple over the center of the star.
Darken up the inner edges of the star for contrast.
Add another layer of dots along the points of the star. This will leave the very center the palest area on the star.
Let your creativity show thru. Quite some time back I had a young lady send me a photo of her rendition of David’s drawing. She left the center of the star hollow and had light streaming through or out of it. That looked great!
It was a wonderfully creative idea that I loved. I didn’t keep the image otherwise I’d share it with you. Assuming, of course, I had the artist’s permission to do so.
STEP 5 – ELF
In this step I’ll explain how to create the elf following a same format that I used on Santa.
Here is a guideline for the highlights I will be placing on the elf.
This is the guideline for the shadows.
ELF
Use a writer pen tip and burn the pupil to a dark color. Try to avoid the tiny highlight. I did not cover the highlight with charcoal because it was so small.
Then burn a loose circular motion over the iris and darken the lines around the eye.
Then burn lines over the eyebrow and little bit of hair behind it.
Start the line at the base of the eyebrow and pull the pen tip towards the outer edge of the eyebrow. Vary the color
Burn the other eyebrow and then fill the mouth opening to a dark color. I used a small and very tight circular motion.
Also, burn the mouth opening to a dark brown or black color.
I switched to a shader pen tip and burned in the hair. I used the front edge to burn an assortment of lines that varied in width. The lines were burned in the direction the hair was styled.
If it’s easier, just continue to use a writer pen tip.
Next, I used the shader to burn short zigzags on the beard.
I have to tell you that I disliked how this was looking!
I went back to the writer pen tip and burn loose circular motion over the beard.
The circular motion burn stroke created a wiry texture that looked good for a beard.
The burn strokes were done in two different ways. One was small circular patches. The other was looping lines that started near the mouth and ended near the outer edge of the beard.
I did re-burn over the lower right edge to dark it up so it would be shadowed.
Use a shader pen tip and burn over the ear.
The burn over the face. I used uniform strokes as my burn method.
It’s your choice on how dark you make the skin. My only consideration was to make the skin darker than the snow, but lighter than the clothing.
If needed, reburn over the irises to darken them up.
ARMS
Use a writer pen tip and burn around the fingers on the hand holding the cane.
Then use a shader pen tip and burn over the hand and arm. I used the flat of the shader as I worked and I didn’t try to burn the fingers individually.
Next, burn over the other arm. Make sure that the color matches that of the right arm.
I used a shader on the fingers, but it might be easier to use a writer pen tip.
Rotate the board to burn along the bottom edges of the arms.
This will put the pen tip in optimal position for the bottom edge, so the edge will stay crisp and clean.
Use a writer pen tip to burn the wrinkle or crease lines on the fingers. This is an optional step.
I write these blogs explaining what I have done. From there you can decide what aspects you want to incorporate into your own artwork.
ELF CLOTHING
Use a writer pen tip and burn a dark line around the edges of the belt. Do your best to avoid the belt buckle.
Then fill the belt with a dark color. I’m burning a combination of circular motion and wide lines.
Burn the buttons to a dark brown or black color.
Continued work on the belt.
Use a shader to burn over the pants. Make the back side darker than the front. Also, burn the crease lines a couple of shades darker.
I used a combination of uniform strokes and circular motion as my burn methods.
Then burn over the shirt. Since I was including the shadows and highlights, I burned the right side of the shirt to be darker than the left.
You can control how plump the belly looks by increasing or decreasing the contrast.
The higher the contrast between the highlight and the darker edges, the plumper the belly will look.
If the area looks fairly uniform in color, then it will look mostly flat.
Continued work.
Rotate the board as needed while you work.
Use a writer pen tip to darken up the inside of the sleeve and to burn a small cast shadow onto the arm.
Burn in the left boot. Make the back of the boot darker than the front.
I choose to make the boots a shade or two darker than the pants.
Create a cast shadow from the pants onto the boots. Rotate the board, if needed, so the pen tip is in optimal position.
Then burn in the right boot.
Again, make the back of the boot darker than the front.
Burn a dark line along the edge of the hat opening.
Then use a shader and burn a wide band of color around the edges of the hat.
If you are including the highlights and shadows, then make the left side of the hat opening lighter in color than the right.
The reason is that the hat is hollow, so the left side is in shadows, and the right side gets more light striking it.
Make sure to keep the pen tip in optimal position with burn adjacent to the edge of the head. If you aren’t bothering with the highlights and shadows, burn the hat opening to a dark color.
Burn a wide band of color along the upper edge of the hat.
Do the same thing along the bottom edge of the hat. I shifted my hand around to safely burn along the bottom edge, but if it’s easier rotate the board.
Then burn over the rest of the hat. I made the hat similar in color to the shirt.
Lightly burn over the band along the front edge of the hat.
CANDY CANE
Use a white charcoal pencil and draw a highlight onto the candy cane. The use a shader and burn along the right edge of the cane.
If needed, rotate the board, and burn along the left edge of the shader. If you are right-handed, you will probably be able to burn along the left edge easily, but the right edge might be tougher.
Make sure to burn a slight shadow under the hand.
Erase the charcoal once it is no longer needed.
Then switch to a writer pen tip and burn every other stripe to a dark color.
Avoid burning over the highlighted area on the cane.
SKIS
Burn the thin edge on the skis to a dark brown or black color.
Then use a shader and burn the top of the skis to a fairly uniform color.
If you want to make the skis look rustic, then burn wood grain onto them.
Finishing up the base layer of color on the skis.
I rotated the board to get a crisp edge on the left side of the skis. If you don’t plan to add shadows, then stop at this point.
Next, use a writer pen tip and fine tune the edges. Also, I burned some lines along the bottom of the skis to darken them slightly.
I also added a slight cast shadow from the curved tip on the top of the skis. I just realized I forgot this step on one of the skis. Oops. Also, add shadows from the boots onto the skis.
STEP 6 – SLEIGH
Now I’ll explain how I created the sleigh.
Here’s my guideline for the highlights
Of course, we also need the shadows.
Use a writer pen tip and burn over the lines on the striped side of the sleigh.
Also burn around the edges of the striped side.
Then burn dark lines around the edges of the padded back on the sleigh.
Now burn pull-away strokes along the right edge of each padded section. Start the stroke on the edge and end it a short way from the left edge.
You will get more consistent results if you pull the pen tip down towards yourself. I recommend rotating the board in a direction that always you to burn in that direction.
Continued work.
I re-burned over one-quarter of the right edge to darken it up further.
Then burn pull-away strokes along the left edge of the padded sections. Don’t make these burn strokes very dark.
Burn over the sleigh behind the padding. It’s your choice how dark to make it.
Finishing up the back.
Burn a wide band of color under the curved top rail on the sleigh. I’m using short pull-away strokes for this.
As always, rotate the board as needed when working along the edges.
Burn over the top edge on the rail. Make sure the color is considerably lighter than the shadowed area we just burned in.
Rotate the board and burn along the bottom edge of the top rail.
You want there to be a very noticeable tonal difference between the rail and the cast shadow under it.
Then burn along the bottom of the sleigh. I’m using longer pull-away strokes on this edge.
Start the stroke on the edge of the sleigh and pull it towards the top of the sleigh. Slightly overlap the burn strokes and apply a couple of layers to get smooth results.
I purposely left the center band on the sleigh lighter in color than the slatted panels to either side of it.
While the board was rotated, I burned along all of the edges that I comfortably could with the pen tip in optimal position.
Burn along the other edges of the sleigh.
Continued work.
Use a white charcoal pencil and draw in a highlight on both the top rail and the sleigh.
Then fill the front of the sleigh with gradient color. The color should get darker the further from the highlight you get.
I’m using uniform strokes as my burn method.
Continued work.
I ended up moving the location of my highlight. For some reason I wasn’t happy with where it was at.
Don’t forget to darken up around the highlight on the top rail.
Continued work.
Once the front of the sleigh was burned in, my cast shadow under the top rail wasn’t dark enough. To fix this I’m just re-burning over it.
I also darkened up along the bottom edge of a sleigh a bit more.
Now burn along the edges of the slatted panel on the side of the sleigh.
I’m using a short pull-away stroke as my burn method.
Continued work.
Work carefully around Santa’s hand.
Continued work.
I making the upper half of the panel fairly uniform in color. After I’m done I plan to re-burn along the edges to darken them up.
Here’s how the sleigh looks so far.
Make sure to erase the white charcoal. I didn’t record that step.
Now I’m re-burning along the edges of the panel to darken them up a bit.
Use a writer pen tip and burn the thin edges of the rails to a dark brown or black color.
Continued work.
Burn the bolt to a dark brown color with a slightly lighter center.
Next burn circular motion over the trim on the side of the sleigh.
The circular motion was burned very loosely. This means that the underlying wood could be seen between the loops on the circular motion.
I think the side trim would look really good if it was burned to a dark color. I didn’t think of that until I was writing this blog. I would probably choose a color that is darker than the wood panel, but lighter than the rails.
Now burn wood grain onto the slats.
Continued work.
Make sure to add the grain onto the slats on the front of the sleigh.
Finishing up the wood grain.
If you don’t feel comfortable creating wood grain while burning, then draw in the wood grain with a pencil. Once you’re happy with how it looks, then burn over your pencil marks. Make sure to rub over the area with a pencil eraser to remove any residual graphite.
Use a shader to burn in the flat part of the rails.
Rotate the board as needed while you work.
Continued work.
Finishing up the rails.
The last thing I did was use a writer pen tip to darken up some of the edges on the sleigh.
Including the outer edges. I wanted to make sure that the sleigh stood out from the snow.
STEP 7 – TREES & SKY
This step will cover how I created the trees. The trees were all created the same way, so I’m only going to explain the first 3.
Burn in the tree trunks using a shader. Make the right side darker than the left, and create a cast shadow under the branches.
Next use the front edge of the shader to burn either single lines or zigzags onto the top tier of the back tree.
I started with the back because it isn’t as noticeable, so it’s a much better place to practice on.
I was working on another project where I was using this shader, and I was too lazy to switch back. Any shader will work. All we are doing is burning a bunch of lines that start near the top of the tree and angle downward towards the ground.
Vary the color and width of the lines. Also angle the lines in relationship to their position with the tree trunk.
Lines burned directly over where the trunk should be are almost vertical.
Lines burn along the outer edges should angle towards the trunk.
If your light source is on the left, then burn each tree so that the right side is a bit darker than the left. This will give the tree a bit of a 3d appearance.
Also, the further back the tree is the darker it should be. This will help each tree stand out from each other, and give a sense of depth to the group.
If needed, darken up the tree trunks.
I mentioned before that I used either single lines or zigzags as my burn method to give the trees texture. Of those two burn strokes, I predominately burned single lines.
Make sure to burn some single lines that stick out here and there along the edges of the tree. This will add to the realism.
To get the occasional really dark burn stroke, I slow down my hand speed. If I need an even darker results I re-burn over the line a time or two.
If you need to darken up the trees, then re-burn over them using the same technique you did to create them.
If you just want to darken up the lighter colored burn strokes, then use the flat of the shader to burn uniform strokes. Keep the heat down on your burner. You just want to tone down (darken) the lighter burn strokes without loosing the details of individual burn strokes.
Use a pencil and draw a line where you want the horizon to be.
Then use the shader of your choice and fill the sky with color that is several shades darker than the snow. I am using either uniform strokes or circular motion as my burn methods.
The sky needs to be darkened up to provide contrast for the snow.
By burning over the sky, the darker color helps push it into the background. This helps make the scene in the foreground stand out more.
I have the heat set pretty low on my burner, so I’m getting a light tan burn result. Because the color is so light, I don’t worry about burning over the trees. I do try to avoid them.
Also, I rotated the board so I could pull the pen tip down towards myself. When burning uniform strokes you will get more consistent and smoother results by burning in this direction.
I re-burned the sky along the horizon to increase the contrast between it and the snow.
Don’t forget to erase the pencil line once you no longer need it.
STEP 8 – SNOW
The last thing that needs to be explained is the snow.
Use the shader of your choice and burn a wide band of color just above the pattern lines.
Continue to work on the snow. All of the snow needs a layer of color. The reason is that this will ensure Santa’s facial hair is the palest area on the board. This will help make Santa’s face the focal point in the artwork.
I am using circular motion as my burn method.
As you encounter trees, add a cast shadow from the trunk unto the snow. Make sure to angle the shadow in accordance to the light source.
I was a bit lazy with this and only burned the shadow from the tree trunk. If you’re feeling more ambitious than me, then create a shadow for the entire tree. Remember, it doesn’t need to be perfect.
Burn along the ruts created from the skis and sleigh runners.
We don’t want the snow to look smooth and pristine. Instead, we’re after snow that lumpy and churned up.
Circular tends to create round patches and it’s easy to vary the color. That is perfect for the lumpy, churned up texture I want to create.
Add a cast shadow from the elf onto the snow. The shadow does not need to be an exact match.
In fact, distorting the shadow will add to the comedic value of the artwork.
The sleigh will need a cast shadow too. I didn’t bother trying to create a shadow for Santa.
In the large open areas, I switched to a large shader and gave the snow a base layer of color using uniform strokes.
Then I re-burned over the area adding some clumps and color variation.
I switched back to a smaller shader to work around the wand and Santa’s face.
How dark you make the snow is your choice. I wanted the snow to be several shades darker than both the fur trim and facial hair. On the flip side, I didn’t want the color to get too dark because it is snow.
Take your time and build up the color slowly.
If needed, re-burn over any of the cast shadows to darken them up a little.
Below is a comparison of the drawing with the final artwork.
IN CONCLUSION
I hope you found this tutorial fun and easy to follow along with. I thought it was a lot of fun transforming a line drawing into a piece of pyrography art. It forces you to be creative instead of just trying to replicate a photo.
One of my goals with this tutorial was to show you that complex scenes are much easier to deal with if you break them down into small pieces. Don’t get overwhelmed by complex scenes, instead start looking at how you can breakup the subject into smaller pieces.
Before I go, I’ll answer some common questions. The artwork was burned on birch plywood and measured 4 ¾ x 6 ¾ inches (12.1 x 17.1 cm). It took me 11 hours to complete the artwork.
Until the next blog,
Brenda
Nov 9, 2021
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