In this blog I’m going to share with you exercises I do to learn about unfamiliar pyrography nibs. The exercises are not intended to create art. Instead, they are designed to get you using the nibs in a constructive way. What’s great is that the exercises are super easy to do, and they don’t require a lot of time. Plus, they work for both wire and brass tips.
For the record, nib and pen tip refer to the same thing. I use both terms numerous times in this blog. There is no rhyme or reason why I use one term versus the other. The best reason I can come up with is variety. Gets a bit boring seeing the same word repeated over and over.
Before we get going, I do want to mention that not all pen tips were intended for flat pyrography work. Some are designed more for wood carvers who work with 3D shapes versus flat boards. That doesn’t mean you can’t use them on flat boards, but they might feel more awkward compared to others.
Can I tell which tips are designed for carvers? Not usually. There is one example I can give you, and that is Razertip’s scale nibs. Razertip makes a large range of differently sized scale pen tips. These nibs are designed for people who carve fish. It allows them to create uniform fish scales quickly.
Click on the image to the left to watch a video version of this information on YouTube.
If you prefer, you can copy paste the link into your browser: https://youtu.be/7Sz8CqQVieE
The first thing I always do with a new nib is to check the range of line widths it can produce.
This is done by altering the angle I hold the pen. The steeper the angle, the thinner the line. The reason is that there is less metal in contact with the board.
By the way, I’m burning on watercolor paper, but wood can also be used. I keep scrap pieces of wood around just for testing pen tips and / or texture ideas. Scrap wood includes projects that didn’t turn out.
Next, I test out my four main burn strokes: uniform strokes, circular motion, zigzags, and pull away strokes.
In this photo I’m testing uniform strokes.
Uniform strokes means that the color is the same throughout the entire burn stroke. Or to put it another way, the burn starts out as one color and remains that same color until the end of the burn stroke.
I will mention that uniform strokes are probably the hardest of the four burn strokes to do.
Now I’m testing out circular motion. Circular motion means that you are burning a chain of connected loops. Circular motion is probably my most used burn stroke.
I will try burning circular motion two different ways.
First. I use the tip of the shader. This produces smaller circles that have better defined edges. The burn patch to the left of the pen tip in the photo was done with the tip of the shader.
Second. I use the flat of the shader. This produces larger circles that have softer edges.
I like to compare the two burn results to see how different they may or may not look.
Next up is the zigzag burn stroke. Zigzags are shaped more like a bolt of lightning or a seismograph versus a zigzag sewing stitch. Zigzags are a burn stroke I use to create certain textures like animal fur and tree bark.
Zigzags are the other burn stroke that I test using both the edge and the flat of the shader. The edge or side of the shader produces thin crisp lines. The flat of the shader produces thick soft lines.
I do have a video demonstrating the zigzag burn stroke. Here’s a link to the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/yaYSqp1Ebyo
Or you can click on the image to the left.
Eventually I will create videos for each of the four burn strokes.
The last burn stroke is pull away strokes.
This burn stroke is created by starting the stroke at the top of the object, and quickly pulling the pen tip down towards yourself. This creates a burn stroke that starts darker than it ends.
This is my least used burn stroke. I tend to use it where I want an object like a pipe or a tube to look rounded.
Something else I do with the pen tips is press them to the board, or paper in this case, and see what sort of pattern they make.
Sometimes the resulting pattern can be very interesting.
Have I ever used one of the patterns? Not yet.
Regardless, I have fun doing this test and seeing what sort of design can be made.
This photo shows the results of two different nibs I tested on paper.
On the far right of the page I traced around the pen tips. This allows me to look at the paper and instantly know which nib created it.
Most of the time I give the pen tips names and refer to that versus creating a tracing. With these two pen tips, the top one I call a flat diamond. The bottom I named flat half circle. Yes, they are very creative names. 🙂
I made a point of referencing flat in the name because this particular set of wire tips has both a rounded wire (left) and a flat (right) version of the same nibs. In fact, the set has several tips with both round and flat versions.
The last thing I do with unfamiliar nibs is to burn in a simple design created with a stencil. I only use one pen tip for this.
It is important to remember that the goal is just to use the pen tip. We’re not trying to create realism or art that you’d hang on the wall.
Just do the best you can. The more effort you put into it, the more you’ll learn about the pen tip.
If possible, try to create different textures. It doesn’t need to be anything fancy.
Since I’m not trying to create art, I always feel free to experiment around. If it doesn’t turn out it doesn’t matter.
Afterall, the sole purpose of the exercise is to use the pen tip.
Personally I find that burning in a small design is more useful that burning some random strokes on a board. I highly recommend you try this and let me know if you agree with my assessment.
Don’t be surprised if some pen tips are easier to use than others. I find that the brass nibs are much harder for me to use than wire tips. I know a large part of that is because I started out using wire tips.
Here’s a test panel I did for a number of different brass pen tips.
None of these are something anyone would call great art, but that wasn’t the intent. Instead, the stencil work helped me get a better understanding of what the pen tip can do and how it feels to use it.
Here’s my test panel for some wire tips.
It’s pretty easy to see that I have more experience with wire tips.
What if you don’t have a stencil to use? No problem.
Do a google search for coloring book pages. Then click on images.
Scroll through the results until you find a design you like.
It doesn’t need to be elaborate. It also doesn’t need to be large.
Keep things simple and use the same image for all of your nib testing.
You know, as I think about this, I think this would make it easier to truly compare the pen tips with each other.
Mandala designs are another great option.
The reason is that they have multiple components that make up the design. Each component is an opportunity to try using the chosen nib in a different way.
Some brands of burners come with an assortment of brass stamps similar to those in the photo.
I just press the stamps to the board to see what sort of design they make. Then I try wiggling and dragging the nib around to see kind of design it creates.
I often thought this particular stamp might have a practical application where you need some thin parallel lines. So far, I haven’t had a need.
Since I don’t use the brass stamps often, I have a hard time positioning them just right to get a good impression. I often end up with only part of the design appearing on the board. If I would want to do a lot of practicing before I used one in an actual project.
Here’s my test panel for the brass stamps I own.
It’s a bit chaotic looking.
Quite truthfully, the only thing I think brass stamps are good for are decorative borders. In the photo I’m using them on a test piece of leather.
The stamps seem to work better on leather than wood. Probably because the leather is softer and molds to the stamp better.
Don’t be surprised if there are nibs you like more than others. This is very common.
I own a lot of pen tips. This photo shows approximately half of the nibs I own.
Despite the large number of nibs I own, there are only a couple that I really like. Those few tips are the ones I use the most. Each artist will be different on what tips they like the best.
For example, there are a couple of YouTube artist who love spoon shaders and/or ball tips. The reason is that they tend to glide over the wood surface easier than other types of tips.
I absolutely hate them because I’m never sure where exactly I’m burning.
There is another YouTuber who prefers a solid brass tip that looks like a leaf. Why she likes this pen tip I have no idea.
I hated this pen tip more than I hated the spoon shader.
One major issue I have with this nib is that I can’t figure out how to use it without contorting my hand in weird and uncomfortable positions.
My personal favorite is this small flat round shader. It feels comfortable to me and I gravitated to it from day one. I’ve heard other artist hate this style of shader because it can cut into the wood much easier than other shaders.
This photo shows both the regular and mini version of Colwood’s tight round J shader.
My whole point of talking about nibs I like and don’t like is to emphasize that you shouldn’t try force yourself to like or use a particular pen tip because others do.
Instead, find one or two you do like and stick with them.
As you get more familiar with one nib, you’ll know what temperature works best. You’ll know how to position it to get the effects you’re after. The more familiar you are with a nib means you can spend more time concentrating on your art instead of fighting the pen tip.
IN CONCLUSION
That is it for this blog. I hope the exercises I use to learn about nibs will be helpful for you.
Brenda
Jan 28, 2025
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