Butterflies and Brambles

Hi all
Having spent a couple of weeks creating Olly the Owl and getting little satisfaction from it, I thought I'd do something a little more intricate.
Here is how I went about it.
First,I did a rough sketch of some butterflies and blackberries and then scanned it into my computer. I then worked on it digitally until I arrived at an image that I think is pleasing.
The next step was to re size the image to fit the bowl that I was going to use for the pyrography. Once that was done I used trace down paper to transfer some of the image onto the bowl. I don't bother doing it completely because it becomes too time consuming. Once I have some of the main reference points in place I find that I can put the detail in with my pyrography iron. If you look at the image below you will see that all of the outline work has been completed and I have established the darkest tones on the berries.Whilst I'm at the outline stage of the image, I also have a major decision to make. Should I use the pyrography iron to shade in the various tone or should I use paint to create some colour within the subject. This decision is always a hard one and you will have to use your own judgement.
In this case I will not be using any colour; I'll let the pyrography iron do its stuff.Having made that decision, I will use the pyrography iron to shade in the image by using a range of tones. Leaving the pyrography iron in one place for a longer amount of time will obviously produce a darker tone. The same affect can of course be achieved by turning up the heat control on the pyrography iron. I tend to favour the former because I believe it gives me more control and I am able to produce a wider range of tones with this method.
In my next post you will be able to see the finished result. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hope it turns out better than the owl. By the way, if you are wondering how Olly is getting on; my wife hasn't got her brushes out yet.
If you would like to see more of my pyrography work please click here.
If you would like to buys some at discounted prices from my shop at folksy.com

Finally if you want to find out more about me, my books or other writing, please visit my main website which can be found here.