Pyrography Iris

Hi all, In this post I thought I'd go through the steps I took to complete my latest pyrography project.I had a nice round plaque and, rather than do something to hang on the wall, I decided that, with the right image, it would make a nice table centre piece.

In the end, I settled for an Iris flower. This would have to be mutiplied beause it would need to look good from each side of the table.

1) The first thing I did was to measure the size of the plaque so that I knew how big to draw my iris. It happened to be 170mm diameter.

2) I did a drawing of an iris and, because I didn't want the images of the flowers to be touching in the middle, I made it about 80mm tall.

3) Next, I scanned the drawing of the iris into my computer using photoshop elements.

4) Then I increased the size of my canvas to 170mm. It is important here to note that you are increasing the size of the canvas and not the size of the image. Also you need to make sure that your original image is anchored in the bottom centre of the canvas.

5) I selected my Iris and then cut and pasted it three times. Then I used the 'move tool' to position and orientate the image.

6) I printed off a copy of the image and transferred it, using Tracedown paper, to my plaque.

7) Using my pyrography iron, I then burnt in the outline of each flower and then did the shading. It is the actual shading that gives the flower some form, so this needs to be done with care. Always start your pyrography iron off where you want your darkest mark to be, and move your tip in the direction of the flower's growth. This makes it look natural. I use a medium heat setting and spoon tip for this sort of work.

8) Once the flowers were completed, I drew some reeds onto the plaque with a pencil and then burnt them in with the pyrography iron.

9) Once the pyrography work was complete it was given three coats of lacquer to protect the wood and give the finish a rich look.

10) To finish the item off completely a nice piece of felt was glued to the bottom.

Below you can see the finished result. I like it and think that it would look good in the centre of anybody's table or leaning on a dresser.

I hope you were able to follow the steps I went through here because they form the basis for most of my work. If you have any questions I would be pleased to try and answer them. If you can't be bothered with photoshop, but would like to try this project for yourself, please feel free to take a copy of my design. As long as you only use it for your own pleasure and not commercial production I don't mind. In fact, it would be nice if you could send me a photo of anything you produce.

If you would like to see some more of my pyropgraphy work Please click here.

If you would like to find out more about me or my books please click here.