Woodburning Tips & Techniques for Beginners
Hi there! I’m Stefanie from Simple Acres blog visiting again to share more on a fun way to express art with woodburning tips and techniques. Earlier we talked about the pyrography tools needed to start wood burning for beginners. Find the full woodburning tutorial series here! Disclosure: this post contains commissioned links.
Today I will share tips and techniques for wood burning. For more art series I have guest presented, check out the How to watercolor series I shared earlier as well.
Wood-burning is such a relaxing medium for art, but it requires patience and practice. Today I am going to go over the simple techniques and tips I teach my students when they attend my local art classes.
Woodburning tips for beginners:
1. Practice first on scrap pieces of wood.
Often your first attempts at wood burning will not be your best. With anything, practice really helps. You can get comfortable with the type of pressure you need to apply to create consistent lines and shading.
2. Try soft wood:
Pick a soft wood, such as pine, cedar, cherry and aspen wood, that is easy to burn on.
3. Slow down.
Often when people are new to wood burning they think they can draw with the burner as quick as writing with a pen. This results in uneven and very light lines. Your pace of creating wood burned art is quite slow. When you slow down as you draw you will notice your lines more formed, solid and consistent.
4. Be patient with your process.
It takes a little practice to get to where you love your art work. I find by the end of a few hour wood burning class my students have really found their flow and their piece starts to reflect that.
5. Start simple using a tip you are comfortable with.
When you buy a basic wood burning kit find the tip you feel most comfortable with and stick with it for now. I find it easier for people to learn by mastering and getting very comfortable with one tip before they move to the next.
Simple Techniques for Creating Beautiful Wood Burned Art:
1. Find a copy of a piece of art or design you like. If you like to draw you can create something free hand.
2. Transfer this art onto your wood with transfer paper. This will leave an outline of your art to trace with your wood burner.
4. Burn your image with your wood burner tool.
5. Once you are done, wipe off your piece with a dry rag then massage a food safe wood oil (like what you would moisturize a butcher block with) over it. You generally need only a tablespoon of oil dampened on a rag for a medium sized wood piece.
Woodburning tips and techniques for beginners: Beginner Strokes to Try
- Create a fine line controlled with the point of the pen.
- Use the full side of the pen for a calligraphy style effect.
- Shade with light, circular motions with your pen using more of the side of your tool.
- Use the very tip to create small dots that add texture.
- Add boldness and depth by holding the tool down longer in place on your wood.
That finalizes my basic list of the pyrography tips and techniques for beginners that I would suggest to get you started creating beautiful art! You can find more art inspiration by following me at my Simple Acres Art Instagram account or take what you have learned and follow this tutorial on how to make a wood burned appetizer tray.
Now that you’ve learned the basics, you can read how to make more detailed woodburning designs and fill strokes! Learn how to use these techniques in action.
What are your best woodburning tips for beginners? What’s your go-to pyrography technique? Comment below!
About the Author:
Stefanie is a Slovakian buffalo girl who always was country at heart. Finally as a wife, mom, artist and registered dietitian she’s planting her roots on 10 acres of dirt and tumble weeds. Her passion is to inspire & equip others toward simple living, living in the moment, with gratitude and intention, loving oneself and others with purpose and reaching your dreams with creativity and vision.
How do you do names with he wood burning kit?
Hi Heather you can either freeform it (pencil lettering first and then use the same techniques to fill your text) – or you can get letter stamp attachments for smaller names. You can also get letter stencils but those can be tedious to use.
I like the universal one for that. But the actual pen shaped one is the one you really want to use
Hi,
I love your techniques. I have been trying to master wood burning for a long time. One of the tips you have indicated is thinking that people treat it like writing with a pen and I have to admit, I am was one of them! Although I deal mostly with jewelry making and engraving on metal, I am trying to master wood burning to add to my experience. Thanks so much for all the tips!
What would you use to add color to the design
Hi Suzi, there are lots of choices – I recommend testing them on scrap wood or the back of your project to see which you would prefer. Some ideas: pigment-rich watercolors or watercolor pencils, acrylic paints, paint markers.