Outlining:

Before you start burning anything always have a starting point of a drawing. Sketch out your image out on the a piece of paper, or go right to the wood if you’re ready. The pencil lines help guide where you want to outline your design, but be sure to either erase the lines after the burn or burn a thicker line to hide the pencil marks.

 

Proportion:

When drawing the proportions of something be sure to erase all extra marks as clean as possible because sometimes the pencil marks are stubborn and don’t want to come out of wood. Wood will show every pencil mark, so you don’t have to press hard to get results.

 

Lighting:

Like normal drawing have your light source equal all throughout the design. A lot of times leaving the wood blank helps show lights and you may depend on the shading to give the realism effect.

 

Shading:

Shading is a patient process because you have to hold your burner down to get a darker shade, or turn up the heat. The shorter the tip is held on the wood the lighter the color.  Be sure to watch out for the burning spreading past your tip this can cause issues if not caught.

 

Hiding mistakes:

Mistakes are bound to happen, I’ve done them myself. Whether dropping the tool on the section you didn’t want it to go or burning out of bounds; its ok, you just have to be ready for a plan B. Sometimes that involves blending the burn with the rest of the area or adding a new object to the design. If you use paint you can also hide some mistakes too. Its ok to adapt your design as you progress as long as your happy with the results.