Lettering on Wood, Paper, and Leather E-Book

Lora S. Irish

• Herausgeber: Fox Chapel Publishing
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Seitenzahl: 75

Beschreibung

The ultimate guide for pyrographers, Lettering on Wood, Paper, and Leather is a must-have resource to learning various hand lettering techniques to apply on different surfaces. Opening with detailed overviews on safety, tools, basic pyrography techniques, pen tip styles and burning strokes, tonal values, and more, also included are sections on three main pyrography media surfaces: wood, leather, and artist paper. After learning how to work on each medium, this insightful guide then offers everything you need to know about hand lettering with heat! Templates for seven fonts are provided, as well as a step-by-step practice project to build your skills. A complete and comprehensive resource to learning and burning alphabets, renowned and award-winning artist Lora Irish takes you through how to prepare your chosen media to finish it with flair. Accomplish your hand lettering goals and make amazing personalized gifts, signage, and other items with Lettering on Wood, Paper, and Leather!

Leseprobe

© 2023 by Lora S. Irish and Fox Chapel Publishing Company, Inc., 903 Square Street, Mount Joy, PA 17552.

Lettering on Wood, Paper, and Leather is an original work, first published in 2023 by Fox Chapel Publishing Company, Inc. The patterns contained herein are copyrighted by the author. Readers may make copies of these patterns for personal use. The patterns themselves, however, are not to be duplicated for resale or distribution under any circumstances. Any such copying is a violation of copyright law.

Print ISBN 978-1-4971-0328-3ISBN 978-1-63741-160-5

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022943913

To learn more about the other great books from Fox Chapel Publishing, or to find a retailer near you, call toll-free800-457-9112 or visit us at www.FoxChapelPublishing.com.

We are always looking for talented authors. To submit an idea, please send a brief inquiry to [email protected].

Shutterstock.com images used: Zadorozhnyi Viktor (19, paint brushes); spaxiax (20, utility knife); Juris Krailis (20, gouges); Happy Stock Photo (20, X-Acto knife); MaraZe (20, brown paper).

For a printable PDF of the patterns used in this book, please contact Fox Chapel Publishing at [email protected], with 9781497103283 Lettering on Wood, Paper, and Leather in the subject line.

Contents

What Is Pyrography?

Safety Tips

Pyrography Basics—Tools and Techniques

Wood Burning Systems

One-Temperature Tools

Rheostat Tools

Variable-Temperature Tools

Pen Tip Styles

Pen Tip Burning Strokes

Tonal Values

Hand Grips

Pyrography Media

Wood

Leather

Artist Paper

Pyrography Supplies—Building Your Kit

Cleaning Your Tips

Project Preparation

Working with Wood Grain

Sanding the Wood Blank

Transferring the Pattern

Letter and Font Elements

Basic Lettering Components

Repeated Strokes and Shapes

Capital Letters

Lowercase Letters

Serif Fonts

Sans Serif Fonts

Formal Script Fonts

Casual Script Fonts

Primer Fonts

Typewriter Fonts

Balloon-Shaped Fonts

Numbers and Punctuation Marks

Working with Lettering

Changing the Lettering Pattern

Resizing Your Letters

Creating Curved Lettering

Fill Techniques

Incorporating or Fixing Mistakes

Uneven or Wobbly Lines

Adding Cover-Ups

Catastrophic Mistakes

Excessive Tip Temperatures

Cleaning the Finished Burned Surface

Finishing and Sealing the Surface

Projects

Beginner Project—Home Sweet Home Hen

Family and Friends

Enjoy the Adventure

Joy, Peace, Happiness, Comfort, Contentment

Believe, Blessed, Faith

Love—My Favorite Four-Letter Word

Font Templates

About the Author

What Is Pyrography?

Pyrography (also called woodburning) is the art of creating simple line designs, highly detailed renderings, and shaded drawings using a hot-tipped pen on natural wood or wood-like surfaces. As the pen is pulled across the surface of the media, the tip literally burns it to create pale through dark tonal value lines. The pattern of lines and shading strokes that you use in your woodburning work determines the art style of the finished project. Any pattern can be worked in any art style or in a combination of styles.

Lettering patterns for woodburning work exactly like any other pyrography design. It begins with choosing your pattern, choosing your wood or other burning media, and preparing the media. The basic tools, supplies, and techniques that you learn in the how-to sections of this book are the very same methods and processes that a pyrographer uses on pet portraits, landscapes, and wildlife themes.

We will explore how the shapes of our common fonts can affect the emotional tone, status, and impact of your wording, how using several fonts in one design can emphasize your message, and how you can apply your lettering skills to wood, paper, and leather.

Let’s get started.

Large craft stores have a wide variety of precut wood shapes that you can use for both practice and projects as you work through this book.

Safety Tips

Let’s take a moment and consider a few simple safety precautions to ensure a greater pyrography experience.

1. Your project medium should be an untreated, unpainted, and unfinished natural surface. Paints, polyurethane sealers, varnishes, and chemicals used in treating wood can release toxic fumes during the burning process. Leather pyrography should be worked on vegetable-tanned animal hide. Chemically dyed, synthetic, and faux leathers are not suitable for burning.

2. Do an internet search on the media that you will be burning to discover if it has any toxic properties. There are several excellent databases available.

3. Work in a well-ventilated area. A small fan set on your table that points away from your work will circulate the smoke and fumes away from your face. Whenever possible, work near an open window.

4. Avoid laying your project in your lap during the burning steps. This places your face directly above the fumes, which increases your chances of inhaling smoke.

5. Unplug your burning unit from the wall socket whenever you are not working. An unattended hot pen tip can cause fires.

6. While working, set your pens either on the pen stand provided by the manufacturer or on a ceramic tile.

7. Remember that your pen tip can easily reach over 700°F, causing your pen tips to glow bright red. Having a too-hot temperature not only overburns your media, but it can also damage your pen tips and burning unit.

Pyrography Basics—Tools and Techniques

Before delving into lettering techniques, it’s important to learn the basics of woodburning, pyrography units, and burning media. A woodburning is created with five elements: the woodburning unit, the pen tips, the media on which you are working, the pattern or design you will burn, and the art style you will use to create the design. Let’s look at the pyrography systems first.

Woodburning Systems

For a total beginner to pyrography, this craft can feel overwhelming at first. But even those with experience may be asking, “What burning unit and pen style is best for what I want to do?”

There are three styles of woodburning units: one-temperature tools, rheostat-controlled tools, and variable-temperature tools. Which you choose depends on both your interest in this craft, your pyrography budget, and the media on which you will be working.

One-Temperature Tools

A one-temperature tool has the heating element inside of the handle. It comes with a variety of interchangeable brass tips that are placed in a threaded receptacle at the end of the tool. Tool tips for this burning system include the universal tip, calligraphy tip, cone tip, large ball shader, and large flat shader.

One-temperature, soldering-style tools can be obtained at most craft stores for under $20 USD. Rheostat burning tools cost in the range of $20–$30 USD. Variable-temperature units begin around $75 USD.

Once plugged into an electrical outlet, the tool quickly reaches an even but high temperature. This means that the tonal value work in your project must be controlled through the textures or strokes that you use and the speed of the stroke. Very pale tonal values are burned by using a light pressure against the wood and moving the tool tip quickly through the burn stroke. Darker tones use a medium pressure and slower motion.

A full range of tonal values can be burned using a one-temperature tool. Burn your pale tones as the tool tip begins to heat, and save your darkest tones for when the tool tip has reached its full setting.

Originally, this style of tool was used for soldering. Today, it can be found in almost all pyrographers’ tool kits. One-temperature burning tools are inexpensive, readily available at your local craft or hobby store, and excellent for first-time woodburners to give the craft a try. I began woodburning 25 years ago with this style of tool. Several years ago, I purchased a new one-temperature unit so I would have two tools on the table, each with a different tip, ready for use in my projects. Although I now favor two variable-temperature tools, I still use my one-temperature system on a regular basis.

One-temperature tools hold a steady amount of heat, making each burned line identical to the rest. By layering burned strokes, you can increase the darkness of your shading.

Most one-temperature, soldering-style tools come with a set of screw-in brass tips. Unplug your burning unit and let the tool cool down before replacing the used tip with a new one.

Rheostat Tools

This is the same tool design as the one-temperature tool, but there is a control dial added to the electric cord that allows you to adjust the tip temperature. Adding a rheostat to the cord, the one-temperature tool is now transformed into a burning tool that gives you full control over the pen tip’s heat setting.

When the rheostat is attached to a one-temperature tool, it means that the burner uses the same interchangeable brass tips. However, the technique in using this tool now differs. The tonal values are worked by controlling the pressure of the tip on the wood, the speed of the stroke, the density of the lines burned, as well as by adjusting the rheostat temperature settings.

This inexpensive beginner’s woodburning pen has a rheostat on the power cord, which allows you to control the temperature of the burning tip.

A simple pencil grip is used to hold and move a one-temperature tool. Keep your finger pressure light to avoid hand fatigue.