does anyone use piercing to decorate their work?how is it done?how do you feel about other forms of decorating like pyrography or even airbrushing.i am interested in the design and decoration of pieces.do you decorate or prefer natural?
decorating wood
- Thread starter milkjam
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shedhead
Established Member
Hi milkjam
I do pyrography and woodturning. I sometimes decorate my work if it is on plain looking wood. It can be difficult to do on most of my work as the nature of the round shape is not the best to use. Turning a plate is good as i make the base quite flat. A flat surface is better for scenery or animal drawings. Drawing on the edge of a bowl if using different shapes ect works well. I have tried using colour in between the lines i have drawn, but with not much success. Wood dye, felt tip pens ect are good as it lets the grain show through. The down side of this is the colours mix because it seeps into the grain, and i lose the sharp edge. Using acrylic paint is better but i feel the colour is to rich and wood grain is covered.
I do pyrography and woodturning. I sometimes decorate my work if it is on plain looking wood. It can be difficult to do on most of my work as the nature of the round shape is not the best to use. Turning a plate is good as i make the base quite flat. A flat surface is better for scenery or animal drawings. Drawing on the edge of a bowl if using different shapes ect works well. I have tried using colour in between the lines i have drawn, but with not much success. Wood dye, felt tip pens ect are good as it lets the grain show through. The down side of this is the colours mix because it seeps into the grain, and i lose the sharp edge. Using acrylic paint is better but i feel the colour is to rich and wood grain is covered.
Happy amateur
Established Member
Have a look at Jenny Starbuck's web site. She did a demo at our club.
She specializes in amazing pierced work
http://www.artycraftywoodturning.com/
Fred
She specializes in amazing pierced work
http://www.artycraftywoodturning.com/
Fred
My wife decorates some of my pieces using pyrography, airbrushing and acrylics. Not all timber is suitable and we usually only decorate lime or sycamore in this way. Birch is also suitable but very little seems to be available unless I happen to know of someone removing a tree.
The finishing is critical prior to airbrushing and care must be taken to have a smooth a surface as possible otherwise the colours can seep into each other,particularly on the end grain areas.
I have done a few pierced pieces and I have found that it has been easier to get the best results by doing the piercing BEFORE doing the final turning.
All that having been said, there is no way I would paint a piece of well figured timber - I prefer it in its natural state.
The finishing is critical prior to airbrushing and care must be taken to have a smooth a surface as possible otherwise the colours can seep into each other,particularly on the end grain areas.
I have done a few pierced pieces and I have found that it has been easier to get the best results by doing the piercing BEFORE doing the final turning.
All that having been said, there is no way I would paint a piece of well figured timber - I prefer it in its natural state.
Mark Hancock
Established Member
Hi Milkjam
A great book for ideas is "Decorating Turned Wood - The Maker's Eye" by Liz & Michael O'Donnell.
A great book for ideas is "Decorating Turned Wood - The Maker's Eye" by Liz & Michael O'Donnell.
CHJ
Established Member
JackL":4zth5tl9 said:
Any chance of some sample pictures Jack, we all need a bit of inspiration at times and it would be great to see the results of some elses efforts.
CHJ
Established Member
Alf has a thread on the subject HERE, unfortunately.
Freeshare is no longer so an alternate host will be required.
If you have web space allocated by your ISP you can upload your picture there and reference them in your posting.
also do a search on the site for picture posting or picture hosts and see what turns up.
Freeshare is no longer so an alternate host will be required.
If you have web space allocated by your ISP you can upload your picture there and reference them in your posting.
also do a search on the site for picture posting or picture hosts and see what turns up.
Paul.J
Established Member
Jack.
I was the same,never had a clue :roll:
But i followed Alf's method,using Freeshare,but just do the same thing using Photobucket,which i think is better.
If you want to give a go i will try and help,but you need to join up with PB first.
Paul.J.
I was the same,never had a clue :roll:
But i followed Alf's method,using Freeshare,but just do the same thing using Photobucket,which i think is better.
If you want to give a go i will try and help,but you need to join up with PB first.
Paul.J.
See if this works: Just to see if I've got it right I've just done this from a nub end of wood still left in the chuck after turning a spindle.
Turned on a M900 with full size tools.
Let's hope the old codger's got it right at last!
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Jack
Turned on a M900 with full size tools.
Let's hope the old codger's got it right at last!
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Jack
CHJ
Established Member
JackL":2ie7biiw said:
Well thats good going Jack on two counts, posting image and the miniature project.
Looks like you only need the image tags around the thumbnail picture ref.
Have a look at the code surrounding the above image with the "Quote "option to see the difference with how I edited it compared with your post.
Edit: I assume your M900 is an Axminster Jack.
CHJ
Established Member
Good use of the natural features of the wood (first one sycamore?).
Great to see joint efforts producing such accomplished items.
Great to see joint efforts producing such accomplished items.
Paul.J
Established Member
Fantastic pieces there Mr & Mrs JackL 
I like the way you have got the water effect in the third one.
Paul.J.
I like the way you have got the water effect in the third one.
Paul.J.
Those owls are fantastic. My wife has done a bit of pyrography too, but we've never combined that with turning.
One question about the first owl - was there a reason for doing it with the grain "vertical"? It felt to me as though it would look better (if that's possible) with the grain horizontal as a representation of branches/horizon etc.
One question about the first owl - was there a reason for doing it with the grain "vertical"? It felt to me as though it would look better (if that's possible) with the grain horizontal as a representation of branches/horizon etc.
Hello DickM
The reason Mary did it with the grain vertical is so that she could incorporate the knot in the wood into the tree itself.
If she had done the picture in a horizontal plane, the knot could not be incorporated into the finished picture and would just have been a blemish on the plate.
CHJ understood the reason for it I think.
The reason Mary did it with the grain vertical is so that she could incorporate the knot in the wood into the tree itself.
If she had done the picture in a horizontal plane, the knot could not be incorporated into the finished picture and would just have been a blemish on the plate.
CHJ understood the reason for it I think.
The reed picture on the elm uses the grain in much the same way to try to illustrate the flow of water. (It's probably us just getting a bit arty-crafty in our old age).
shedhead
Established Member
Thought i would jump on the band waggon while the topic is up. Here are some of my Pyrography that i combine with my woodturning. I fully know how Mrs JackL uses the natural bits in wood, grain, knotts marks, shade ect. I have used the knott in one to suggest a sun or moon. And a shaded left hand corner in the other to represent a large tree. Not that artistic but i get enjoyment doing it, and thats what matters.
CHJ
Established Member
That's a great little faun there SH, and once again very good use of the woods natural colours to form the background.
