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Pyrography 101: What is pyrography?

Feathered friends picture frame designed by Julia H.

Pyrography is an arts and crafts activity that most anyone can master.  Wood burning consists of using a hot stylus to "burn" drawings on a piece of wood.  Today's wood burning pens are heated up by plugging these into a wall outlet, but in the past people used other methods to heat the drawing utensils.  Pyrography is not recommended for young children, but even older children and adults should use caution when drawing with a wood burning pen.  Always grab the safety handle while drawing and do not touch the metal part of the pen. People have accidentally burned their fingers by accidentally touching the metal part of the tool, so always excercise common sense when wood burning.  Parents should read all directions and supervise their children when using wood burning kits.

When finished drawing unplug the pyrographic stylus and allow it too completely cool before storing it away.  There are pyrographers from both genders, which just goes to show that wood burning is a great way for men to get involved in arts and crafts activities that are usually viewed as predominated by women.  Whereas not all men may want to knit a sweater or make a cute card, there are quite a few websites where men demonstrate the use of pyrography to decorate their living spaces. 

So how do you start wood burning?  First, look into buying a kit at the local arts and crafts supply store, which usually come with pre-made drawings on carbon paper.  Simply take a pencil and transfer these images onto the wood by tracing over the lines carefully.  However, do try drawing pictures free hand and wood burning these as it can be much more fulfilling.  On the picture frame featured to the right birds were hand drawn directly on the frame.  Next, the pyrographic tool was used to etch these bird images permanently into the frame, which created a San Bernardino Mountains inspired bird picture frame.

For more info: Read the article how to learn wood burning: an easy arts and crafts activity.