When you feel confident that you can burn a straight line, a curved line (more difficult) and some shading, then you are ready to begin your first pyrography burn. If you spent between 30 minutes and 2 hours practicing in the previous lesson, then you are ready to begin. Your first burn doesn't need to be perfect - it just needs to be fun!!

Start the burn with the heavier straight lines. Then do some of the finer lines. Rotate the wood as you work so you are pulling the lines towards you. Next try some curved lines, both heavy and fine. Curved lines are deceiving - since the tool is a knife-edge, it wants to go straight. To compensate, you will need to put less of the edge on the wood - increase the angle of the tool to the wood. You will soon get the hang of it.

Develop the entire subject - move around the board to see the whole subject come to life. Put in a few details, some of the very fine lines. Don't worry about a line being too dark. There are very few places where it would be noticed! Don't worry about it too much - just have fun!!

Every once in a while, stop working and put down the pyrography tool, stand up and look at what you've done from a distance. You may see where you can add another touch or darken a line. And besides that, you need to take a break every so often anyway! Seriously, standing back and giving yourself a little more perspective on your work does allow you to see more than you can see from only a foot or so away. So, remember to do that at least every 15 minutes.

Once you have the subject outlined it is time to add the shading. Now, don't overdo it with the shading!! A little goes a long way! I use shading only where absolutely necessary. Also, start out with lighter shading. You can always darken it later if you like. Shading that is too dark will overpower the subject. Even a lump of coal does not really look completely black - there will be hints of light where the there are highlights. Highlights are important, so don't get carried away with the shading.

There are various types of shading that can be applied. You can use the side of the Universal Tip and make a relatively solid shading effect. Or, you can use the large round tip and make the shading out of dots! Also, lines that are close together and parallel or crosshatched will also make a nice appearing shading. Play around with various shading techniques and discover which ones you like best.

Don't forget to take a break and look at your work!! Add lines or shading you may have missed or maybe you just want to add a line - another branch on a tree, another wrinkle on a face, or just one more weed in the field. Make it YOURS!!

Once you have finished and before you go on to the next lesson, you may want to sign your work. There are a couple of ways to do this. One is to use the woodburning tool and burn your signature into the front of the wood. If you do this, select a position not to interfere with the subject. I usually use the lower right corner and angle it going slightly up. This is my preference. Find what you like, and stick with it - it could become your trademark! One word of caution: practice your signature on a scrap piece of wood - really!! Signing your name (or whatever you use) is not as easy as it sounds with a pyrography tool. I started out by using as many little straight lines a possible - but try it - and discover your sig!

Another way to sign is to use a pen and sign the back of the piece. It's whatever you want to do to know that it is something that you created. I would not use pencil - it is not as permanent on wood. Eventually you will want to burn your signature onto the front - so you may as well start doing it now.

One more point - put a date on it somewhere! Trust me on this one. I cannot remember when I actually started woodburning, because I never used to put the date on them. I know it was over 20 years ago, but other than that, I have no idea! Now, I always burn the full date into the back, like: 9/23/76. Then I also add a 2-digit year preceded by an apostrophe to the front right after my signature, like: '99. It just adds another little touch.