Pryrography Portrait - The Grandfather we never met Part 3.

 And on to part 3. The shading of the coats were very time consuming, requiring more time and patience than I first thought. But again, as they began to take shape, it was worth it.

 Seeing the 3-D form start coming forward was fun, too, as each section moved along.

 After the hats were done, the faces popped off the page much more, and I could see where I wanted to touch up areas and darken different elements. I tried to remind myself to go darker than I thought I should, as this is a common concern for new wood burners, they can tend to do a great job, but not go dark enough to gain the definition of the piece.

And here they are, done and ready to go to their new homes! Each one was unique to itself, even though I worked on them together for most of the stages. I think that's one of the fun aspects of it - the individual uniqueness. This was a fun project and a great learning curve.  Thanks for taking a peak, and now I'll have to get busy on a new pyrography portrait, so I have something new to post...

Happy end of summer, beginning of fall =)

Pyrography Portrait - The Grandfather we never met - Part 2.

 After basic shading was established for the faces, I began the ears and hair and the shading around the neck.  As I worked, I continued to go back and work here and there on the faces, as I saw the need.

 Bringing all three to the same stage was kind of a fun way to move along.  I worked individually on each one, using the shade guide photo as my reference, and trying to keep the dark tones somewhat relevant between the three images. I think the differences between them, though, just adds to the reality that each one is hand done, and that no two images will ever be alike, even when it's the same artist working from the same initial photograph. Each piece was truly unique unto itself.

I have a heap to learn still, but I'm enjoyng the process! I think that's half the fun =)

Once I felt I could move from the basics of the the faces, I moved to the suit jacket. I chose to do my own interpretation for the shading as the original photograph did not give much distinction for the different elements and sections of the jacket. Again, the work was slow, but I was happy with the results as I went along.

Time sure does fly when doing work like this =)

We're in the last two weeks of August now, can you believe it? Hope you are enjoying your summer, we sure are =)

Pyrography Portrait - The Grandfather we never met. Part 1

 My husband's grandfather served in the Royal Canadian Air Force on Canadian Air Force Bases during the Second World War. He trained officers in some of the radio controls aspects of flight.  Many came from all across the common wealth nations to Canada to train before going overseas to fight. In his enlistment photo shown here, he is 18 years old.

He passed away when my mother-in-law was in her teen years. She has two sisters and each of them has vastly different memories of their father.  This past year, she and her two sisters wrote out their indivitual stories of thier childhood with thier dad, who suffered with schizophrenia..

This summer, they got together to finalize the writing of the different portions of the project.  My mother-in-law asked me if I'd like to do three wood burned portraits of her dad, and I was thrilled to give it a go. I had been wanting to continue learning the art of portrait pyrography and to do three of the same image was a great challenge.

So as they prepared their pieces, I prepared these portraits as a gift from my mother-in-law to her sisters.    "Dillusions of Daddy" is a very intreguing and unique project as my mother-in-law speaks of how she and her family dealt with the harsh realities of life with a father that had schizophrenia back in the 1950's. If you love a thought provoking read, and a head on look at some of life's heart-felt realities, click this link to learn more, or go righ to Amazon.ca to purchase the book.

 The initial sketch, of course, came from the photograph itself.  Only a basic sketch was needed for the basic elements to be represented.  Each starting sketch was a hint different from the others, and I knew early on that this was going to be an interesting project as each portrait began to take shape.

After that, came the actual wood burning. I took my time, working each portrait to a similar state of progress and working very slowly on the shading, building up tone and depth as I went along.  Being as the photo was older, I did not have as much details as with the last project, so I simply worked with the shading provided.

I really enjoy the process and the progress at each session.  Each work period brings forward a new aspect and identity to the peice. I'll post more pictures soon to bring you part 2 of this latest wood burned portrait of "The Grandfather we never met".

Pyrography Portrait of my boys No. 4

 And here's the last posting for the pyrography portrait of my boys. Our youngest son has it framed in his room now, right above his bed =)

 Overall, I am very happy with the finished work. I still have much to learn, but for only being my second portrait, I think it turned out pretty well.

 I think my favorite part is still the contrast in thier personalities. They are so different, and so wonderful.

 Here's the comparison for you of the wood burned portrait taken from the photograph.

And here you see the very first two pyrography portraits for my new pyrography portraits blog! Hope you have enjoyed these. As I mentioned, I hope to post the finished work of my mother-in-law's father's enlistment photo. It has been finished for a while now and I hope to post it soon, if permitted.

Thanks for stopping by, and have an awesome August =)

Cheryl

Pyrography Portrait My Boys No. 3

 Wow, I actually am doing another blog entry! Amazing!  Here's the next stage of shading.  I worked a loooooong time on the hair and hoodie.  The depth of shading was quite layered.

 Then I forgot to take pictures for a fair bit of the next stage.  I worked extensively on the shading of the shirts and deepening the previous work as I went.  I think the arm sleeve was most fascinating for me, as I watched it move from flat to contoured and supple.  I learned so much through this stage about shading and light.  I still have allot to learn, but I love the progress and the effects along the way.

 As I started filling in the background, I loved watching the main images start to deepen and gain some depth.  And of course, I kept going back and touching up more of their faces and clothing, as I went.

I will post the last photos in my next post, which I hope is sooner than my average!  Fun, fun, fun!  =)

Hope you're liking the pic.s  And have an awesome day!  =)

Pyrography Portrait - My Boys No. 2

 Wow, so I left a rather long gab between posts!  Better late than never, though, right?!  Well here we go:

After I had shaded in the faces in their basic elements, I started on the hair for both of them, as well as the edges of our older one's face as it receded into the hoodie.  Creating the illusion of depth and contour is key to the image - I'm still certainly learning about this as I go.  If you want to add depth and contour in your shading, start learning the art of sketching portraits.  I am doing this on the side in the back ground and learning to free hand my drawings, and it is really helping me to understand many basic principles for contour, depth and roundness.

 Here is an overall shot showing the progress so far.  I do jump around a bit as I go, as this gives me better perspective.  As I notice areas that need more shading or need more definition, I move to those spots and therefore hop across the overall image a fair bit, but I like working this way, as I think it brings a unity to the finished piece.

 Our youngest son has very large eyes!  He's always been so expressive with them, too, they almost talk for him much of the time!  I really wanted to capture this in the image, along with his crazy going-everywhere sort of hair  =)  Our oldest, in contrast has very relaxed eyes and a quiet smile sometimes, which again, is a beautiful part of his nature that I wanted to reflect.  It was fun thinking about the differences in the two of them, as I worked on this portrait.

So here you see the next overall image showing hair mostly done (no part or section is totally done at this point, of course), and next it is on to the clothing...

Check back soon, I'll even mark it in my day timer so I actually make my next post within a week or so - yup, I think I need the help.

Side note, I'm working currently on my Mother-in-law's Dad's enlistment photo right now.  It shows him at 18yyears of age in his aviation suit coat and hat.  When I'm done, I'll ask her if I can post it for you all to see  =)

By the way, If your seeing this and would like me to do a wood burned portrait for you of someone you know or of an old photograph of someone in your family, just contact me via my Etsy shop (you'll see the shop on the right side of your screen near the top of this page) and we'll go from there...

Happy Spring to you all  =)

Cheryl

Pyrography Portrait - My Boys - No. 1

 This is the beginning of the pyrography portrait of my boys.  I started from a photo of them and a basic line drawing.  Did I use the photo as a guide for the line drawing?  Absolutely, yes. Do you like candid and real? Hope so, it's what I prefer...

 

And now - I digress - I spend much time working with the photograph to create my own line drawing, a final basic image that I feel best expresses the original.  There are many possible ways that the initial image could be drawn and shown, each one will change what the final art piece looks like.  Some would say that since I did not free hand sketch the initial line sketch, that my art is not original.  I, of course, will be rather bold and say, I believe it is very original!  No two people could wood burn the same image and come up with the same design in the end.  Why? Because each artist will have his or her own interpretation of what he/she sees and how it is put down on the wood.  Am I pursueing free hand sketch work?  Absolutely!  Do I respect those that use the free-hand method?  Absolutely!  Do most free-hand sketch artists always capture the true likeness of an image every time?  Not always, at first.  So as I work behind the scenes on my free-hand skills, I fully intend to continue growing my artistic abilities with my wood burner, and I believe that as I do both, I will only improve as an artist.

The central elements of each face and the hands, with thier basic shading started first.  I wanted to start with the most expressive elements first.  I think any time you are creating an image based in reality and especially a portrait, you seek to not only pull out the overall correctness of the image, but you want to capture something of that person's character and sole.  Our sons love each other very much and their fondness for each other was something I really wanted to grasp.

No part of this portrait was rushed.  To put it mildly, I spent much time on each little element or feature.  Progress was slow, but then what is your definition of progress?  If it is to simply get some surface area done, than I could have gone much faster; if it is to capture each individual element as you go, with as much accuracy and detail as you can along with keeping the emotion of the piece, than you're not so worried about time.

 

This is a real art form that I want to pursue and learn and grow in as I go, and so to me, the fun was and is the process itself.  It's not a race, it's an expression, moving and growing as I will along with it.

 

OK, sounding flaky now, I know.  I have never been one to really talk about what I'm thinking as I do my work, but these are the kinds of things I think about...

 

So here's post No. 1 of several as I moved through this portrait.

 

Feel free to contact me if you are thinking of having a custom protrait done of someone you know, if you would like to know more about details, costs, etc.  I would be very honored to work on a pyrography portrait for you and grow as an artist in the process.

 

I hope this posting series will be as much fun for you as it is for me!

 

 

Cheryl

 

P.S. If  you are a growing artist, I hope this blog will be an inspiration for you, keep doing what you love, push and challenge your abilities, let time pass as it should in times of growth, and you'll find you will create amazing things.  God put that creativity inside you, He wants you to stretch it!  And have fun, too =)