A Gnomely Little Build

So a few Christmas ago - I want to say that it was three, maybe four - I put together a small Christmas Care package for a female friend of mine who just that year finalised a divorce. I've known her for a number of years, know what she's been through, and thought it'd be nice to put something together for Christmas for her. The package included four handmade Christmas ornaments (and a vibrator, very much not home made).

She very much appreciated the gifts! Some, perhaps, more than others. This year she has actually asked for something specific - similar ornaments, but with Gnome's on them.

I have a pyrography (wood burning) pen with a number of tips for it. I enjoy making coasters and hanging ornaments with it, which is what I had sent her. She was looking for gnomes this time, which I did not figure would be difficult. Normally (gnomeally?) I like to use wood from branches that have fallen in my back yard - I'll slice them and sand them and then am good to go. The various discs that I currently have, however, are rather small - only a couple inches in diameter - so I decided to buy some 3 inch discs from a craft store and start with them.

One of the very first lessons about pyrography is to never touch the hot end of the pen. Never. Ever. When it is plugged in. It gets hot. The second lesson is that, no matter how smooth you may believe the surface you are about to burn on is, it's not smooth enough. Sandpaper is the pyrographer's best friend. Very fine sandpaper. I took these discs and spent a goodly amount of time sanding them. Then I looked for a pen tip.

I chose the desired tip and screwed it into place before plugging the pen in and setting a temperature. This is really important. Change the tip before turning the power on. Always.

The pen I have has variable temperatures. There are some pens that are simply on/off, hot/cold, and those have their uses, but a pen with variable temperature is preferable for a number of reasons: the wood may burn at different temperatures from other wood and, most importantly, a lower temperature burns softer lines and helps shading.

While the pen was heating up I drew the designs I wanted into the discs. They looked very much like this:

I have a fifth piece of wood - unshown - which I used to test the temperature of the pen. When it was at the temperature I wanted, and burning a line I liked, I began to trace the outlines of the gnomes with the pen.

Pyrography is a patient art. One moves the pen slowly and without pressure. I have found through experience, trial, and error, that if I need to press on the wood to burn the line, then either the surface is not smooth enough and wasn't sanded well enough, or the pen tip is not yet hot enough.

In this case I wanted a thick line because I wanted to shade parts of it in afterward, so I used a very hot tip and went over twice in some places.

When the outlines were complete I unplugged the pen and waited for it to cool down, then changed tips. Then with a much less hot pen tip I did some shading on the boots, hat, and nose. I left the beard alone, though if I do any more I might give them some texture.

Once all four were done I brushed some polyurethane on them to water proof them and let them dry. These are now ready for decoration!

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(c) All images and photographs, unless otherwise specified, are created and owned by me.
(c) Victor Wiebe

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About Me

Sometimes photographer. Wannabe author. Game designer. Nerd. 
General all around problem-solver and creative type.

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