Here is the final wood burning that was created from the Mule Deer color photograph. In this image I have the gray scaled photo, the comparison chart and the wood burning lined up so that you can see the sepia values.
Notice that I can find one value in the gray scaled photo and compare that value to the gray value scale. Next I move across my comparison chart into the sepia values scale. I now know exactly what shade of brown or sepia color to which that area needs to be burned.
By working with the sepia value scale I can achieve many more tones of brown than I might have without it. I can insure that each shade is appropriate to the original gray scale of the photo. Plus I can compare each area as I work to determine if an area needs to be light, medium or dark when the burning is finished.
Here’s the finished wood burning. It was worked on a piece of 4 quarter basswood that had been cut into a boat oar shape. The burning contains a very wide range of sepia values from extremely pale in the antlers and face to extremely dark in the body, muzzle, neck, and log areas. The finished work has a strong sense of dimension because of the wide range of values used.
The pattern image to the left is placed here so that you can practice with the cross hatch texture pattern on your own. As you work this wood burning try to use each sepia scale value in the design that you created on your practice sepia scale.
Pattern courtesy of Art Designs Studio,
For Personal Use Only