Pyrography Workbook: A Complete Guide to the Art of Woodburning (Fox Chapel Publishing) Step-by-Step Projects and Patterns with Texture, Shading, and Color Techniques for Woodburners

Any book subtitled 'A Complete Guide' sets itself up to fall short, but I have to say this is a very thorough look at the materials, tools, and techniques of pyrography. Sue Walters covers a great amount of information with clear text and photos, excellent organization, and (being down under) a much more global look at availability of tools and surfaces than you'll find in other pyro books. She covers wood, leather, paper, gourds, and several other materials, while other authors stick mainly to wood. (Fabric is the only omission I noticed.) Although this book has the work of only one person, the variety of surfaces, styles, and techniques will leave you thinking she has a split personality, in a very good way. The short chapter on texturing includes a chart that concisely explains how 70 textures were created, including the nib used. By texture, I don't mean just the illusion of texture; many include the 3-D advantage that burning can have over drawing. The way she brings eyes to life is fantastic. There must be something that I didn't like. Well, yes, I don't see the degree of outlining in the visible world that she employs in some of her work, but since line drawing is one of the styles that can be done with a hot pen, this book would be incomplete without some outlines, wouldn't it? Also, I would have liked more variety in the examples and patterns, which are almost all wildlife. No landscapes, no buildings, no still life. But forget the quibbles, because you'll have a good foundation to do any subject, after you read this wealth of information. You won't regret buying this book.

This book is great! I love the beautiful, and detailed illustrations, and it even has some picturesque that you can trace and stencil onto your own project. I'm very new to pyrography, and this book was educational, detailed yet concise. If you're new to wood burning, or haven't ever touched a wood burning tool this book gives you ALL the information to get started. From the basics, into some more advanced projects and techniques. There is detailed information on different tips, uses, wood types, and recommendations based on the type of project you're working on. I found the diagrams very helpful, and would recommend for anyone looking to learn the basics, and trying to expand their knowledge, and build confidence in wood burning.

I'm not a big one on reviewing, but this is an excellent piece of work describing a relatively little known medium. I found the style of writing easy to read and very understandable. I also plan on trying most of the techniques described within. The book is profusely illustrated with examples of her work and also illustrative pictures. I learned much more than I knew about pyrography beforehand and was delighted to see that it falls well within the fine arts realm as opposed to just another craft. I highly recommend this to any beginner or old hand at pyrography. It includes a fine compilation of resources of further reading and finding materials.

I am just starting pyrography and determined that this book would be perfect. However, the font used is small and the page color is subdued, or off-white. These two issues are making it difficult for me to read. The overall impression of this book is it is an excellent purchase for a beginner in this art. I trust that I will learn a great deal from this book.

Good for beginners

Good book for beginners!

I have read the first part of this book and am now starting on the pyrography exercises. I really like Ms. Walters style of writing. she seems very personable. I like the chapter setup; includes pyrography machines, nibs and nib care, then moves on to use of practice boards and burn types. one thing Ms. Walters includes that I had not seen in other books was a "troubleshooting" section. This section had burn mistakes with pictures and then pics of what the burn should have looked like and how to get that result or suggestions on how to fix what you had done. Nice.

I just recently got into pyrography, to go along with my 46 year love of general woodworking. Having the added elements of pyrography on occasional pieces I make for the gallery I show in is a nice add-on. I have bought a few back issues of Pyrography magazine from Fox Chapel, and a few other books to get the best information I can get. I find that although this is a good book, Sue Walters has a tendency to re-use her own work in various publications and that disappoints when you find that about 15-20% of the book are pictures I have already studied. If you only buy one book, it is a good book. But if you buy multiple books to get various angles into the skillset, you will find repeats. If you look at work by someone like Lora Irish, her compilation is large enough that you probably will always see new items.

Goed boek

Really well prepared and presented book,lots of good info, the projects are graduated to ease you in.Patterns a bit lame but overall would buy again.

Ich habe mir dieses Buch gekauft,um einige Techniken zu erlernen und muß sagen,ich bin begeistert von diesem Buch. Ich habe es mir auf die Kindle App geladen und kann damit super übersetzen,da das Buch ja auf Englisch ist. Es wird alles genau beschrieben und ist einfach zu verstehen. Ich kann das Buch mit besten Gewissen nur weiterempfehlen

Está hermoso, muy completo y las imágenes son muy bien realizadas.

Ho iniziato da poco a leggere il libro, nonostante il mio inglese a livello basico è molto semplice da comprendere, per alcuni termini mi aiuto con il traduttore su internet. Le informazioni contenute sono veramente utilissime, dalle semplici banalità a cui non avresti mai pensato alle accuratezze per rendere assolutamente realistico il lavoro con una descrizione dettagliatissima per l'esecuzione di tre disegni, che in sé stessi racchiudono numerosi esempi di elementi naturalistici. Esattamente quello che mi aspettavo dall'acquisto di questo libro. Grazie alla scrittrice che ha condiviso la sua grande esperienza in questo libro!