Gourd Doll

For the past three days I've been busy working on a gourd doll using pyrography. At this point I think I'm almost done and can show you some photos. It's a bit chilly since I have the door open and 3 fans running to push the smoke outside. Right now I'm taking a break to rest my hands.  It's like drawing with a really heavy pencil. I used painters tape to give me some guideline for the patterned areas.  I used a mechanical pencil to draw the birds and such. Then I erased the lines after burning. This helped me to fill the space and readjust motifs if necessary.  I combined nature and abstract patterns.  It just takes experience to figure out what shapes play well together and how to transition from one area to the next. The tape provides nice straight edges too.

There are a few bug holes that I'm tempted to glue beads into. But I like it straightforward like this as well.