Transferring Designs onto a Wood Canvas
There are several ways to transfer designs onto a wood canvas. The most common way is to use graphite paper. Other transfer methods include using blue chaco paper and burn-through transfer paper.
Before transferring my design, I sand my wood canvas to a 600 grit to create a buttery smooth wood canvas. Find out how by reading my blog on tips for a buttery smooth wood canvas.
The time it takes to transfer a design varies depending on the size and complexity of a design. As a first step, I cut out my design (with a pair of scissors) leaving a border of about half an inch, wide enough to tape it to the wood canvas. I secure my design with two pieces of painter’s tape (on the top-left and top-right corners).
This way, I can easily slide the graphite (transfer) paper under my design. It also allows me to check underneath my design and graphite paper that I’ve transferred all the lines that I intended to trace before removing my design.
Using a pencil, I also draw five to six small lines that extend from inside the border onto the wood about one-eight of an inch so that I can reposition my design should it accidentally shift out of place while I’m tracing it.
Black or white graphite paper
Once my design is taped in place, I slide the graphite paper with the darker side facing down onto the wood surface. I mostly use black graphite paper to transfer my designs. If you’re tracing a design onto a dark wood canvas, you may want to use white graphite paper for a better contrast. Graphite paper can be reused multiple times.
If you draw your designs on tracing paper as I typically do, you may need to put a white piece of paper between your design and the graphite paper. The pencil marks of my design would otherwise be difficult to see against the shiny side of the graphite paper.
With your transfer paper now in place, it’s time to trace your design. I prefer to use an embossing tool to trace my design. You can also use a pencil or pen. The advantage of using an embossing tool is that you can reuse your design. It’s more difficult to see what’s left to trace since it doesn’t leave any marks on the design itself. With an embossing tool, you need to keep checking to see what’s left to trace especially if you’re tracing a complex design.
With a contrasting colour, such as a red or blue pen, you’ll be able to visually see what you’ve traced if you’re tracing the design for the first time. If you use the same design a second time, you may want to use a different pen colour.
Whether you use an embossing tool, pen or pencil to trace your design, you’ll need to erase the graphite marks after you finish woodburning your design. To minimize the effort in erasing the graphite marks, press lightly when tracing your design. If you’re resting your hand on your design as you trace, you’ll likely have more smudges to erase. If the graphite marks are dark, you can lightly sand these with a sand eraser or 600-grit sandpaper before woodburning your design.
Although you’ll be woodburning over the graphite lines that you’ve traced, there will still be graphite marks or smudges to erase. These can be erased using a 600-grit sandpaper or sand eraser. I use a Tombow Mono sand eraser for ink.
Blue chaco paper
I sometimes use blue chaco paper to transfer my designs. Although it’s more expensive than graphite paper, it’s worth the added expense given it’s so easy to remove the marks. After I’ve woodburned my design, I can remove the blue marks with a damp cloth. As with graphite paper, you can reuse a sheet of chaco paper many times.
The light blue marks, however, can be more difficult to see against the wood and they will fade or smudge easily. I always check to see that the design transferred well before removing it from the wood canvas. I’ll woodburn the design soon after to ensure the blue marks are still vivid. Since the blue marks are easily smudged, you need to be careful that you don’t erase the design before you’ve had a chance to woodburn it. For this reason, I prefer to use graphite paper for designs that are detailed and intricate, given my hand will rest longer on the wood surface.
Drawing directly onto a wood canvas
Some pyrography artists pencil draw their designs directly on the wood canvas and use a white eraser, sand eraser or sandpaper to erase any mistakes. Since woodburned marks are difficult to “erase,” few artists woodburn without first drawing or tracing a design on their wood canvas. Woodburned marks can be “erased” using sandpaper or a sander. You can also use a hobby knife, razor blade or engraving pen. The scratch and engraving marks, however, may remain visible unless you rework that area into your design.
Burn-through transfer paper
I recently tried the burn-through transfer paper that I purchased from Razertip, a Canadian supplier of pyrography woodburners and wire tips. After I drew my design with a pencil on the burn-through transfer paper, I placed it directly on the wood canvas. I didn’t need to use graphite or chaco paper since the paper is meant to woodburn on. At first, I woodburned some of the lines using a low heat setting. I noticed, however, that the woodburned marks on the wood were too light. I therefore increased the heat setting and ended up woodburning right through the paper, which I believe is the point of “burn-through” transfer paper. Some of the marks on the wood ended up being too dark. I felt I had less control over the heat transfer. I may use this method for basic designs in the future. I would be interested in knowing if you’ve used burn-through transfer paper and what the results were.
Material for transferring designs
Depending on the transfer method you prefer, you may need some of the material listed below:
Black graphite paper (for light-coloured wood)
White graphite paper (for dark-coloured wood)
Blue chaco paper (chalk marks are easy to remove)
Burn-through transfer paper
Embossing tool
Pencil
Coloured pen
Painter’s tape
Scissors
Experiment with different transfer methods until you find what works best for you in the heat of the moment.
