Education

One of the most important tools a pyrographer (or any artist really) needs is the ability to create patterns. 

In the spirit of digital technology, we decided this week to spotlight some of our favorite websites that we use to help build our skills, create pieces, and connect with customers.

Last week we showed you how generative AI can help you in your business with writing production descriptions and social media posts. Today we are going to show you have it can help you in your creative endeavors.

Spotlight Series: Digital Technology and Art – Artificial Intelligence

Gimp is an open-source, freely available alternative to Photoshop.  It offers a lot of the same functionality but, if you are an avid Photoshop user, you may get frustrated with some of the nuanced differences.

Today we’re going to look at editing images on your laptop. The intent is to get you familiar with these tools and how they can improve your overall workflow as a creative working in different media, including non-digital.

Today’s focus for our spotlight series is Procreate, a graphics editor for digital painting created by Australia-based software company Savage Interactive. It’s actually a collection of programs: Procreate for iPads, Procreate Pocket for iPhones, and Procreate Dreams which is geared toward animation. I chose Procreate for today’s spotlight because I have been teaching it to …

As artists of physical mediums, be it painting, woodburning, caligraphy, fibercrafts, or any of the hundreds of others, we pride ourselves in the hand-crafted nature of what we do. The mediums we use and the canvases we apply them to can all be traced back to where they originated from. We used tried and true techniques passed down for generations. It may even be that we scoff at the idea of using computers to enhance what we do. Personally, I think that limits us as we can still create in a way that embraces tradition but takes advantage of the modern tools we have at our disposal.

It’s the end of the year and that means it’s time to start thinking about New Year’s resolutions, self-improvement, and organizing your life.

If you ever find yourself at a market and you are looking at the different wood-burned pieces you may notice that some pieces look more uniform and consistent; like they came out of a factory.  Other pieces look more rustic and rough like someone burned them by hand.  If you have seen this, your eyes are not deceiving you, the former was probably done with a laser engraver whereas the latter would be done with a hand tool.