How to Burn Designs Into Gourds

Video Transcript

"On behalf of Expert Village my name is Karen LoCasale and I'm here to tell you about crafting with gourds. So we're going to go ahead and burn the design that I drew on this gourd and let you see how that looks. So, you want to go slow, you don't want to rush it. Some gourds the burning process is quickly if they're a softer gourd and some gourds still have a bit of a harder shell and it can take a little longer. You can see right there where, that little spot right there took a little bit quicker. So, it's just a matter of practice, getting use to your burner, getting use to the different gourds. And, you can always go back over your line if it's not as dark or as deep as you want. So, it is better to go light the first time and then go back over it again as needed. And again with your different tips, they have tips that allow you to do shading if you wanted to do some shading. Some thicker tips for a wider line or more narrow if you want the more fine lines. Again some of the books out there for gourds also have different techniques that different artists have come up with for burning their designs. Some actually look like a basket weave that sort of thing so, this is kind of, you know, the artistic portion of it to it look how you want it to look. And now you have it permanently etched onto your gourd."