Amber Streaks of Grain

As I've worked to get more minute detail into my plaques, tone is very important.  This means that even the streaks of darker grain that are natural to the wood can affect your finished piece.  Shading something like a person's face means being very subtle in your color and tone variations.  So if the grain of the wood has some darker veins, you have to compensate with your heat to keep your colors even.  For example:

Though it can add character to the piece, it can also be distracting.  Therefore, when you want to do something with very subtle shading, you have to use a piece of wood that's much more blond and pure.  Like this:

This way you can create your lines and shading with little interruption from the natural wood grain.

The other issue with the darker streaks in the wood grain is finding the right product to seal your wood with, so that it's not just a bare piece of wood that will stain easily and show grime.  If you were to use a standard polyurethane, it would soak into the wood, bringing out the grain much more noticeably.  This is good for when you're sealing   say... a piece of furniture, but not when you only want to highlight your burned image on a plaque.  Bringing out the grain that clearly can distort your image and change your shading.

The miracle product I've discovered works the best is mineral oil!  I use the heavy variety and rub it in with a soft cloth.  This not only moisturizes the wood, but it also seals it and brings out a more vibrant, lustrous look in the burning.  It's safe to use with your bare hands and won't leave a residue on anything once it's soaked into the wood.  See the difference between these two pictures...

The top one was plain, untreated wood.  The bottom one was rubbed with heavy mineral oil.  Everything is so much more vibrant and has so much depth.  And yes, they are the same plaque - before and after.  And the wood grain didn't change in darkness either!  Who knew a medicine-aisle laxative treatment would be so perfect for artwork!