The Staff of Cthulhu is certainly unique both in terms of the process and final product. Despite standing at 63” tall (a little longer if you measure with the curve) it’s surprisingly lightweight. The smooth, pale wood provided an excellent canvas for the wood-burning to really pop and stand out. However, the curved nature of a staff meant I had to wrap the image I wanted. The difficulty came in trying to navigate where to put what without bumping into something else. It also required texturing and slight shading which I hadn’t done with a wood-burner yet.
But, as you can see, Cthulhu’s hands, claws, wings, and mass off tentacles all fit within the limited space. Beneath the main depiction and hand grip made of black rawhide lace, are smaller cuneiform-like symbols I used to represent the phonetics of “Ph’nglui mglw’ nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn,” as it is in the Lovecraft mythos. It of course translates to “In his house at R’lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.” After the pyrography was done I sanded it again and gave it several layers of polyurethane for protection and its aesthetics.
Artist: J.R. Goslant
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