Phar out finishing techniques

I've just begun collaborating with a local artist who wants to make a fairly large mural out of wood. The idea we've come up with is to design impressionistic type pieces based on arranging square wood blocks into the larger image. The plan is to develop different finishing techniques for the blocks to give them different color intensities, contrasts between the grain, and overall color. The blocks will be used as 'pixels' if you will in the larger image, so the smaller the wood block the higher the resolution of the final image. I would imagine the blocks will be between 1 and 2" square. The idea is mine but I'd never be able to do this without an artist. She'll be doing the true 'art' part and I'll just be providing as wide a variety of finishes on these blocks as possible. The wider her variety of wood blocks to choose from the better the end result will be.


So as an example, here's an art piece I found on Etsy. It seems the artist here has either baked or burn treated these pieces. I'm taking this idea as inspiration on how I can vary the finishes on these wood blocks. But I'd like to have as many coloring/finishing options as possible, which is the purpose of writing here.

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What I need now are both wood species suggestions and finishing techniques. Just brainstorming so everything's on the table.

I need different wood grain size options. Need both wider and narrower grained species.

Would be nice to have a species where both the fast and slow growth rings take dye stain so they have the same hue.

Need coloring / technique suggestions. I've used General Finishes water based dye stains before so that's one idea for generating color.

Thanks for your ideas.

Is the work going to be a flat surface, or 3D as in the pictured example?

Here in Oz we're spoiled for choice with a wide range of natural timber colours; mainly reds, browns & golds of various hues but natural variation gives wide colour choice often within timber from the same tree.

Having said all that, I'd be wary of combining different species for a flat panel mainly because they'd all have different rates of timber movement. Depending on changes in humidity, all sorts of odd gaps and cracks would likely open up, unless the design allowed for it.

I'm not saying it can't be done, but it's not as simple as just gluing timber 'pixels' together.

Instead, I'd look for a readily available species (to you) that has a wide variety of colour/grain and selectively cut that down to size. Preferably one that'd take stains well.:

Timber movement could still be a problem, but nowhere near on the scale as with assorted timbers.

O' course, if it's going to be 3D you can ignore most of what I've just blathered on about. :D

The wood in that picture looks like pine with about 3 or 4 shadings of colour. As Skew says its likely best to stick with one species of wood at least to start with while you learn the process. All I can say is cut up some blocks and experiment. Even a single colour could give a huge range of looks just by the facets on the block faces and different lighting angles.
Regards
John

Skew, the final pieces will be flat. Those blocks were just an example of treating wood to give a color variance.

But no sir you have not blathered or wasted a single word. The wood movement in using different species vs. using the same never occurred to me. I'm cut and pasting your advice directly into my main notes doc for this project. So much obledged!

I agree Jim. I think a lot of different looks are available even within the same species.