semloh

Thanks for the constructive criticism, Clay. The color is the result of one application of neatsfoot oil, Bee Natural resist, medium brown antique, and then Bag Kote. It was my first shot using the resist and antiquing, and I'm hoping to do it better next time. As for the tooling, the mulefoot was for sure the hardest to control and leave the impression that I wanted it to leave. Just have to practice. Let me say, to anyone who might be thinking of getting Jeremiah Watt's Carving & Layout DVD- do it! I got it, along with the Likewise/Fay book on Sheridan carving, before I even had tools and leather, and without them I probably wouldn't be doing half as well in three times the time. Truly great, both of them. Ray

Hi All- I've been on the site for a few weeks now, just soaking things up. Finally got some leather and a few tools from Barry King about a week and a half ago, have been practising a bit, and I think I've made a little headway since the first couple of timid impressions I made. I am going to post my third attempt at carving something, finished yesterday, and would welcome any comments. I also have a couple of questions: What to do with the non-beveled side of this style leaf? I just used the thumbprint (a little too roughly, I think) and couldn't decide whether it should also get the leaf liner and veiner. Mulefeet. They might be a problem for me. After studying lots of pictures, and just can't seem to intuitively tell where they should go. I actually got my mulefeet via UPS from Hidecrafters just yesterday and I used them on this carving straight out of the box. What I learned is that making a straight, even impression isn't as easy as it looks, and I need to stamp deeper. As an aside, I found the pattern I used for this on LW, and I can't seem to find the post again to thank whoever it was who put it up. But thanks- and my apologies for hacking it slightly to fit my piece of leather. Finally, don't mind my flower center. I don't have a proper one yet, it's on the way, and had to improvise using a seeder- again not stamping quite deep enough. Ray