Carved And Ready For Color - That's Were The Wheels Can Fall Off !

[DaveJohnson]

Hello everyone - I jioned a few weeks back and have been looking at the work being posted - WOW - there is such a range of experience and talent here and as for pushing the envelop - hey I think the envelop was left behind long way back - there are just some awesome works here.

I'm just glad to be doing some work again after so many heres and here is a piece I finished carving today (although the Bears snout needs a tweek - Clay's Bear' s very small brother )

But now comes the time to color it - hmm - not my strong point BUT I have the books and will press on bravely - off course I have a test piece - but still .......

The piece will eventually be a cover / pouch for a set of Medicine Cards.

Wish me luck

Dave

[dirtclod]

Dave, nice job on your bear and tracks.

[JLSleather]

I know that feeling ... airbrush seals went out the other day, and "puked" dark brown die all over the project. SOME notice would have been nice ???

Just a man's wallet, so not alot of money invested, but there goes an afternoon. Naturally, it's the one that has to be done by Saturday for the guy's birthday ....

[ClayB]

Hey Dave,

You've done well on your bear and the tracks are great! Coloring intimidates me too, but a friend recently told me "chickens can't paint". So I keep working at it. You'll get there too. Welcome to the forum, and thank for sharing.

Edited March 25, 2010 by ClayB

[HARVEY]

Hello everyone - I jioned a few weeks back and have been looking at the work being posted - WOW - there is such a range of experience and talent here and as for pushing the envelop - hey I think the envelop was left behind long way back - there are just some awesome works here.

I'm just glad to be doing some work again after so many heres and here is a piece I finished carving today (although the Bears snout needs a tweek - Clay's Bear' s very small brother )

But now comes the time to color it - hmm - not my strong point BUT I have the books and will press on bravely - off course I have a test piece - but still .......

The piece will eventually be a cover / pouch for a set of Medicine Cards.

Wish me luck

Dave

Dave,

What are medicine cards??

[Penden]

I love the Bbear!

[DaveJohnson]

Thanks for all the encouragment guys - JLS your story did give a cold shiver and I was watching the dye bottles closley for one that decided to jump up a spill over

Clay coloring more terrifies than intimidates me -- anyway went ahead and these are the results - the bear came out a little too dark and the eyes need some work - but ingeneral I'm happy (for now).

Harvey - Medicine Cards are a set of Totem Cards based on animals totems, which are used for "readings" which are used to focus your thoughts on your goals http://www.medicinecards.com/ They came in a cardboard box, which is now falling apart, so hence the case / pouch.

Once again - thanks guys

Next-up the construction - hope to finsh this tomorrow.

Cheers

Dave

[joet]

Thanks for all the encouragment guys - JLS your story did give a cold shiver and I was watching the dye bottles closley for one that decided to jump up a spill over

Clay coloring more terrifies than intimidates me -- anyway went ahead and these are the results - the bear came out a little too dark and the eyes need some work - but ingeneral I'm happy (for now).

Harvey - Medicine Cards are a set of Totem Cards based on animals totems, which are used for "readings" which are used to focus your thoughts on your goals http://www.medicinecards.com/ They came in a cardboard box, which is now falling apart, so hence the case / pouch.

Once again - thanks guys

Next-up the construction - hope to finsh this tomorrow.

Cheers

Dave

Your color on the bear isn't bad at all; what did you use (brand)? Color has been one of my biggest problems and even though I have all the books on how to do it (Stohlman, Main, Laier) I still haven't sat down and practiced. Don't forget to show a picture of the finished product after it's been laced/stitched.

[DaveJohnson]

Thanks Joet - coloring is something most of us battle with and probably 20% is mental and 80% is being in to much of a hurry - I remember from when I was doing leatherwork before, that its allways good to have a few projects going, so that you can leave things to dry properly, while you carry on with something else - otherwise the temptation is too great to carry on when the piece isn't ready yet.

I used Ecoflo Dye for the the bear - Timber Brown diluted 1: 3 as base color and then middlelights with full strength. Then highlights with Bison Brown and eyes with Dark Coco Brown with a spot of white Cova Acrylic. The prints are done with black and white cova - I put a coat of Eco-Flo Blockout on the white (think it should have been 2 coats and left to dry longer, as the final antique coat colored it yellowish)

Finally I went over the rest with an Eco Flo Gel Antique - Tan - That's were I messed up the bear - thought I would go over him too and that made him another shade darker - oh well "education" doesn't come cheap !!

Cheers

Dave

[joet]

Thanks Joet - coloring is something most of us battle with and probably 20% is mental and 80% is being in to much of a hurry - I remember from when I was doing leatherwork before, that its allways good to have a few projects going, so that you can leave things to dry properly, while you carry on with something else - otherwise the temptation is too great to carry on when the piece isn't ready yet.

I used Ecoflo Dye for the the bear - Timber Brown diluted 1: 3 as base color and then middlelights with full strength. Then highlights with Bison Brown and eyes with Dark Coco Brown with a spot of white Cova Acrylic. The prints are done with black and white cova - I put a coat of Eco-Flo Blockout on the white (think it should have been 2 coats and left to dry longer, as the final antique coat colored it yellowish)

Finally I went over the rest with an Eco Flo Gel Antique - Tan - That's were I messed up the bear - thought I would go over him too and that made him another shade darker - oh well "education" doesn't come cheap !!

Cheers

Dave

I haven't tried the Eco Flo Gel Antique yet, but one of these days I will. I've been using the Fiebings antique paste for the last 30 years with good results. In fact, if my dye job looks bad, antique it and it will solve most of the problems. I also haven't tried the new Eco Flo dye, but I've tried the stains and all-in-one colors and I like the results. Next I'll try their regular colors, but I have a ton of dyes/stains/paints from the past that I'm reluctant to use anything new until most of that stuff is gone.

[TwinOaks]

Aside from time to sit down and work on a project, color is my biggest hurdle, too. I take scraps, run a test color on it, and write down everything I can about it on the back of the scrap- something like ..." timber brown, 1:5 mix, 4 layers", or " Midnight Blue-1ml, Blood Red-3ml, airbrush X, 1 pass". That way I have "custom" color cards for the dyes I have on hand.

....and if you do this, don't leave them where the dog can reach them.......

[ClayB]

Hey Dave,

You did pretty good. I've got a drawer full of things I "tried" to color that didn't turn out well at all. You can still lighten up your bear if you are brave enough to try. Take a lighter shade of brown or tan or even yellow or off white acrylic paint and dry brush over the hair very lightly. It'll give it highlights and lighten up the dark color. It's something you'll want to practice with a bit. You want to brush almost all the paint out of your brush before you take it to the bear. I just learned that using a stiff(er) brush helps with this too. The brushes that were recommended to me were hog bristle and I was really surprised at what a difference it made.

[DaveJohnson]

Well I managed to get it finished today and am pleased - notebook has a few comments on things I would do different next time and possible improvements.

Clay I nearly plucked up the courage to try highlights with a lighter colour, but decided to let well enough alone at this stage - but I found a tutorial by Silva Fox on dying a Labrador, which looks just right for the next time the bear crops up !!

Here is the finished pouch :

Cheers

Dave

[joet]

Well I managed to get it finished today and am pleased - notebook has a few comments on things I would do different next time and possible improvements.

Clay I nearly plucked up the courage to try highlights with a lighter colour, but decided to let well enough alone at this stage - but I found a tutorial by Silva Fox on dying a Labrador, which looks just right for the next time the bear crops up !!

Here is the finished pouch :

Cheers

Dave

Now that really looks nice. I take it that it is hand stitched, but I'm not sure what you used for the card holder on the inside to close it with. Could it be velcro?