What To Do With Ugly Colored But Textured Skins

[Tiara]

I like to work with exotic leathers for the textures. And use various effects to show off the textures.

I have some small cobra skins with fine textures but ugly dye job I got cheap for practice work. And a some lizard that has dark markings but the light areas are a dull color, hard to change with dye.

But I found a few things that are interesting to do with them.
Here's a couple of bits I used variegated gilding leaf on. It's thin enough the scale pattern came through. Hard to get a good picture indoors. Will try for a better one in daylight.
One bit of the lizard has a holographic oil slick heat transfer on part of it. This is interesting as the heat transfer foil only caught the tips of the scale. I plan on doing some transparent interference effects using diluted angelus neutral base and added dry pigment. I have some other heat transfer foils along with a clear coat that acts as a resist.
I've done a bit of this sort of enhance the textures on some cuffs in snakeskin, gator and ostrich. Reached max upload will post in next part.

[Tiara]

attaching next pic, more on the lizard with the holo heat transfer and ostrich with some copper interference pigment in clear acrylic base.

last one is python with blue #15 cosmetic grade pigment powder lightly rubbed on and sealed, jewel beetle wings and rice pearls,

uploading a couple more pics and will post tomorrow

[Tiara]

ah, finished loading.

one plain snakeskin buckle and the other is a baby gator headpiece buckle, bronze mica pigment in acrylic, and a better shot of the ostrich

Edited December 10, 2014 by Tiara

[Grey Drakkon]

Fantastic, and I mean that in every definition of the word! Have you thought of using mica powder (it's used in polymer clay for various effects) mixed with the finish to add another layer of shine/color? They come in all sorts of colors, this is a tutorial for polymer clay but it shows you how strong the mica colors can be: http://thebluebottletree.com/free-polymer-clay-tutorial-mica-leaf-pendants/ I imagine if you put a coat of clear finish on the hide, wiped off the raised areas and poured on mica powder, you could get some interesting outlined scale patterns. Damn, now I want to try it!

[Tiara]

Thank you for the kind words.

Yes, I've been using mica, some such as Pearl ex meant for crafting, also auto paint pigments and cosmetic pigments, both of which are much more for the money. And some transparent/translucent acrylic mediums and now experimenting with UV set clear resins such as Solarez as the finish coat/sealer. Also using some heat embossing mediums--these are mostly all variations of hot glue powders such as Bonash mixed with some inks, micas or glitters. And then there are other fusible things such as angelina film and fiber http://www.texturatrading.com/angelina.html but I've not yet come up with a good way to use them over the patterned leathers the way I want. The film is significantly thicker than the heat transfer film. Which I got through this vendor http://www.ebay.com/usr/dckelly and use a small crafting iron set medium low for the transfer. I found higher heat counterproductive. and have some fingernail foils on order with some other unique effects.
The angelina fiber and film and some glitters probably made of the same stuff but shredded, will change color when heated. Too hot and they bronze out and lose luster. lower temp iron or shorter time with a heat gun has worked better.

The variegated foil is from http://www.ebay.com/usr/picassoframe?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2754 and used duo adhesive--it dries to tacky in a few minutes rather than the hours needed for traditional foiling adhesive.

Rubber cement might work also if thin enough viscosity--the duo is very thin which I think helps the pattern show through.

http://www.tkbtrading.com/ this is my source of cosmetic grade pigments, micas and glitters.

I'm finding that there isn't much difference in one brand of acrylic to another for the items that don't flex much. For things such as cuffs that close with a snap or stud, I'm staying with Angelus more for its reputation as having better wear than other brands.

One other thing I'm experimenting with is snake skin sheds. They can take a bit of dye--the tissue on the inner side soaks up more than the scales so the pattern shows and some have enough pigment left on the scales that interference mica/auto paint powders refract differently. The sheds can also become more flexible with some oils and conditioners. So far Lexol NF has worked best. Lets me handle them without breaking or tearing yet can still get some thinned acrylic paint to stick. I'm planning on some Xmas decorations with clear ornaments, the sheds and some combo of transparent/translucent effects. Adding some sort of clear top coat adds depth. May try some

I'm working on a paper mache box as a gift. Put lizard on the top this morning, another pattern of variegated leaf and deciding on what to do with the edge and bottom portion. I'll try to get better pix when done.
The UV set resins look interesting. Solarez has some that are flexible, various degrees of durability, high viscosity for self doming and some thin ones for casting. Some can be trimmed with a scissors if cast thinly enough.

One more effect I'm starting to try is mixing some of the pigments and powders with wax such as Pecards or Renaissance wax. There are some gilding waxes and pastes and rub n buff that will work on leather. the 2 commercial ones I've tried work nicely but both stink with the solvents. I've tried one blend of Pecards with pigment and had promising results so far.

Ah, and one other thing next on my experiment list are some of the heat moldable products to use as a base for wet molding the thin leathers onto. I want to get away from using metal cuff bases if possible. May use craft wire mesh as an inner layer so it can be adjusted to fit and easier to cut to shape. I find myself more and more drawn to asymmetric shapes and patterns. The natural embellishments of rice and blister pearls, beetle wings, --those crushed with a rolling pin make a cool mosaic with more refraction than abalone, gator scutes, shark teeth, gar scales, have enough randomness to keep my visual interest.

Dang wish I had taken a good pic of the cuff with the gator. Dyed oxblood, block print type effect with a black/red mica powder on the top of the scale pattern but just used a fingertip to spread the powder and used a clear varnish over the whole thing for depth. It was a piece of flank leather with lumpy bits rather than the hornback or belly.

I'll ask the woman I gave it to if she can get a good pic.

and then on to some salt dye special effects as well as trying some acrylic marbling and alcohol layering. The diluted acrylics let the mica pigment/powder combos separate in interesting ways.

[Grey Drakkon]

The shed snake skin has some excellent potential, not only for ornaments but on 2-d applications like paper. It could be a lot of fun to make some ACEO's (artist trading cards, 2 1/2"x 3 1/2") just to bang out some fun forms. I'd love to see these hides combined with raku fired pottery, ( https://www.google.com/search?q=raku+pottery&espv=2&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=sdOJVIv7FIqbyAT4t4GgAw&ved=0CDkQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=677 ) some of it (usually the American made kind) can have that iridescent beetle sheen and crazed finishes that would go hand in hand with your leathers.

Edited December 11, 2014 by Grey Drakkon

[Tiara]

We seem to have similar tastes! I also have personal symbols of dragon and phoenix. And play the Irish bodhran. My leather craft interest started with wanting to make a custom snakeskin band for one of my drums. I am not happy with that first effort and honing my skills to make a better one probably of gator with a matching shoulder harness so I can stand and move about and still get tonal changes.

Yes that raku type or dichroic glass effects are similar to what I'm striving for.

The snake sheds are now popular for fingernail art. Myself I can't stand anything on my nails. The few times I tried to wear nail polish I started to pick it off shortly after it dried. Being more of a tomboy type catching frogs. bugs and spiders than girly stuff and then on to dogs, horses and hunting with a camera, the patterns of nature from crystals to fibonacci sequences of sunflower spirals and sea shells, intrigue me. I found some black walnuts and after cleaning off the crud the shell pattern looks pretty cool edged with the gilding foil. The leftover flakes are still useable, don't throw scraps away. Flakes are sold for that purpose also.

If you'd like, drop me a pm with your address and I'll send you a useable bit of shed to experiment with plus some beetle wings and other oddities.

[Grey Drakkon]

Haha yeah I never would have guessed the snakeskin being used for nails, I bite mine way too much and only use nailpolish as a means to slow me down, since I'm a destructive picker and need to remove the polish before attacking my nails again. I also never had any inclination to "girly" stuff, always chasing animals, hiding in the woods, doing my best to become an only child when I have three siblings. ...Probably more than anyone wanted to know. >_>

Anyways, I was thinking how incredible this stuff would look as an inlay for a dragon shape.