Colt W Knight Report post Posted March 24, 2014 I have been struggling deciding which direction I want to go into on my leather work. I know what I want to make, but I didn't really know what I wanted to carve. I don't enjoy leaf or flower tooling, but I do like Pictures and lettering. I am not very good at it, but I would love some pointers. When I carve a picture or an animal, I feel a lot more satisfaction than tooling a flower or a leaf. This is my lovely GF, Miss Ashley This is my stencil - I am still not sure what lines to simply trace and which lines to carve with the swivel knife. I have this stylus, I feel like the ball point is too big, but I really don't know??? Traced I am using a Pro Kraftool swivel knife. I keep it sharp, and it cuts beautifully. I am getting better at using this knife. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Colt W Knight Report post Posted March 24, 2014 Backgrounded Dyed in some highlights Added some lighter antique Glued on the felt Sewed on the felt All said and done Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Colt W Knight Report post Posted March 24, 2014 (edited) 1) The way I beveled the face, she looks chubby ( I don't like that) 2) What is the best way to get hair texture? I just scratched in some lines that follow the hair. In person, up close, you can see the texture, but It just isn't good enough. 3) How do you bevel lips so they don't look like Mr Potato Head? and eye brows? Is there a procedure for eyeballs and glasses? 4) I finally figured out what I was doing wrong with the backgrounding tool, so that should be better on my next attempt. * If anyone has some literature or personal suggestions, I would be most grateful. I know I am not a master leathercrafter, but I do want to get better. I thoroughly enjoy picture carving. This was my first picture - I learned a lot about texture and beveling on this one. Learned more creating some flags Edited March 24, 2014 by Colt W Knight Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Northmount Report post Posted March 24, 2014 It's looking pretty fair. Lines that are beveled can be softened some by running a spoon over the sharp edge to round it over some. You can do some small practice pieces where you just experiment with eyes, nose, etc. There is an Al Stohlman book called Figure Carving. It has lots of info for both human and animal figure carving. 132 pages. part of it is in colour and includes using dyes. Tom Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
