coloring rawhide: widening the options

[swivelsphinx]

I like doing degin and illustration work on my leather projects. I have seen a fair number of drum heads that were embellished in color. So, I wanted to try my hand at this.

I found that my temp. control pyrography kit worked great for outlining. It left a line with some depth and just a little texture.

When it comes to the color options, I've seen acrylics, oils, markers, ink, and recently tried spirit dyes.

Acrylics- I am generally never completely comfortable with conventional acrylic paints on leatherwork, particularly drum heads. I always find myself concerned that the paint will eventually loosen and come off.

Oils- I don't have alot of experience with oil paint. I hear it works nicely on all sorts of leathers, so long as it is not applied thickly. If I can get some more experience, I would be willing to experiment. The main problem with oil paint for me is that it takes far too long to dry for my custom work.

Markers: Oooh... it irritates me a bit that sharpies and AD markers (spirit based markers) can really work well on rawhide. I have alot of respect for illustrators who do their work primarily in markers. However, I do not like that I can generally pick out a drumhead that has been pigmented in marker fairly easily. The marker strokes often give this medium away. The color also tends to have a flat quality. Moreover, I really prefer to mix my own colors, which is not easy with markers.

Inks: When these work, they *really* look great! I don't know what kind to try though. I suspect that they must have a spirit or oil base. I am looking to paint them on with a brush. Any suggestions?

Leather dye: the color on the piece below was done with spirit dyes. The side in the smaller offset pic was augmented with acrylics, as the surface was a bit greasy, and shed alot of the dye. I have not tried oil dyes, which I suspect will work better on greasier rawhide surfaces. Anyone else been experimenting with leather dyes on rawhide?

I would like to hear what other people have been using to color rawhide projects, particularly drums.

Thanks,

Swivelshinx

[troy]

when it comes to dying rawhide I have had some experiance, but more to dyeing the whole hide or strings - because of rawhide characteristics I tended to use natural dyes which I soaked into the rawhide for differing periods of time, I guess treating it like leather in some way - as for creating patterns I do remember the authgor of this book - Deerskins Into Buckskins - mentioning ways to use natural dyes on buckskin - afraid thats all I know but I guess rawhide will soak up a water based paint - maybe thats worth trying one of the thick acrylic types. sorry

[WinterBear]

Maybe you can use oil pencils and oil pastels to draw on leather, then blend, thin, and "paint" the drawing with a thinning medium used for model enamel paint. I have done this on cardstock, hot and cold press watercolor papers, unfinished wood, gesso, and goose eggs, along with some fabrics. I plan to be trying it on leather too, but haven't had the time yet, or the money to get myself new oil pastels! I expect it would work on rawhide about as well as it does on gesso or wood. "Painting" with the thinner can cause drawn edges to bleed, so use caution.

[WinterBear]

I've put a small piece of rawhide to soak and I'll get it stretched tomorrow. A friend is letting me steal her pencils for an hour or so this weekend, and I have a bottle of Testor's thinner/brush cleaner in the cabinet. So, I should be able to tell you what I think of the "pencil painting" on rawhide in a few more days.

[roo4u]

spirit dyes, easter egg dyes, natural dyes like coffee, beets, onions, walnuts, and also some types of permanent markers do a real good job of penetrating the rawhide.

[WinterBear]

OK, an evaluation of the oil pencils method on rawhide.

Caveats:

1) All I had was a bend of cow rawhide, which is probably not going to be used to make drum with anyway, It's just too thick.

2) I just don't have the hand strength to stretch it transparency and smoothness.

So all in all, it's thick, rough, and about as rough as 120-180 grit sandpaper. Not exactly conducive to drawing smooth lines.

3) I also did not have my good ink pen, so I used a brush marker that was much to thick for the size of the example--the figure is only about 2 1/2 inches tall.

Pros:

1) Greasy spots? No problem. It accepted the pigments quite nicely, and the Testors smoothed the surface and blended the colors.

2) The Testors thinned the pigment to the point where it was absorbed into the hide.

3) The Testors evaporated away, leaving the pigment on the leather and dry.

Cons:

1) If you have a thick layor of pigment, it can rub into adjacent areas or bleed a bit with the Testors. See the hind legs and the far wing.

2) The rougher the hide, the coarser the details have to be.

3) The oils will need to be sealed in some way to prevent the oils from rubbing onto uncolored portions or to the beater (if used). A spray fixative meant for oil pencils would probably work. It tends to be non-crazing, flexible, and non-yellowing.

So all in all, it might be worth exploring, but I don't think it will be what you want to do. You need to find someone who has used alcohol-based inks, I think. The water-based might not work on greasy spots well?

Edited July 31, 2011 by WinterBear

[Willitshigh]

 I used a basic acrylic paint that I got from a local art supply store here in Omaha and painted a stencil of Kokopelli onto this 15" calfskin drum that I made a few weeks ago. It holds really well, I have used a beater on it several times with no flaking or peeling. I am working on more drums with a different type of steerhide and will post as I finish painting them.

Edited August 11, 2016 by Willitshigh
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