cleverpig

Thanks for the great advice! It sounds like simple is the way to go, especially if there is lots of cleaning involved. Now I get to start looking at toys...

Hey maskmakers! I've always painted my masks with an old-school brush, but I'm finding that as my designs get more elaborate, I'm spending days painting the darn things and agonizing over brush strokes and perfect blending, etc. etc. I figure this is the group on leatherworker.net most likely to have airbrush expertise, so I was hoping I could ask a couple of quick questions of the experts: Can you use both leather dyes and acrylics in an airbrush, interchange them easily, etc? Is it hard? Did it take you a long time to get good control, learn how to blend and layer, etc. I'm a little intimidated by the whole thing! Any recommendations for a good starter kit? Amazon is a jungle of options. Thanks for any advice! I'm attaching a couple of examples of the masks I make, because it's fun to share Sarah Firebird & Barn Owl

Those look great-- do you mind if I ask what weight of leather you are using? I always have a debate with myself over strength vs. flexibility.

Thanks for the replies! I'm excited to look through all of the accumulated wisdom on these forums. Maybe the key is just to case the side of the leather I'm carving and not shape the whole thing. I'll give that a try and look into the finishes and oils that might keep it soft. Thanks everyone!

I'm new here, and one of the reasons I found the site is I was looking for answers to a (hopefully) quick question. I've been making masks for a while now, and I recently thought I wanted to try my hand at making some other wearable stuff-- specifically a wrist cuff. I'd really like to shape and carve it the way I do my masks, but I only know how to do that with vegetable tanned bellies and sides. I tried making myself a cuff that looks like octopus tentacles wrapped around my wrist, but the leather is rough and stiff to wear, just as I would expect. I know I've seen flexible leather pieces with designs carved or stamped on them, and I'm wondering how to do that. Do I need to use a different type of leather? Should I treat it differently than a mask that I want to hold its shape? Do I need to use two different types of leather, one to carve and one to line it? I've had a blast looking through all of the impressive work everyone does here, and I hope this isn't too basic a question to bother you with. I've never had any real training in leather work, just kind of made it up as I go along. Books never seem to answer quite the specific question I'm asking. Thanks for any advice! cp