chriscraft

Some of my cartoon style auto drawings. Excuse the glare as I just took these picture while the drawings were still in my portfolio. One is a pencil detailed sketch that I began drawing while looking at the truck at a car show then changed the layout making it climbing over boulders. So this drawing isn't real, its made up. All my classic muscle cars have been given away to friends and family throughout the years since age 10. I still get to see them when I visit but I don't own them anymore. I wish I would have hung on to those but I was such a push over back then. Its been about 8 years since I've drawn another automobile. Some day I will start drawing cars again. Chris

Cheryl, were these photos taken by you? This is another subject that also perplexed me on using reference photos. There is another Art in taking photographs, by simply aiming the camera in he right angle and using the right light/exposure, anyone can be an Artist so to speak. I grew up looking at magazine photos and began drawing images off these free hand. I would spend hours rendering the image and when I was done I would sign my work. I did this when I was 5-6 years old and would share them with friends and family. Everyone thought I was an Artist and soon I began to believe it. By the time I was 10 y/o I enjoyed rendering muscle cars on paper as every boy likes cars, again from Hot Rod magazines. Every decal and car name badge detail was included. The local car enthusiast could tell the exact make , model and year of the cars I had drawn. This was my first time I began accepting cash ($5-$10)for drawings and I was hooked. Later during the school year one teacher requested if I could draw his muscle car that was parked in the teachers parking lot. He even provided me with a good quality sketch pad by the end of the week as I had been using plain copy machine thin weight paper. This was the first time I felt like an Artist, now armed with nice pencils and pad. I sat on the grass beside the 1968 Mercury Cougar Friday after school and began my sketch. It took me two sessions to complete the drawing and I finished the front end grill detail from photos he provided. It was then that my teacher called me an real Artist and told me to stop copying other photographer's magazine photos. To keep drawing directly from real life instead of pictures. That reference photos were fine to fill in detail as I had done. I was too young to understand and the coolest cars to draw were still in magazines so I continued. This helped me refine my eye for taking my own pictures later in life by copying hundreds of magazine images during my childhood. Cheryl, thanks for posting your work. I will upload some of my leather craft pictures soon.

I guess this topic is a question within a question or better yet, a discussion. My Grandfather made leather goods and the people he made them for really appreciated the level of skill and craftsmanship he provided them. I admired his work up until I hit middle school Art class. We had a similar discussion about Artist and self proclaimed Artist. Soon after this changed the way I viewed Art in general. It really bummed me out once the "Commercial Artist" topic followed. I remember this being the reason I didn't want to pursue leatherwork anymore, I was only 13 years old. Its sad to recall this and to view leather items for only their simplex function and when decorated (tooled). Its just a waste of time. Although appreciated by some, not sought out by many. While still in middle school I found my new interest in adding color to my drawings. Two years later I was introduced to the airbrush and I soon became one of the many who ran to the beaches making a living using it. It was the fastest way that I could apply color to a simple drawing to make it stand out. I didn't consider this Art as these were simple basic name designs that I could produce in a matter of minutes while you wait. The industry called us "Airbrush Artist" but I didn't see any art in it. Yes, I had many commissions to airbrush portraits and other time consuming images but in the end it was the easy $5-$12 fast t-shirt designs that paid my bills. It was a high that lasted 15 years till airbrushed t-shirts became tough to even give away during Spring Break. I then resorted back to my roots of creating pencil/ink line drawings on paper as a hobby. Now I'm back at playing with leather trying to gain back the years I've lost. I have now found that if a leather product is well crafted using quality materials and will outlast the test of time. There is a market for such items as it always has been. I just couldn't see it back then. So I guess it's a little of both, Art and Craft. In order to produce the time consuming original Art pieces one must Craft many smaller less expensive leather goods in order to make ends meat.

What I should have asked is "What's the difference between a Leather Artist and a Leather Crafter? I came upon this question while reading here in LW these past years and I started to get confused. I understand that a person that has gained recognition as an Artist due to a certain style can have an impact. Then if this new artist were to later produce a simple non-original item that a child can reproduce then I wouldn't call this simple item Art. Only the masterpiece that he created before would be art. I agree with JLS on the paint by numbers comment and using the word "technician". I have seen a person that could not draw a stick figure teach himself how to use an airbrush as his main tool and make thousands recreating murals on recreational vehicles. Not one simple brush stroke or design was original, all images were copied from post cards. He never claimed to be an artist or even signed his work. It was his customers that gave him that title. As long as he had people paying him he had work and that was all he wanted. This story can be easily translate to leatherwork. Guy needs to earn money to pay bills. Guy visits a successful leather holster shop that cant keep up with the demand so Guy decides to start up a small home based leather shop. Guy starts building crappy holsters for his fist year but then gets the hang of this after investing in better equipment, material and holster patterns. Guy then has a decent product and soon word of mouth spreads on where to buy inexpensive holsters from a home based leatherworker. Guy doesn't make millions of dollars but enough to pay his bills. After all, that's all that Guy wanted. Guy is now a successful leatherworker. Happy ending, "right". I am not a fan of Jackson Pollock's Drip Style Paintings and I don't believe he was the first to stumble upon this kind of abstract work. House painters have been dripping paint of various colors on cloth long before him but never thought of stretching it on a wooden frame and calling this Art. Pollack gained his recognition by being the first person to drip paint onto stretched canvas and push it as Art. He now had an ORIGINAL idea and that's the only reason HIS work hangs in museums today. For this I respect him. His drip painting style has been copied by many including amateurs and it would be very difficult to tell it apart from the originator. And "No", replicating his work would not make you an artist unless it was you that was the first to stumble upon this. In using leather as a material to produce artwork. I believe one can still stumble across an idea or style to create something new that has never been done before. Then face the criticism that follows, does it move you or does it make you sick. That's why its called art or functional art. So I guess I answered my own inner question that's been swirling inside my head. I am not an Artist and may never be. But I can learn to be a better leather technician (LT). Nothing wrong with that, its just the reality.

Okay, this isn't aimed at the traditional leatherworker purist. That is an entire different skill and job many dont wish to obtain. I fully respect the leatherworker trade but at my age I don't have the commitment to start a new career. I'm trying to figure out why some dont consider some types of leatherwork art. In leatherwork, Is the word "craft" a generic term when considering a simple leather strap stamped with a name and a couple of snaps to make a wrist band. The type of stuff one would expect to find at an early 1980's out door craft fair with a price range under $10. These arts and craft items don't compare to some of the incredible hand tooled quality leather items I've seen posted in this forum. Items that involve many hours to produce and a different skill set. Still an average consumer would only like to pay craft prices. I believe an art form is only produced by an artist. It takes many years of study and practice to be able to finally produce an item that would be considered art. This same artist would have trained his fine motor function to then easily be able to move to a different art medium. Learn the basic skills and soon produce an attractive item. It is the person or artist that achieves this using the same tools and materials a novice would take years to achieve. This is what makes consumers step up to the plate and purchase those big ticket items. This is why even 50 years ago the same saddle comming out of the same shop if made by a skilled and talented leatherworker would attract more attention. Even hand tools that were used by these unique workers were being mass produced and sold baring there name or brand. So what is a leather Artist? By my understanding this would make every great leatherworker a leather artist. I've only found this term ( leather artist) referenced in a negative way.

I was approached a couple years ago by a motorized bicycle builder and ask if I was interested in building leather seats for him. He would supply the custom steel seat pan and these would be drop shipped to me and I would complete the rest of the seat build. In his initial deal he did not want me to mark or brand my name/ logo on his seats. They were to only have his logo visible on the top of the seat. I really thought hard about this any did not like his idea. If he was just simply looking for a worker to simply stitch two pieces of leather together and stamp his logo on it then I would understand his concept. This was clearly not the case and I was not supplied with any building materials, tools, molds, measurements or even instructions on how to accomplish this seat. I was given a simple vintage photograph of said seat to be built. I accepted this challenge on building this with the acception that they would bare my makers mark under each seat hidden away from view when mounted on his motorized builds. I also had no clue on how long it would take to construct one seat but we agreed on a price and began the build process. The first few seats were all different as each was too short or too wide and we finally got it proportioned and sized to his builds by the fourth prototype seat. I decided to serial number each seat to keep track of each build. After building 12 seats I quickly realized it wasn't working out for me an we parted out separate ways. No harm done and it was a great challenge to create something. The motorized bike builder used my plans and soon found another leather craftsman to continue building his seats. A few days ago I received an email from one of his customers that was not happy with the current leather seat. He was able to track me down by my makers mark that was on his friends seat. He stated he was impressed by the quality of his friends seat that he finally decided to order one and was now disappointed in the lower quality. He was returning the seat for a refund but still wanted to purchase a quality leather seat. He informed me that his new said seat didn't have a makers mark on it. I was sorry to inform him that I did not build this seats and all of my previous seats had my makers mark along with serial number and also came with my warranty. I nerver invisioned running into this situation but it was quickly resolved by my decision to include a makers mark.

Thanks. About those HO hang tags, they were not easy to acquire. Turns out they are only given from the tannery when one orders premium A grade leather. I just started ordering direct from HO tannery a few months ago.

Another Dry fly pattern I completed a couple weeks ago.

I have not posted in a while and just realized I didn't add the finished photo of the classic salmon fly design.

Great info on the starter tool list. Like Monica mentioned you'll end up in the $1000+ range pretty fast to have a small assortment of hand tools for different products. If you have a small budget and a huge passion for leatherwork then I would recommend starting with a minimal tool list on just the tools that are required to build one nice product. If you choose to build belts for your first product then like Cheif stated you'll also need punches and the like to make a nice belt. You'll also spend cash on belt hardware that will add to the total budget. Every hobby cost money so just get used to spending all your extra cash on your new venture. In time your aquire more tools/skills and with practice get better. Don't forget to have fun while building stuff. Welcome to our obsession. One more thing, buy quality tools, new or used. You'll thank yourself later.

WIP

Thanks for the comments. I'm working on a split underwater scene with a Rainbow Trout about to take a dry fly pattern.

I was able to find an original 1957 copy of Lucky Eight Belt Book that features a few belt patterns from Ray Pohja. While digging around some old craftool Doodle Pages I also found one of his pages. This small glass/wood display case will do till I find a better presentation shadow box.

Thanks for the information Paul. At first I figured this belt in its current used condition would be worth $300-$500 all day long. That was before I read that Ray Pohja had died in 2010. One can no longer purchase a new belt like this anymore unless some shop has a few laying around. I also believe this belt is quite valuable to the right collector but I have no intention to offer it for sale. I also go to local estate sales in search of vintage tools. I just cant believe when I see someone's entire collection sold for pennies to the dollar of what they are really worth. Family members are left in charge of selling items they have no idea on the actual value. It just saddens me to think of the family not getting in on some of the money they deserve. So for this very reason I would like to have this appraised one day and have documented paperwork for an item like this. That way when I am no longer around, this can get passed down the serious collectors who will appreciate what Ray Pohja once made.

This is why I'm having the same issue on my tooling charge. I am not well known and have not been carving/tooling leather for a long time. I consider myself slow at tooling when tackling new designs as I don't want to make any mistakes. I can not see myself charging by the hour unless I'm asking below minimum wage and who wants to do that. If I am tooling a repeat pattern I have already done, then I can work a little faster since I'm already familiar with said piece. If your designs will be standard designs. I would recommend that you do a few practice runs of these patterns you will be contracted to make. That way you will see just how long it will take you to complete one and get a feel for a few of them. You could then set your price accordingly. As long as you are satisfied with what you get paid. If you are just a hired gun, then I can understand why they would not want you to place your maker's mark on the work. Just like I can understand why you didn't mention who contacted you for such work. If you don't have any control on the finished product, like materials used, why would you want your name on it anyway. I wish they made a pricing guide for "Leather Tooling" like they did for sign painters/pinstripers. Troy mentioned the auto mechanic job repair time guide. It would be great to even know just how long it should take to complete some tooling projects. At least a ball park figure would be nice. That way some one like myself can see just how fast one needs to be. Not just in speed but accuracy.

Bob, it looks just as you describe. This had to be intentional, all the way to the tooled edge work making the burnished edge appear scalloped in shape. I've been searching for pictures on the web of similar belts by Ray Pohja to compare this belt to. I haven't found any so if anyone has any pics please feel free to post. I would like to build a display case for the belt. Anyone have any ideas how to display a belt like this?

After doing a little research on this style of belt. I believe this is what is known as a "Trophy Belt" or "Trophy Style Belt". This belt is 1.5" wide and would fit most trophy buckles. Looking at this floral carving, I can not see a repeat in pattern throughout the entire length. Maybe Ray Pohja intentionally designed this as one of his go to patterns or he just simply free handed this entire layout. Even the belt loop was finished in the same style, filigree cut, inlayed and back lined to match this belt. All edges are finished and looks to be hand stitched with a hand awl. I am excited to own one of his prized belts.

Being a leather carver myself I am stoked that I found this piece. The belt was a consignment that had been sitting inside that counter for a few months. The price had been reduced due to potential customers not being interested as it was missing the Western buckle they thought it should have. I had been inside this same shop at least three times this year and had not seen this belt before. I'm just glad it was still available, buckle or not. I have to admit, I only visit antique shops in search of vintage leatherworking tools. I have only found a few small hand tools in the past 8 years since I began going to these shops with my wife. I've been inside too many to keep track and feel it finally paid off. So it was definitely a rare find for myself. I will be a good keeper of this belt and learn from it. For me, it's more than just a leather belt.

After inspecting this leatherwork for a while, its no doubt he was good at what he did. I've only seen pictures of his work but I think this is a good example of his high end belts. It not only has his trade mark floral pattern but also filigree with inlay work and his clean decorative scroll cuts on the back side. Truly a master at his craft, I can only wonder how long it took him to construct one of these belts. Does anyone know how to put a date on this work? I searched and found two makers marks he used. One has all capital letters in his maker's mark and this one has some lower case in the maker's mark.

Today I was driving past one of my favorite Antique consignment shops here in Milwaukee and I decided to stop in. I found what looked to be a hand tooled western floral pattern on an old used leather belt. It was behind the glass counter so I asked if I could take a close look at this item. First thing I looked for was the maker's mark, I was now holding a belt carved by Ray Pohja. This was exciting,, an actual work of art by one of the Master Leather Carvers of all time. The detail is amazing and the freehand decorative cuts on the back side of this belt is pretty flawless. I have no idea when this belt was made or what it's worth. It just had to come home with me.

Being an ex-airbrush artist, I had plenty of airbrushes stored away so it's the only way I have applied resolene. Same as mentioned by diluting 50/50 with water. Also 3 light coats is better than one heavy coat. The first coat almost disappears instantly when applied on dry leather so try not to apply too much on this first coat. I have switched to Angelus Matte finisher and like the results better. If applied on heavy it will leave your work glossy like resolene so I just keep spraying light coats to keep the matte finish.

I was searching the web and found what used to be a guild called "Wisconsin Leathercrafters Guild" out of Milwaukee. It was started back in 1991 and I am not sure it's still around. I know the manager at the local Tandy where one could meet. Last time I was at Tandy I saw they have some beginner classes available but they don't offer any advanced classes. This will be a good thing. Gives me a reason to build up my tools.

Took more photos of the drawing table stand. I really like the appearance of this old cast iron stand. The tooling platform does not have to tilt so the drawing table tilting head doesn't have to be copied. I know were not doing blacksmith iron work here so it doesn't need to be built like an anvil. I'm thinking if it were constructed from heavy wall steel, 1" thick steel plate, this might be what it needs to lower the pitch of the tooling sound a bit. My previous photo that shows the adjustable screw height stool was my first thought of making this stand.

Still deciding which way to tackle this. I used my projector to see how this logo will layout on the top crate lid.

Milwaukee area here.