TomSwede

Ha ha thanks rdb!!! This one is portfoliowork for myself but I'm considering to put it up for sale "to whomever pays the right price". This one's just too many hours. The white is diluted cova colour and takes ages to get on. Any advice to how to get it on fast without getting it sitting on top and not using an airbrush would be highly appreciated !!! I suspect any acrylic would take just as long, I dilute it to make it sink into the leather so that texture and leatherlook is not lost, downside is the many many coats needed. Tom

Thanks!! It's not done yet so more postings coming in. Tom

Another pic

In progress pics! Wings are tattooflash and lionshead is from a non lineart drawing so had to study and think about it twice before doing it. Lionshead is painted with diluted black and I'm not totally happy with it. I meant to be as accurate to the original drawing as possible thus creating a statue like surface. The wings will have antiquing and some black colour tomorrow. Formdrying it now.

Thank yoy Marcel!!! I hope that I linke to CitizenKates tutorial in my tut. That's what got me started with doing blockdyeing. A fun technique to work with and very exciting, it can ruin your work easily if you load up your sponge with too much dye. Tom

Looking very good Storm!!! Tom

Thank you very much all!! Bracers/cuffs/armbands...dear child has many names is a Swedish expression (kärt barn har många namn ;-) I used only spirit dyes and block dyeing tecniques for both. I also used the brush to smooth things out around details for the Loch Vostok bracer. Schno: Special thanks!!! The Loch Vostok bracer was really an attempt to try and find yet another way to work with variation on the black/red color theme. Seem like my customers really fancy the combo too so allways trying to find new ways for it. Tom

That is a sweet piece Schno!!! Love the lettering, looks like that stncil cutter pays off!! Tom

Superclean and elegant job!!! Off course anything black and red will seduce me ;-) Tom

Very cool strap!!!! Progressive music is good for inspiration ;-) I like the touch with the mystery braid. The only concern I have is the possibility to adjust the length but hey, if customer knows what he wants..all the better!!! Tom

Cool looking wallet and nice car! Checkered flags are no fun to make. Tom

Very nice!!! How old is your son?? Best regards Tom

Loch Vostok

Sooo, leveling out after a autumn that was wild and whacky and I wont try to explain half of it but working with leathers and photography for bands was the main course and off course being out and do promotion for myself, constantly out of town on weekends. Anyways, theese two was made recently. First one was ordered by Ted of my alltime favourite band Loch Vostok for his son Max birthday. Being that Loch Vostok is what it is to me and is the No1 band I listen to for inspiration in my shop I just couldn't resist making a freebie for Teds own birthday as a surprise for him. Carrying their signatory V and a design that I cooked up myself in Loch Vostoks favorite colour combo, black and red..here goes!!

I can just agree with Storm!! Crisp and clean, black/red is allways a winning combo in my eyes!!! Tom

A very valuable resource for novice to pro carvers!!! Thanks Paul!!! Tom

It looks excellent, just rember the touch ups and it'll be totally supernice looking. Good thing you got the customer to choose the right type of finish colours for it. Tom

Excellent job, Corey!!! Design is so sweet and elegant. Neat stiching and molding topped with a nice rich colour. The sewn on bit at the top makes a veeery nice addition to it, bonus points for creativity!!! Tom

Nice work David!!! Stitching seem good but hard to get a close detailed view of it. It's a good practice you had with this book and with next one you will see that you have learned tons of stuff. Liner will make it look excellent and enhance the overall apperance. Tom

Top notch!!! Tooling looks great and nice lettering! The skull is sooooo sweet!!! Nice rich colour too. Tom

Hi and welcome to the board Frida!! Sorry for chiming in so late, I think it is my duty to assess Scandinavian people arriving to the board. I have loads to handle at time being so I'm a little abscent. Har du kollat in http://www.tjaderlader.se ?? Dom ägs av Norska Skinnlåven som redan nämnts. Jag köper det mesta av mitt material där. Jag bor i Gävle så det är bara ca 6 mil att åka. För läder kan du ju kolla med Tärnsjö Garveri som ligger i Uppland. Jag har dock inte varit där än men dom sägs vara behjälpliga om man dyker personligen (deras säljpolicy på hemsidan gör gällande att dom bara säljer kvantitet men du har ju firma så ännu mindre problem). Dock är det ett begränsat utbud på det du söker, jag stör mig hela tiden på att jag inte hittar vad jag söker men är otroligt kräsen också;-) Tjäderläder påstår iallafall att det är i stort sett bara dom som tillhandahåller såpass stort utbud som dom gör, dock kan dom ta hem Tandys produkter från US utan problem men man får räkna med en väntetid på ca två veckor (det är ju skitkul när man har korta deadlines;-) Skicka mig PM om vad som helst så är jag behjälplig på alla sätt jag kan, du kan även lägga till mig på Facebook: Tommy Hillgren eller msn om du ber om det via PM. Får vi se vad du gör för väskor, alla här älskar bilder och det blir lätt nyfiket när det dyker upp skandinaver!! Tom

Good looking straps David!!! Your'e a good student and your work will continue to progress as you learn new things on the way. Tom

INSANE!!!! I just love that gunbelt....WOW!!! The split skull design is really neat and clever and the whole rig is just excellent in style and complexity. Truly jealus Tom

Thanks all!! Marcel, Yep, it is Fiebings pro oil dyes and diluted. Hmm, I mixed the green dye myself with blue and yellow colour thinned down with alcohol. I also used diluted black (very diluted) to work with shading on the flowers and leafs. I did not use drybrush technique! Tom

Thank you very much all!! Yeah I've been really busy lately with a little of this and that I think, lol. Tom