jhatchell

It does lay flat easily. I didn't take your comment about the colors as criticism at all. My reply was just an explanation of what I tried.

How did you get the variations of color in the background. Was that with an air brush?

I did several tests before I settled on what you see above. One of the tests was to leave the light squares the completely unstained natural leather and use the super shene as a resist on those squares. It produced a very white vs. dark appearance. I settled on the colors above (staining the entire carved board first with tan, then using Super Shene as a resist on the parts I wanted light and then coming back over it with Dark Brown Gel Antique), because I wanted it to have an antique kind of look. I tried on one of my tests to apply the finish coats of Super Shene with a sponge, but ended up having to purchase a cheap air brush kit to keep it from smearing and becoming ruined. The bottom picture is probably closest in color to how it actually looked. The top 2 pictures make the light squares kind of look yellow. I didn't try painting each square. I could maybe try that with some Angellus paint.

Thanks all! I appreciate the kind words!

Amazing!

I made this chess board and case for my son for his birthday. The inside of the tube and the underside of the chess board is lined with pig suede. I did not make the pieces. The piece bags are calf skin. I am somewhat new (a year or so) to leatherwork and this project took a long time. I am proud of how it came out, although I know I could improve it. I have been too intimidated to post things I've done - everyone's work is so professional!