Mablung Report post Posted December 21, 2023 Did this as a quick project to hang on my office door at work. It turned out much better than I thought it would. All I did to finish it was give it a couple coats of NFO and punch a couple holes for a piece of dark green chrome-oil-tanned scrap to act as a hanger string. Would appreciate some pointers on the backgrounding and beveling. Can't figure out what to do with the beveling, as it keeps coming out choppy, even if I make small moves and many strikes. I used a matting tool for part of the background, mostly to fade out the beveling on Mary, Joseph, and the manger and Jesus. The star points along the barn roof beams didn't come out right, but I didn't realize that would be an issue until I had done the swivel knife work and beveling. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DieselTech Report post Posted December 21, 2023 Looks good! I like it. Is inverted leather carvings, where the figure/picture looks like its sitting on top of the leather. Appears to be sticking up/out. Thanks. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mablung Report post Posted December 21, 2023 Thanks! Shoulda been more clear on the carving. The barn is inverted and originally I was going to do all of it inverted, but spur of the moment as I was beveling, I decided to do the other elements in relief instead. Make them stand out as the focal point and let the barn fade into the background. The inverted portions are by no means even, but it makes the beams look a bit darker and at least a little bit more "woody" that way. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chuck123wapati Report post Posted December 21, 2023 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rleather Report post Posted December 22, 2023 Very nice, I like the color contrast. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cattleman Report post Posted December 24, 2023 Looks pretty good. As far as advice on the beveling... I think you may have been tooling it a little on the wet side. Maybe try letting the leather dry for another few mins, or not add so much water to begin with. Beveling can be very frustrating to learn how to get it right, at least it was for me. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mablung Report post Posted December 24, 2023 3 hours ago, Cattleman said: Looks pretty good. As far as advice on the beveling... I think you may have been tooling it a little on the wet side. Maybe try letting the leather dry for another few mins, or not add so much water to begin with. Beveling can be very frustrating to learn how to get it right, at least it was for me. You know, that makes sense. I wasn't getting much burnish until I was nearly done. The last few inches of beveling burnished nicely, so I think you're right. This was 2/3 oz. shoulder, so I could easily have let it dry a few more minutes before doing the cuts and beveling. I probably added more water than was really necessary, but I wanted to make sure the color stayed even, since I was leaving it natural instead of dying it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sinbad395 Report post Posted January 2 a little dryer before you bevel....and you can touch up with a modeling spoon to level out the surface. I have even used a spoon instead of a beveler on some small areas. If the casing is just right you can get that burnish with a spoon. Start very lightly and make progressive passes with firmer pressure til you get the full depth of the cut. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
