Spur Leathers for my wife

[MarkB]

Here is the latest pair of spur leathers. These are the 4th pair that I have drawn the flowers for and would like your feed back on what I can do to improve on. Carving things this small is new to me and is going to take a lot more practice. Thank for any input you might have.

Mark

[rgerbitz]

Those look real nice Mark, I don't know much about what makes floral carving good but looks fine to me. And if your wife doesn't like'em I happen to know a wife that would probably use them.

Rob

[Rayban]

Prit-tay!!

[rcsaddles]

Hey Mark,

Those look very nice. I am by no stretch of the imagimation a good carver. I did do a class with Bill Gomer in Jan 08. The only thing I can see that you might improve on is the backgrounding. It could be smoother. Like I say, I'm no expert and I think they look great. I'm not sure I can even do that good. Backgrounding is what I have trouble with so I look close at it.

Joe

[flathat4life]

Nice work!!!

[kseidel]

Here is the latest pair of spur leathers. These are the 4th pair that I have drawn the flowers for and would like your feed back on what I can do to improve on. Carving things this small is new to me and is going to take a lot more practice. Thank for any input you might have.

Mark

Mark,

You have a nice shaped strap, and the rosette design is great. Stamping smaller does introduce complications. A few tips for you to consider.... try changing the layout of the tooling pattern to have less background. Smaller spaces work better with bar background tools. You could adjust this pattern by turning the bottom flower around clockwise, so the stem comes out the bottom of the flower along the border, and extending the stems around the flower. The top flower could be turned counter clockwise with the stem more toward the button. Then move both flowers closer to the border, so some of the petals extended a bit past the border, reducing background space.

Using fewer swirls, and a few more regular stems will make it less busy also.

Your shader is a bit too large for the flower and leaf. Use a smaller thumb print and try to carve the outline of the petals and leaf with more consistency and distinction for each curve that will be shaded. When shading, change the angle more gradually from one to the next around the leaf. Make all of the thumbprints on the flower petals point to an imaginary point at the base of the individual petal.

As with almost all who are learning to stamp, the leather is a bit too wet. Let it dry out more before stamping.

Great attempt. You put a lot of work into those straps. I hope this is helpful. Good luck on the next pair!

Keith

[mulefool]

I like the way you did the rosettes. Chris

[MarkB]

Mark,

You have a nice shaped strap, and the rosette design is great. Stamping smaller does introduce complications. A few tips for you to consider.... try changing the layout of the tooling pattern to have less background. Smaller spaces work better with bar background tools. You could adjust this pattern by turning the bottom flower around clockwise, so the stem comes out the bottom of the flower along the border, and extending the stems around the flower. The top flower could be turned counter clockwise with the stem more toward the button. Then move both flowers closer to the border, so some of the petals extended a bit past the border, reducing background space.

Using fewer swirls, and a few more regular stems will make it less busy also.

Your shader is a bit too large for the flower and leaf. Use a smaller thumb print and try to carve the outline of the petals and leaf with more consistency and distinction for each curve that will be shaded. When shading, change the angle more gradually from one to the next around the leaf. Make all of the thumbprints on the flower petals point to an imaginary point at the base of the individual petal.

As with almost all who are learning to stamp, the leather is a bit too wet. Let it dry out more before stamping.

Great attempt. You put a lot of work into those straps. I hope this is helpful. Good luck on the next pair!

Keith

Thanks Keith

I will draw a new pattern up on paper and post it.

I was interested in how you determined that the leather was to wet ,I am sure it was, Was it the cuts or the impressions?

When you say cut the out line on the flowers and leaves with more distinction you mean more indented to define the shader more?

Thank you for taking the time to give instructions to us the need the help Means a lot to me.

Mark

[kseidel]

Good morning Mark,

Almost everyone stamps too wet. It is almost a default suggestion even without seeing the work. You are too wet in the stamped impressions. The beveling sinks too deep and lacks varied dimension when too wet. Same with the shader in the leaf and flower petals. The background is also mushy. Also, the edges of your cut outline are rounded over and not crisp. Let the leather dry out so that the surface is natural color before stamping. You can cut in the pattern fairly wet, then let it dry some more before stamping.

When drawing and cutting out the pattern, try to make the wavy outline of the flower petals and the leaf "more" wavy. Make each outside curve that gets shaded the same shape and size as the next. Make the inside curves that get undercut smaller and also more consistent in size and shape. It is a little hard to describe in words.

I will be happy to comment on your pattern when you post it.

Keith