Newbie question about finishes

[wintermte]

Hi I'm pretty new to leather tooling, and I have some questions about finishes and dyes.

I'm not sure where to start. I've purchases a few of Cava Eco dyes (water based) and have tried to use them, but I'm not getting the results that I expected. They are much darker than anticipated.

What I would like to do is achieve a "wash" appearance. I want the cuts and "lower" tooled areas to appears darker than the higher areas. Something simple like this (the finish not he pattern)

Also, I'm interested in adding some color to some areas. What kind of dye do I use for this. Ultimately I'm working towards making a seat for my motorcycle.

Finally, what do I use to seal it all in. I've see many different clear coats, but I'm not sure which to use that will protect the piece in the rain.

Thanks to everyone for any help you can offer.

Dan

[rdb]

Well. for starters, you can get all the books and templates from Tandy. They cover all the basics.

The next thing, or even first, is to read as much as you can on this forum. There are hundreds of comments, and posts to how people have dyed their projects.

When you go trying to copy sheridan patterns and their colors from the likes of saddles, you'll find the saddlers use all sorts of ways, from just oil and sunshine, to spraying oil dyes, then covering over with antique dyes, or some may use what's called "highlighter". Read all the saddlery/Sheridan topics for some in depth discussions.

Under the motorcycle section, you'll find the same variet, one guy even uses motor oil....