Golden Skull

[Cyberthrasher]

Figured I should put something up down here for once instead of just leaving it to my gallery

This one is fixed length with holes punched for Schaller/Fender strap locks.

The gold is acrylic. Black is Fiebing's Pro Oil, and the whole thing is covered with Resolene and finished off with Montana Pitch Blend.

I had been wanting to get some more backgrounding worked into my designs and got the chance here. The customer originally came to me with a tribal cross, then changed his mind to this skull (kind of). While waiting for his turn on the list, I started thinking and decided I'd combine the two and put this frame job in there. We struggled with the back design a little bit until we decided to go back to a cross and came down to the ones you see here. Also, you may notice that the tribal design on front somewhat resembles a snake with it's mouth open. The customer's been on a rampage lately killing snakes around their Southern California ranch, so I used that for some inspiration - including the diamonds down the back.

[benlilly1]

Very nice!!

[eglideride]

Beautiful work! I really appreciate your style. How/ what did you do with the back side of the strap??

[Cyberthrasher]

Wet it with a sponge and slick it up with my nine folder. I have a glass slicker on the way. After that,dye then finish with Resolene to keep the black off the clothes. If the piece is too fleshy I'll shave and sand it first.

You will NEVER see me use Gum Trag to simply glue the fibers down. Aside from the fact that it can wear off and let your fibers pop back up, its also abrasive and shouldn't be used anywhere that might slide. Its also just a cheap way out of doing a few more minutes of work to get it done right.

I'm on my phone and it decided bone folder should read "nine" folder. Sorry about that.

[WScott]

Sweet!

[DoubleC]

Allen, beautiful job. My last one I didn't line but I skived the furry edges on the back, was the furriest leather I ever saw. I like how this design came out. Cheryl

[chancey77]

I am a huge fan of teh divided shapes and like yourself I have been trying real hard to get some of my designs stream lined...that strap looks awesome man! I really LOVE THE DIVISION SHAPES!

[David8386]

Came out looking very nice. I like the design and the color, good job.

David

[Cyberthrasher]

Thanks for all the compliments guys!!

I am a huge fan of teh divided shapes and like yourself I have been trying real hard to get some of my designs stream lined...that strap looks awesome man! I really LOVE THE DIVISION SHAPES!

Yeah Bro, I'd been wanting to do that flare out off the border for quite some time. This one just seemed like the perfect candidate for it!!

I'm just getting so bored with "decal" work. Hopefully this one will show people what kind of things we can do to really utilize the leather and bring it all together.

[AndyL1]

Came out real nice man! Good choice on dividing up the strap with the shapes. They really frame the crosses and the skull and add some nice, subtle visual interest to the whole piece.

[edishere54]

I am a CyberThrasher fan all the way, especially on Guitar Straps. This job is an inspiration to me as a guitar strap maker myself. I bow down in worship man! Major coolness once again!!! Seems like I have much to learn....

[Cyberthrasher]

I am a CyberThrasher fan all the way, especially on Guitar Straps. This job is an inspiration to me as a guitar strap maker myself. I bow down in worship man! Major coolness once again!!! Seems like I have much to learn....

Thanks Ed!!

[coop]

_{That turned out awesome, I would like to start incorperating more colors, the gold looks great! Where do you purshase your acrylic from? I am doing a Spector logo on a strap and it would look sharp in gold.}

[Cyberthrasher]

The two brands I've had the best luck with are Golden Fluid (Fluid is a type that Golden offers), as well as Createx. I started using Createx when it was all I had from some other work. Someone recommended Golden products to me as well, so I gave them a shot. Angelus makes a line of leather acrylics that are formulated for leather and do a really good job.

[coop]

I think I'll try the Angleus Antique Gold, looks nice. The way you left the center of the crosses black really makes them pop. Thanks for the info!

[Cyberthrasher]

Thanks Coop! I talked him into doing the crosses like that since I knew they would really POP without being too over the top. Makes the center of them separate from the background, but not a huge amount of in your face gold to distract the eyes from the other details.

[OdinUK]

Wow, amazing work.

How do you apply the Resoline, with a sponge or airbrush? Does it not crack? It looks so smooth. The gold an black looks great!

[Cyberthrasher]

It only cracks if it's applied to heavy and not thinned 50/50. If I'm only doing a single color, I'll put it on with a sponge. Multiple colors like this will usually get at least the first coat airbrushed to keep from lifting any pigment and spreading it around.

[OdinUK]

Thanks for sharing that. I haven't used resolene very much. I'll try airbrushing it next time. Many thanks.