Help Painting Stamped Letters

[luckyleather]

Does anyone have a good tutorial of the best way to paint stamped letters? I've done some searching on here and came up with nothing.

Thanks

[DoubleC]

You're search is probable too specific. Painting letters isn't any different than a butterfly. Try searching under painting. Here's a good place to start....Paul Burnett tutorial on painting. He had a web site called the Painted Cow but unfortunately is no longer with us.

http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showforum=217

[luckyleather]

Well I guess I should have clarified, I am brand new to this trade and never painted any leather. I was looking for some tips on how to paint the small lines in letters. Also wondering the best brushes and paint.

[DoubleC]

Oh that just takes practice. A picture would help so we could see what you mean. As far as brushes go to if you go to hobby lobby or Michaels they'll be pretty much marked what they're for. To paint straight lines I have a thin, fairly firm brush I use. Be sure and get good acrylic paint, eco flow from Tandy or Agelus from Springfield Leather Co or some where else. Paints made for leather. and practice. and practice on scrap pieces. No one gets it right the first time Lucky. Cheryl

[billybopp]

I paint a lot of letters for the mug wraps that I make. It's not all that hard to do, but does take some practice and a moderately steady hand (don't be well caffeinated when doing fine paintwork).

You can use leather dyes or acrylic paint. Limit the amount of paint or dye on your brush by wiping it on a piece of paper or better a piece of scrap leather. This will help to avoid dyes spreading too much to areas where you don't want it, and in the case of paint keeps the coat relatively thin with less spillover to where you don't want paint.

Paint will give you more vibrant colors than dyes will, and in the case of white and gray the dyes are about useless. Some paint colors will look better if you first put on a ground coat of white paint, others not so much.

I like to use a #3 filbert style brush for 3/4" letters, with a #00 round brush for those really tight corners.

Leather acrylics work best. I've used Tandy Cova Color, but others swear by Angelus paint. I have also used Liquitex art acrylics, but they are a bit trickier.

For my stuff, after I've painted and allowed stuff to dry well, I then paint a couple of layers of dye resist on the paintwork, and allow that to thoroughly dry. Over all dye is applied at this point if desired, trying to avoid painted areas as much as possible. Then a coat of finish such as resolene or leather sheen over the entire piece and allow that to dry. Then, an antique paste is worked in well so that it settles down into the impressions in the letters, etc. Excess antique is removed, and allowed to dry, then a couple of coats of finish.

As an aside, another interesting option for letters and other impressions is gilding. It's not easy, but the result can be really cool!

Here are a few pieces that I've made recently.

This one has silver gilded letters and tree, with green dye amongst the celtic knots top and bottom, and acrylic paint on the beard pullers. In this case, I didn't protect the gilding well enough and some rubbed off when I applied the antique, but I decided that I like the worn look and kept it!

Hope that helps!

Bill

Edited August 20, 2014 by billybopp

[DoubleC]

Good job Bill and great advice too. Cheryl

[billybopp]

A couple of other thoughts and tips:

While you don't have to have really expensive brushes for this sort of thing, cheap ones are often more trouble than they are worth. Moderately priced brushes that are cared for will last quite a long time. Think: something in the $5 range at an art supply store rather than $0.50.

When you are painting, keep a glass nearby with enough water in it to cover your brush bristles. If you need to put a brush aside for more than a minute or two, keep it in the water. This will prevent the paint from drying on the brush and potentially ruining it.

You may want to consider brushes for different colors. A little bit of red pigment remaining on even a well cleaned brush that is then used to paint white can lead to light pink. Not good. Generally a set for white, for black, for reds and browns, for blues and greens, and for yellows can work well. Paint a band around the handle to indicate which brushes go with which colors is helpful if you do this. A set for the block out / resist is helpful too. That stuff can be exceptionally hard to get washed out and will stiffen brushes eventually.

When you have finished painting, clean your brushes thoroughly under running water. A little dish detergent works OK to help clean, but I use this stuff which works great! http://www.amazon.com/General-Pencil-Company-Masters-Preserver/dp/B0009RRT9Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408639306&sr=8-1&keywords=artist+brush+cleaner

Shape your brush tips after cleaning, and put them in a glass or other container with bristles up for them to dry.

Take a look at your brushes before you start painting to check for any stray bristles. If there are some, cut them off. Painted areas with a thin little line that the stray bristle can make "outside the lines" makes for a bad day.

Make sure your leather is clean before you start. Wax and other "stuff" on the surface can lessen the adhesion of the paint. I've even had occasional trouble trying to paint over already dyed surfaces. Paint adheres to bare leather best.

Make sure your work area is clean before you start. A stray bit of sand or leather cuttings can scratch the leather, or leave a nice big bump under your paint that is much too noticeable.

Make sure your hands are clean before you start. A big old fried chicken thumb print on the leather can ruin your whole day.

For that matter, fingernails are excellent tools for leaving little marks in your leather whether you intend them to or not. They're best kept trimmed or used with great care.

If you are having trouble with paint adhering to smooth leather ( usually not a problem ) a little light sanding then cleaning will usually roughen up the surface enough to give the paint a "tooth" to adhere to.

If you are making an item that will see hard use, dye may be a better choice than paint. Paints only penetrate leather a short distance, and any small scratches will leave the underlying leather exposed. Dyes penetrate somewhat deeper, and will not show shallow scratches so much.

Many of the above items might seem obvious, but I've dealt with every single one of them at one time or another through inattention or just plain "brain fade".

Hope that helps.

Bill

Edited August 21, 2014 by billybopp

[Dwight]

I cheat, . . . not being steady handed, . . . and probably over caffeinated, . . .

I take the color I am going to paint the letters, . . . and go buy a very sharp pointed "Sharpie" of that color (or as close as I can get), . . . and use it to outline the inside of the letters.

That gives me a much wider area to come up against with my brush full of paint, . . . and depending on what you are desiring for a finished product, . . . sharpies do a pretty fair job all on their own, . . .

Yeah, . . . I'm lazy too, . . . but you know how it is said: Necessity is the mother of invention, but laziness fueled the imagination.

May God bless,

Dwight

Edited August 21, 2014 by Dwight

[billybopp]

LOL! That works too, Dwight.

I have at times used sharpies for some touch-up work. For me, the antique at the end does some of the same of what you do with sharpies at the beginning. When it settles down in the letter outline it covers a bit of unevenness at the edge of the paint in addition to making the letters stand out by outlining them, but the paint still has to be close-ish.

I always enjoy your posts, love your work, and get a kick out of your sense of humor.

Bill

[Studio-N]

My advise..... get one of these:

[PappysLeather]

How do you dye over painted letters? Do you need to put something on the paint to protect it? I am working on a belt that I am using Charlie's for two colors and white paint for the third color. The I am dying the built black.

[fredk]

2 hours ago, PappysLeather said:

How do you dye over painted letters? Do you need to put something on the paint to protect it? I am working on a belt that I am using Charlie's for two colors and white paint for the third color. The I am dying the built black.

Dye first then paint the letters. Use 'Mop & Glo' floor polish for a sealant

[RoycesLeather]

Depending on your paint and how much you want it to bond to your leather and the effect you are trying to achieve there are countless ways to go about this. I find that certain colors (like white) of the leather acrylic paints are hard to make solid without a ton of light even coats. So when I am trying to achieve a true solid color affect on a small surface like a letter I use the needle point applicators you can find them at hobby lobby. They allow you to make thin lines evenly and consistent as well as fill in small surface areas evenly. They also don't leave any brush marks so they make a great solid letter color.  I prefer to carve my letters so I don't have the secondary line of a stamp but when you want to fill the secondary border of a stamped letter these applicates will do that very nicely and evenly allowing you to make the border a different color than the letter if you choose. The downfall here is that they take much longer to dry because you are applying such a thick coat at once and I personally feel there is not much absorbing into the leather you are just painting it, but the results of a true solid paint color are unbeatable. 

If you want it to absorb a bit more you can water down you paints to make them more like a dye and brush them on in multiple coats until you reach your desired look.  In my opinion this is more durable but takes longer. Otherwise watering your paints down gives you a great washed out affect that you can then blend and sunburst with. 

Also if you are going to dye your project I would defiantly do that first then paint. Unless you are using an antique then I actually go through my process twice and paint my project then antique then touch up any paint that may have rubbed off. (you can create a cool weathered affect by not touching up your paint much after antiquing over the top though)

Bottom line is don't get stuck on one technique if you have a desired look in your head keep trying different approaches till you find it. I know there are a lot more techniques out there and I have some more that I use but these are a couple of my most common approaches when painting leather. Just my two cents worth use it how you will and have fun!

Royce

[Rahere]

For precision work, I like the fine-pointed almond-shaped Japanese caligraphy brushes.