High Contrasted Antiquing On Natural Colored Leather

[addieleigh]

I have scoured the forms for some time now and cant find the exact info I am looking for.

I use antique often and am quite familiar with all the different wiping, resisting, painting techniques, but I still cant figure out how this look in the pic is achieved.

The tooling looks to be heavily shadowed with black but the leather itself still looks completely natural like no die has ever touched it. Giving it a high contrast look. How is this done? Even if you dunked the whole piece in resist and then applied the dark/black antique to the tooling, the untooled part of the leather would still catch some of the antique in its natural nicks and dents. Was this piece just washed and scrubbed super well after the antique was applied?

[Bob Blea]

I can get this kind of effect just with a couple of coats of resist (Wyosheen) and a coat of Eco Flo gel antique that I quickly wipe off. I've started wiping with unscented baby wipes to remove excess because it seems to do a good job removing streaks. The two wallet pieces below were both antiqued that way.

[Bob Blea]

I should have mentioned, if you use Fiebings Antique, you can do the same thing by wiping it with Tan Kote. I've seen it remove darkened streaks in antique very easily and leave a finish just like you your picture. So whichever product you use for antiquing, there is a way to wipe it back off and get a very smooth effect on the untooled leather.

Also I should add that both wallets in my picture are a little darkened but that is mainly because the leather I was using had a bit of russet coloring to it plus I oiled them with Neatsfoot, which darkens them slightly.

[addieleigh]

Awesome. Thanks for all the great info Bob! Love your wallets, that is definitely the look I am going for. And great tip about the wipes I will definitely have to try that.

[BondoBobCustomSaddles]

Sometimes the simplest technique works the best. Good resist, and quick wipe (aided by the use of baby wipes) gets the job done to perfection, like Bob says.

Bob

[terrymac]

The key is getting good cover with your resist(Wyosheen or Clealac). Both products are one in the same. I use antique paste without Tankote, and get all the antique off by using wool pads to wipe. Just keep getting new pads until you have removed all the paste. I use the synthetic wool pads from Tandy, and cut them in half. Tankote will remove some the color and can be used to thin the paste. Never liked the resulting color as a result of thinning. If you are using a different resist, then all bets are off

Terry