Painting On Leather

[Leonguaranipy]

Hey guys,

It's my first post I'm from Paraguay. Was hoping some of your expertise could help me with a very tedious problem I'm having with my leather business. My main products are handpainted in veg tanned leather that is usually used for stamping, which I'm also learning. My main question is: I use acrylic paint (angelus and other brands) on the leather but I have to make lots of passes before the paint sticks and gets a proper color. The thing is that the leather absorbs the paint. My question is, is there any product I can use in top of the leather before applying paint that would make it more like painting on a solid surface not one that absorbs the paint. Thanks in advance.

PD: I'd like to post some pictures of my work but I only have a cellphone, any way to post pics from android/iOS?

[Leonguaranipy]

Here's an example of our work

[kiwican]

I cant answer your question but i love the paintwork

[Chain]

I put an acrylic sealer on the leather let it dry and then paint on top of that.

[Leonguaranipy]

Thanks for the tip Chain and glad you liked our work kiwi can. I can only find acrylic sealers in spray this is not good because I don't paint all of the leather only where my designs reach.

[Dwight]

I have done basically what you are asking, . . . using Resolene to seal the leather, . . . then paint the Resolene.

May God bless,

Dwight

[Leonguaranipy]

Dwight, I use resolenear to finish my work and I love the product. Never it ocurre to me to use it as a base. I'm trying it out now will let you know how it goes

[Leonguaranipy]

Jesus Christ it works like a charm. Solution was sitting right in front of me. God bless you and all your family Dwight you've made 6 hour long painting sessions unbelievably shorter. Words can't describe how grateful I am

[Dwight]

Leonguaranipy, . . . just passing on what was given to me.

I had the same problem with my first painted holster, . . . made for a special friend of mine, . . . did not know how to get it done.

Manager of local Tandy store told me, . . . the rest is history.

May God bless,

Dwight

[Zuzana]

Hello I would like to ask if someone can help with my leather project as I´m new to leathecraft. I´ve done a leather collar for my dog to do some testing using fiebings acrylic paint and finished it with fiebings resolene.After few day the color had come off real qick especially on the edges.What shall I use to make sure the color is sealed enogh and the collar will look nice for a long time as it´s oudoor thing.Any tips would be very helpful.

Edited October 11, 2018 by Zuzana

[RockyAussie]

2 hours ago, Zuzana said:

Hello I would like to ask if someone can help with my leather project as I´m new to leathecraft. I´ve done a leather collar for my dog to do some testing using fiebings acrylic paint and finished it with fiebings resolene.After few day the color had come off real qick especially on the edges.What shall I use to make sure the color is sealed enogh and the collar will look nice for a long time as it´s oudoor thing.Any tips would be very helpful.

Could you describe what type of leather you used to start with? Some pictures may help.

[Zuzana]

Hello it´s just a palin leather not sure what it´s called in english as I´m from Slovakia.

Edited October 11, 2018 by Zuzana

[RockyAussie]

I cant say anything about fiebings acrylic paint as I haven't used it myself. I have used a lot of others in the past and can only advise my thoughts from that. Being a dog collar I would been tempted to use a spirit dye first as the paint generally break down in time with this sort of use. I notice that the edges are fairly square except around the buckle area and I think the metal keeper has a sharp edge on the inside of it that is scraping the paint off each time it is done up perhaps. Whenever I do coloured edges I start by rounding of of the edges by sanding and not making it too smooth as some others seem to do. The reason is that you want the paint to get down in the fibres and really hang on. This is normally followed by a couple of coats of paint until it is not looking too rough any more. I then iron this in with a temperature controlled soldering iron but it can be sanded back to smooth if that is easier for you. I prefer the iron in method on most paints as it tends to have a more durable finish in the longer term. After that I normally apply a couple of more coats to really make it look good but probably not needed on a dog collar really. I normally do this for crocodile products as in picture below.To finish I just polish with a clear wax. 

[Zuzana]

Waaaaaw the colours on the first picture are really beautiful.How do you get such a beautiful result?

• what kind of deys you are using?
• Do you think Angelus dyes would be better as I was thinking to try it on .
• So I dont have to put anything on the leather before I start dying or painting the leather?Shall I do the edges first before I paint or dye it the way that is round from both sides?

also when I look at the collar the leather seems to be very dry so the colour comes off quicker that´s what I think  I would like to have the leather real nice.what kind of iron you are using as I have no idea what you are  tallking about /never heard of it yet / 

Pleeeease help me 

Edited October 12, 2018 by Zuzana