Bright colors, dye or paint?

[SFISlyfox]

Hay everyone, I've been eyeing another leather workers art for some time and wished I could do something like it. You can check out their work here: http://www.lescuirsdebelfeuil.com/en-photos.html . My question is about the vibrancy of the colors they use, especially the greens, blues, and purples. I've tried plenty eco-flo dyes but they always turn out washed out or too dark by comparison. So would this be paint they are using or some other dye brand I dont know of? The kind of marbled/flame like effects would be nice to know how to do as well but one step at a time.

[MonicaJacobson]

Oh yes, I've seen their work for a while and admired it. My guess is acrylic paint, but I'd be interested to see what everyone else thinks. 
 

Here's something I did with angelus acrylic leather paints. The brightness of the paint does seem similar. 

Also -- if they are indeed using acrylic paint, I wonder if they're dabbing at it with a sponge to get that effect. 

Edited May 19, 2016 by MonicaJacobson

[Colt W Knight]

Im seeing a mixture of dyes, antiques, and acrylics used on thise lovely pieces. They are using some cool techniques to get all that rich texture. I wish i coukd do it. 

[johnv474]

Dye will be translucent, so the color behind the dye will show through/affect the color the dyed piece is.

Some people paint (white, for example) and then apply dye, but I have no direct experience with that.

Paint will/can be opaque, so it will want to cover the base layer's color. For truly bright colors, I think "acrylic dye" aka paint is the way to go.

[SFISlyfox]

I ordered some Cova Color paints from Tandy's and got a sea sponge. Heres what I've managed on one of the small journals I do. Not a very good photo taker but it looks pretty good to me.