Tattooed leather

[Langston]

Hey everyone it's been awhile but I wanted to show off my latest work. They are tattooed leather patches.. yes actually tattooed with a tattoo machine. Let me know what you think

Sugar skull

[Langston]

Skulls and roses

[bikermutt07]

Ok, that's really cool.

[jstar61]

Great work. Love the skull.

I have been thinking about trying this. Do you use leather dye, or tattoo ink? Is it sealed, and how does it hold up?

[CaptQuirk]

That is beautiful! It takes a real skilled hand to do tattoos, and you have it!

[LeatherWorthy]

That is absolutely amazing! I gotta look into this. You made my day!

[builderofstuff]

I'd like to know more about how you do this. When I've tried it in the past the results weren't that great due to the leather being so difficult to work with. Do you soften the leather somehow to make it more workable? Are you using tattoo ink or dye?

Chris

[HavenHillJay]

Does the leather have to be thicker?

[Langston]

Yeah it's taken me over a year to fine tune the process. Yes the leather needs to be conditioned, use of good leather is important. I don't use tattoo ink. Thickness wise I've done it down to 4oz. And as for durability it holds up really well, did a dog collar for my dog and the parts that were dyed are wearing off and fading but the tattooed part looks almost as good as when I did it (it'd probably help if I cleaned it) 

[cjartist]

Looks fantastic. I really love the skull and roses.  Seems like the leather is just really dried out skin, so maybe a lot of oil to moisturize it?  I guess you want to keep your secrets to yourself.  That's cool.  I totally understand that.  So if it is not ink it must be dye.  Probably Angelus to get so many colors.

[CaptQuirk]

5 hours ago, cjartist said:

Looks fantastic. I really love the skull and roses.  Seems like the leather is just really dried out skin, so maybe a lot of oil to moisturize it?  I guess you want to keep your secrets to yourself.  That's cool.  I totally understand that.  So if it is not ink it must be dye.  Probably Angelus to get so many colors.

It rubs the lotion on its skin then puts the lotion in the basket

[LeatherWorthy]

3 hours ago, CaptQuirk said:

It rubs the lotion on its skin then puts the lotion in the basket

Wooowwwwwwww. You win the internet today! Youve got me laughing my ass off at work, and I work in a computer cubicle farm.

[KatieS]

Okay so at the risk of sounding as new as I am to leather AND tattooing... you just take a leather conditioner and apply it just like you would apply lotion to your own skin. Then it's ready to tattoo? And you do this on bare/non-dyed leather?

Also, you would use leather dye instead of tattoo ink?

 

thanks so much for sharing! I have been scouring the internet trying to find information about how to proceed- I have everything just waiting and I'm scared to start! I am looking to tattoo on the leather journals I make.

 

[KatieS]

Okay so at the risk of sounding as new as I am to leather AND tattooing... you just take a leather conditioner and apply it just like you would apply lotion to your own skin. Then it's ready to tattoo? And you do this on bare/non-dyed leather?

Also, you would use leather dye instead of tattoo ink?

Do you make the same choices in needles for the leather as you would skin? Does it wear your needles out quickly?

Thanks so much for sharing your beautiful art and expertise! I have been scouring the internet trying to find information about how to proceed- I have everything just waiting and I'm scared to start! I am looking to tattoo on the leather journals I make. I do brush lettering so am hoping to get a similar look.

 

 

[inkd308]

From someone who is a out 75% covered in ink I would love to get something like that done for my Harley