Acrylic painting leather

[RJLamie]

I see lots of discussion about using acrylic dyes and paints but haven’t seen anyone layout out their best practices.

I am looking to airbrush acrylic paint to create colored handbags.  What kind of steps do people find work best for surface prep.  Can you apply neatsfoot oil prior to painting.  Do you dilute your paint when painting large surfaces?

Any other  tips and ideas related to this subject will be much appreciated.

[fredk]

I only use acrylic paint for colouring-in details. As acrylic paint only stays on the surface of the leather I don't consider it best for over-all colouring. For a coloured bag  I use dye or pre-dyed coloured leather

[DarkGoku]

1 hour ago, RJLamie said:

I see lots of discussion about using acrylic dyes and paints but haven’t seen anyone layout out their best practices.

I am looking to airbrush acrylic paint to create colored handbags.  What kind of steps do people find work best for surface prep.  Can you apply neatsfoot oil prior to painting.  Do you dilute your paint when painting large surfaces?

Any other  tips and ideas related to this subject will be much appreciated.

https://createxcolors.com/ check them out, I get good feed back from customers who use it I airbrush using dyes and stains, but adding neatsfoot oil I would wait a few days for it to dry before trying it. it will block water base paints. if you want it soften, try using a leather conditioner. then after dries, buff and paint.

hope this helps 

[koreric75]

4 hours ago, fredk said:

I only use acrylic paint for colouring-in details. As acrylic paint only stays on the surface of the leather I don't consider it best for over-all colouring. For a coloured bag  I use dye or pre-dyed coloured leather

same here, i'll airbrush some acrylic diluted with water after stain has dried completely and before resolene/finish.  I mainly use it to touch up or highlight colors and since it doesn't absorb in like dye it works pretty well...still practicing on "best methods" but so far i'm happy with this way.  After it's done and dried, i spray resolene also diluted with water for a finish.  My first attempt at an avenger, wanted to put something on the reinforcement panel, used some orange & yellow to touch up around the flame and face...

[RJLamie]

How would I create the color in the commercial bag below from veg tanned leather?  I assumed something this bright needed to be done with acrylic paint.

[fredk]

I have leather that is pre-dyed that sort of colour; its called 'raspberry crush'

I also have a 'neon pink', various bright greens and bright blues and a lavender. I've used up all my purples; they were popular for a while.

I got my coloured leathers from Le Prevo. I'd think most tanneries will have such coloured leathers in stock

[fredk]

to follow on; a photo of 4 coloured leathers I have on-hand

From left; 'raspberry crush', [which is more pink than shows in the photo], lavender, Sea Green, red [which is actually a bit on the orangey side]

Big companies can order 1000's of square feet of leather in any colour of their choice. Mere me just looks out for the excess on sale at the likes of Le Prevo and I buy it up as best as I can

Get friendly with a few tanneries, tell them what you are looking for and maybe, perhaps, they'll let you know when they have some, perhaps excess or 2nd quality from an order. Thats what I did with Le Prevo

 

[RJLamie]

Those are amazing colors and a great idea getting chummy with a tannery to get the inside deals.

My main goal in this case is to be able to create custom colors.  The color needs to be completely uniform that is why I was thinking acrylic paint.

Can I achieve those kinds of brilliant uniform colors myself using dyes?

[koreric75]

3 minutes ago, RJLamie said:

Those are amazing colors and a great idea getting chummy with a tannery to get the inside deals.

My main goal in this case is to be able to create custom colors.  The color needs to be completely uniform that is why I was thinking acrylic paint.

Can I achieve those kinds of brilliant uniform colors myself using dyes?

You can, I prefer to airbrush something like that for uniformity...some colors blend easier than others and if you're mixing custom colors an airbrush will help your dye go alot further than daubers or sponges