How to draw floral designs

[Horsewhishper]

Hey guys , So my question is pretty straight forward, how do you draw Western floral designs for belt, holster, purses, etc. Any help would be appreciated look forward to learning. 

[fredk]

Big cheat; get the Tandy Craftaids. They have them all drawn out. Also Tandy have a 'library' where you can buy older designs. Prices are from $0.00 upwards. These come to you as PDF files. With these you can resize and squeeze or expand in your computer to suit your item, then print out, trace over on your item then go to work on it. It suits me cos I'm no artist

Floral design craftaid example;

https://www.tandyleather.eu/en/product/floral-keycase-belt-craftaid

from the 'library';

https://www.leathercraftlibrary.com/p-1743-sheridan-floral-corner-and-belt-pattern-by-jim-linnell.aspx

https://www.leathercraftlibrary.com/p-1739-2681-floral-belt-craftaid-tracing.aspx

[Stetson912]

Well, I'll tell you from experience it isn't easy and takes practice. BUT, there are a few publications. First, Bob park (our resitent hidepounder on here) has a book called "creating Western floral design" all I can say is get it. It's awesome. 

Second, Don gonzalez has an ebook on his website about the topic. It goes into good detail on the subject. This too is worth the money... And there a supplementary one on belts... Here you go https://dgsaddlery.com/product-category/ebooks-available/

Lastly, but not leastly... Pete gorrell has a book also. "Floral pattern drawing for the artistically impaired." It is also good bit somewhat different from the others. 

Bob and Dons books resemble the more aheridan style where Pete's book is more traditional. Bit, who is to say you ain't can mix em and match em right? 

I'm sure there are other resources, but these seemed to help me a bit... Now if I could just help myself haha

[Stetson912]

Oh, and learn leather has an 8 video series taught by Britt Nantz if that's more your cup of tea. I haven't seen/pirchased them so I can't say how "good"they are off hand. Bit I have used learn leather and have been pleased with the format and information provided by experts in leather craft and I know Britt Nantz is a very well respected leather crafter. Keep in mind too, it's a more expensive route to go, but I'm sure the information is great. 

[TonySFLDLTHR]

We also have carving aids. We are in the process of developing more.

http://springfieldleather.com/search?keywords=carverite

[immiketoo]

8 hours ago, Stetson912 said:

Oh, and learn leather has an 8 video series taught by Britt Nantz if that's more your cup of tea. I haven't seen/pirchased them so I can't say how "good"they are off hand. Bit I have used learn leather and have been pleased with the format and information provided by experts in leather craft and I know Britt Nantz is a very well respected leather crafter. Keep in mind too, it's a more expensive route to go, but I'm sure the information is great. 

Thanks for the mention.  The classes by Britt are by far the easiest and most comprehensive way to learn floral design that I have seen.  Britt breaks it down to the individual line level and then builds it back up from there.  You almost can't not do it after his classes.  However, there are a lot of other good publications out there as well, including Bob Park's book which is good and the Cary Schwarz videos are good as well.  

Copying and craft aids are great until you get tired of them or find yourself with a piece where they don't fit, so learning to draw it is highly recommended.

If you're interested, www.learnleather.com.

[Stetson912]

5 minutes ago, immiketoo said:

Thanks for the mention.  The classes by Britt are by far the easiest and most comprehensive way to learn floral design that I have seen.  Britt breaks it down to the individual line level and then builds it back up from there.  You almost can't not do it after his classes.  However, there are a lot of other good publications out there as well, including Bob Park's book which is good and the Cary Schwarz videos are good as well.  

Copying and craft aids are great until you get tired of them or find yourself with a piece where they don't fit, so learning to draw it is highly recommended.

If you're interested, www.learnleather.com.

Or untill you have a project that the aids don't fit :/ 

I'm pinching pennies for those classes by Mr Nantz. How long are the videos Mike? The usual hour or so?

[TonySFLDLTHR]

4 minutes ago, immiketoo said:

Thanks for the mention.  The classes by Britt are by far the easiest and most comprehensive way to learn floral design that I have seen.  Britt breaks it down to the individual line level and then builds it back up from there.  You almost can't not do it after his classes.  However, there are a lot of other good publications out there as well, including Bob Park's book which is good and the Cary Schwarz videos are good as well.  

Copying and craft aids are great until you get tired of them or find yourself with a piece where they don't fit, so learning to draw it is highly recommended.

If you're interested, www.learnleather.com.

This is a really great point. Crafting helpers will only get you so far. Getting the style down is the key to making your own designs. It is possible to take the elements within the helpers and make your own design and then once you feel more skilled you can take it from there. One way to look at it is: Learn Leather will help teach you and build your confidence to get you to making your own designs, while the helpers will get you comfortable with the style and shapes. 

[immiketoo]

12 minutes ago, Stetson912 said:

Or untill you have a project that the aids don't fit :/ 

I'm pinching pennies for those classes by Mr Nantz. How long are the videos Mike? The usual hour or so?

I hear you man, but they are worth it.  The work sheets alone will bump you years ahead.  Each class is about an hour to an hour and a half.

9 minutes ago, TonySFLDLTHR said:

This is a really great point. Crafting helpers will only get you so far. Getting the style down is the key to making your own designs. It is possible to take the elements within the helpers and make your own design and then once you feel more skilled you can take it from there. One way to look at it is: Learn Leather will help teach you and build your confidence to get you to making your own designs, while the helpers will get you comfortable with the style and shapes. 

Thats a good way of looking at it.  Another benefit of aids is tooling.  You can do the same piece again and again until you've perfected the tooling.  Once you understand how to tool it, that info can help you avoid pitfalls in design, like too much or too little background space, tricky intersections and learning what elements are on top.

[Stetson912]

Wow, so 8+ hours of content! Gotta have it haha!

 

Good point on tooling, I tend to draw too small for my tools

[immiketoo]

2 hours ago, Stetson912 said:

Wow, so 8+ hours of content! Gotta have it haha!

 

Good point on tooling, I tend to draw too small for my tools

Yeah it's an epic series.  You bring up a good point.  Britt constantly modifies his tools to be able to tool small areas.  Knowing your tools and your abilities is key.  A man has to know his limitations!