Painting leather with clean long lasting results. A somewhat in-depth post
For painting: Scrap leather, watercolour pens, parchment paper/tracing paper, leather paints (ROC læderdækfarve is the best one I have ever tried. NO others compare to it), and small brushes (synthetic and sable)
For sewing: scissors, stitching wheel (optional), waxed thread, and leather needles
There are probably other ways to do this but this is what I came up with through trial and error over a few years and it has yet to fail me.
On the left is my reference. I traced it digitally to make a simplified mockup and added a white outline to get a feel for what it would look like on black leather. This isn’t necessary for all designs, but I’ve found that it also gives you a feel for the composition that does help when painting. I already knew that I wanted this on my belt bag so I stretched the image slightly to make the final patch fit it better.
I then inverted the colours and flipped the image. I taped a piece of parchment paper to the screen and traced the lines with a red watercolour pencil. (Shown on regular paper as my parchment paper is brown and does not show up well on camera)
the pencil being water based is important. If it isn't a watercolour pen, it will not transfer at all.
I use my ipad with procreate to create the stencil, but I used to do this on my phone with ibispaint for years, and it works the exact same. If you have access to a printer, you can skip this step and draw directly on the backside of the print if you have a lightsource behind it. Using a printer will make the tracing easier, but transferring with it might be a bit trickier.
Next I slightly wet the leather surface and press the stencil on the damp leather. This takes a lot of trial and error as different leathers need different amounts of water. Too little water and there will be no transfer, too much water and it will bleed into a blob and the stencil will be unusable. But if just the right amount of water is applied you will be left with a usable guideline for your design.
I start the painting process with watered down paint, following the guidelines I have made and referencing the mockup from before closely. After the stencil lines are painted, I wipe away all the excess red with a wet tissue. I also switch from referencing my mockup to referencing the original picture at this point.
Left: one layer. Right: two layers and cleanup
I forgot to take pictures between the guidelines and first paint layer being finished but this is like... the most straight forward part of the process. The most important thing is looking closely back and forth at the reference and comparing your painting to it every few strokes. I use a tiny brush LOADED with paint and a light hand to create pigmented lines and dots. When the first layer is dry to the touch I go in with black paint to clean up any imperfections. The black paint has a slightly different finish to the bare leather, so I do my best to avoid having to use it too much. After that I go in with a second layer of white. The white I use is fully opaque in two layers. I think I spent a total of two hours on this from start to finish.
Most leather paints take up to 48 hours to fully dry. Do not be impatient and cut out, sew, or wear the items you painted before it is fully dry, even if it feels dry to the touch. You WILL ruin your hard work.
I use a stitching wheel to mark out where I want the stitches to go. This is a totally optional step, but I like how neat it makes my stitches look. The thread I use is a thin waxed cotton thread. Don't skip out on leather needles. The type I use have a triangular point instead of a round one and slice through the leather instead of piercing it. Your joints will thank you.
Some of the many other projects I've done with this technique. I used to regularly do jacket commissions but I don’t have pictures of most of them due to changing phones. Both the sisters of mercy/paranoid jacket and the motörhead/znöwhite jacket has had about two years of daily wear and no touchups.
Some other stuff I didn't know where to add:
Your brushes matter. Different brushes are good for different techniques. Small springy synthetic brushes for lettering. Round tiny sable brushes for graphics like the one shown here. Flat eyeshadow brushes for covering large areas with no visible brush streaks.
If you are going to do something that isn't in black and white, you will need a base coat of white under any colour to get full pigment. Otherwise the colour will look dark and dull.
If your leather is a light colour, you can just do a regular transfer with tracing paper and a graphite pen.
Don't use leather that is too dry. If you drag your finger across the surface and it feels like suade, the paint will crack and flake off together with the surface of the material.
You can find scrap leather by thrifting leather clothing items and cutting them up. There are sometimes bags of leather scraps in the crafts sections of thrifts, or if you don't care for the ethical connotations of getting leather that isn’t second hand, you can often buy leather scraps by weight at fabric suppliers.
If you are gonna paint faux leather, you might want to switch from leather paint to vinyl paint.
Treat the finished product with care. As long as you don't scrub at it or keep it wet for a prolonged period, there is a good chance that it will last for years.
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