I drew and carved sunflowers on the flap of a full flap holster for one of my Ruger Old Army black powder revolvers. Basically, I'd like to accent the petals and leaves with water based acrylic paints (lots on hand I use for painting fish wall plaques), not necessarily so thick that the paint is opaque, but to give the holster a splash of color. I've been looking unsuccessfully for a tutorial. Any advice please? Would Super Shene by Tandy be a suitable light topcoat over the water based acrylic? One concern I have about painting is cracking of the paint with flexing of the flap. Suggestions please? Thank you as always. Don
I've used an airbrush and thinned leather dye to get such an effect. Perhaps you could thin the acrylic similarly and use one of those pressure cans with a rattle can spray nozzle.
SHEESH,nice bag Marshall!
Wow that's handsome!! I know that is beyond my skill level. Have an airbrush but don't have skills yet to use it. My only option at this time are artists brushes.....Don
Thanks, pards.
Don, if you already have the airbrush, get it out and practice on a few scraps to get the feel. If the acrylic pigment is too big, it may not work great through it but there's a sure way to find out. I found that Lincoln dye worked better in my airbrush than other brands. I could really dial it down to a fine mist and put it on slowly. Also, if I shot it from too far away, the dye dried too quickly and wouldn't penetrate the leather very well.
Will, do you have a bigger picture of the saddle bag?
I made that years ago and that's the only picture I have of it. The picture got scanned in from a slide.
I know several folks who use the water based acrylic paints. the colored sharpies work good however I like the effect of colored dyes on leather much better than paints but that is just my preference.