The idea of putting tattoo on a leather hide has been floating around for some times in my head. I would imagine it wouldn't be much difference, both are skins and should accept the ink in the similar fashion (for veg-tanned leather anyway). After some advise from my wife (she has few of her own tattoos), she recommended Westside Tattoos to do the job. She thinks it's the best tattoo place in town.
I did some research and found out that the ink tend to splatter and need to be wiped frequently. This will be a problem for veg-tanned leather. Anticipating this, I prepared few scrapes leather with different surface finish. Lily, our tattoo artist agreed to do a quick test run on the leathers. She found one that work the best. With this information, I prepared two blanks, one for Iphone pouch and the other for Ipad Pouch.
I couldn't be more happier with the finished tattoos. For something that she has never done before, she did a tremendously good job, two thumbs up. The finished tattoos is different than the human skin as leather does not heal, it's similar as carving the leather but with ink. I have yet to found out about the durability of the tattoo, the impression will be there for a good while, but the ink may fade overtime, only time will tell.
As always, some photos:
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| Ipad Pouch with 'Gon' tattoo. I'm a big fan of the silent comic. |
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| Detailed impression of the tattoo |
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| 'Skull & Flower' Iphone Pouch |
Very nice - I've been thinking of some similar ideas recently and wondered whether she used standard tattoo inks or something else? I've heard that airbrush paints can work well.
ReplyDeleteAndy, to be honest I wouldn't have a clue to which ink she used. I would imagine she used a standard tattoo inks. That's interesting with the airbrush paints, thanks for the info.
ReplyDeleteVery cool! How did you prep the surface for the tattoo?
ReplyDeleteI used clear sealer on the leather surface. A waterproofer might also work.
DeleteThank you very much for getting back to me. I'm a tattoo artist and leathercrafter. I've been trying to tattoo leather with disasterous results. My next step was to use a clear coat. Glad you confirmed it working. I'd also read that using waterbased airbrush paint works better than tattoo ink/pigment.
DeleteHere's some of my work on deviantArt.
http://tracersleathercraft.deviantart.com/
love ya work i live in Tasmania Australia leather crafter I tryed water based sealer and tattooing still smudging and staining . what do you use? do you tattoo only on coloured veg leather or on natural embossing veg tan
DeleteThanks
Mick
maka@maka.com.au
www.maka.com.au
what kind of leather did you use?
ReplyDeleteHi Lee,
ReplyDeleteIt's vegetable-tanned leather.
I wonder what kind of clear sealer did you use? thanks..
ReplyDeleteYou can try any clear sealer that your local leather shop sells.
ReplyDeletei emailed you
ReplyDeleteI know it's an old post. Just curious, did it fade?
ReplyDeleteHi,
DeleteI can see that the ink is not as bold as before so yes it did fade a tiny bit. I'm using the item very gently. My guess is the fading rate will increase if sun exposure is increased as well.
Spray scotchguard over it! WIll healp seal it and protect from fade.
DeleteThanks for all the tips, I've been thinking about giving this a go for ages.