Oct 23, 2019
| 2014 | Tattooed Leather Art |
| The Design |
The art is 50 x 70 cm and inked onto a piece of nude veg tan leather (around 3mm thickness)
The leather is ethically sourced & purchased from a British Leather Supplier. The leather originates from a small town in Spain, where they are conscious about environmentally friendly methods of tanning hides.
The design features organic & geometric shapes and patterns.
| The Design | Evolution
I started with the symbolism first. I wanted to add in a MMere Dane symbol.
MMere Dane design tells us that ‘time changes’ in the Adinkra language of symbolism. Reminiscent of an hourglass. The circle linking them represents the ever moving, eternal cycle of time. Nothing stands still or remains the same.
The design features organic and geometric motifs, which represent the duality of life and death and the never ending cycle of change.
| The process |
Here’s a look at how it was created and the labour intensive process I use to create the work. The art was completed over a 3 week period.
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THE DESIGN | SCRIBBLES
The image is painstakingly traced onto leather, so that the faint depressions can be followed with the tattoo machine.
LEATHER | PREPARATION
Staining and conditioning the leather, to the required colour and feel.
Getting the pattern ono tracing paper.
DESIGN | TRANSFER
The design is traced onto the leather.
This is so that the design remains as symmetrical as possible.
This takes quite a few hours to complete!
TATTOO | FINE OUTLINE
The outline is inked with one needle. At this point it is a very fine line.
To get the line as crisp as possible, I may need to go over the line several times!
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TATTOO | DEPTH
Detail is built up over several days or weeks.
The detail may need to be inked in several layers of Black ink so that the Black is strong and defined.
I may have to go over a line 4 or 5 times, before i am happy with it.
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LEATHER | TOOLING
After Tattooing - In order to bring out the lines and create subtle depth in the leather I then tool all the lines with a modeller.
I raise or depress the shapes and lines (Within sections of the design).
The depressed sections take on a darker colour, you can see this in the bottom section of the design, around the horned shapes
Sections of the design are raised above the surface by a technique called repousse. This is mainly seen in the rams skulls.
The whole design can take weeks to complete, due to the level of fine detail
FRAME | CREATION
In handmade reclaimed ash frame, with leather inlay. The frame is also created by us.
FINISHED | DESIGN
‘ Rhythm Of Life ’ by Punctured Artefact
CLOSE UP | TATTOOED & TOOLED
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Copyright
The art may be angled , cropped or watermarked for copyright reasons, please do not use the art.
Shop
Head over to the shop to see more leather art
Head over to the leather area of the website to find out more
Find out commissions here
Thanks
Thank you for taking the time to look at my blog.
Inky Love
x
Dionne
Artist
| ART | TATTOO | LEATHER | PRINT | ILLUSTRATION |