How to Draw on Leather (For Carving & Tooling Designs)

Drawing directly onto vegetable tanned leather to layout carving and tooling designs can be a very important skill to develop as a leather crafter. There is nothing wrong with using pencil and paper to sketch designs on and transfer to the leather later; however, being able to draw directly onto the leather could potentially save you time and increase your efficiency on projects. Using an 8B graphite pencil is probably the easiest and safest way to draw on leather. The graphite is very soft and will transfer onto the leather with ease and won't leave permanent marks if used correctly. You can find 8B pencils at most craft stores or in the crafting section at larger supermarkets.
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[@philsullivan3679]

You are a fantastic artist and leather artisan. I find that so much of the Sheridan patterns seem to have the same flowers and leaves. I know there are all kinds of Sheridan art, but I would like something a little different that has the western style to it.
Thank you for sharing your skills and experience. It is much appreciated.

[@Girtyleatherco]

Thank you for the kind words! I hope I can continue to help and hopefully generate new ideas as well!

[@jamesross8274]

I enjoyed

[@kcg3927]

8B... on the list...
Thx for sharing!

[@Girtyleatherco]

I hope it helps!

[@steveb2739]

Very helpful. Thank you.

[@Girtyleatherco]

Glad I could help, thank you for watching!

[@philsullivan3679]

Beautiful work at the end

[@Girtyleatherco]

Thank you!

[@MarcosAlt94]

Keep up the great work brother, great information and straight to the point 🔥🔥

[@Girtyleatherco]

I appreciate that! I hope it helps

[@bobbyroberts5751]

One tip I have for people who don’t know how the layout of floral goes is to recreate someone’s work. You can find someone’s floral work on a piece of paper and shade in parts that would be tool or backgrounded. Then once the fundamentals are down the skills transfer to leather but instead of shading in the background you tool the work

[@Jmz_482]

Good tip 👌🏽

[@Girtyleatherco]

I hope it helps!

[@outfitr9703]

You are an excellent drawer/artist. I wish I could do it. I almost always use some sort of predrawn pattern.

[@Girtyleatherco]

I appreciate that! That’s one thing I have always struggled with. I have never really considered myself an artist. I have put in a lot of time trying to learn how to draw and I hope to be able to offer some patterns one day!

[@maddawgnoll]

I take a big eraser and go over the leather with it lightly first, and regular pencil will work fine. But if i don't use the eraser first the pencil hardly leaves a mark. Lately though I've been using a charcoal pencil set and that works great, and comes off the leather with little effort

[@Girtyleatherco]

The biggest issues I had with regular pencils was them leaving scratches or marks at times. I’ve seen people use regular pencils plenty but I just prefer 8B. I could see that, I might give them a try

[@Amapola454]

Thank you :)

[@Girtyleatherco]

Thank you for watching!

[@biusbush7671]

What about black leather? What can I use to draw some soft guidelines I need before applying studs? I think pencil is not going to be visible on black...

[@Girtyleatherco]

There are white/silver pens that will show up on finished leather available at most craft stores. I was mainly talking about drawing tooling designs on veg tan leather in this video.

[@biusbush7671]

@@Girtyleatherco Thank you. I'm just worried about a white pencil would leave the leather "stained"

[@Girtyleatherco]

I don’t have much experience with that so I’m honestly not sure how well they work. I’m sorry

[@shah01s]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@Girtyleatherco]

I appreciate it!