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Get ready for an INSANE challenge! Today, I’m attempting something I’ve never done - leather tooling a super detailed dragon using ONLY three tools... Well, 5 if you count the knife and the hammer, LOL. It will be wild, and you won't believe the result! Follow along, and I'll show you step-by-step how it's done, proving that you don’t need a whole workshop to create something AMAZING.
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Before tooling, cover the back of your project with blue painters tape. This helps prevent the leather from stretching as you're tooling.
I recently did my first tooling project! It was a catch-all/dice tray, and i was super happy with the results but knew I could do better. This was super helpful! I personally love the look of tooled leather with just like brown gel dye on it. Looks very classic, and the lines and shading pops really well.
I always get some new ideas out of your videos, even when it's a topic I already think I know about. It is hard to find images that are ready-made for transferring onto leather; I love the suggestion to find pictures in advanced coloring books. Two tips to offer: when you are pushing the leather out from the back side to add extra depth (I have seen this referred to as "extreme embossing"), I find it works best to let the front side dry first, then wet the leather from the back side, just enough that it does not soak all the way through to the front. That way the leather is soft enough to shape, but you do not risk losing the details you have carved into the front of the leather. If desired, you can also fill in the indent that is created on the back side, with cork or leather shavings mixed with glue, to give the embossed area some support.
I know it’s not a typical thing you do in your videos but having watched you for several years at this point I’m really curious about how many different skills you have tried over the years, what level you have got each to and your first and latest things you have made for each skill. 😊
Heck yeah, Thanks dude!
Badass tooling work! Thanks for all the helpful tips. I JUST started working on tooling, and your videos have been extremely helpful.
Thank you so much for watching! I am glad the vids have been helpful!
That piece of leather would make a really cool front cover to a book or folio. I would love to see you take it and do something like that.
I love these videos because they give me confidences that i can learn to do leather work.
Thanks so much for this video! I'm sure I've seen your other tooling tutorials, but something in this one finally clicked with me. Using gravity with the hammer to get consistent results! Keep up the good work! And using AI to come up with an idea for a personal project is totally fine! Not everyone can draw, and it gives you a starting point to make your own creation!
Tooling is great for three leged stools, chair seats and backs. Even better on a driectors chair. Back before you could so many things on the internet there was a large book called Leather Secrets by F. O. Baird that gave directions and paterns for tooling. Many of them were for American west products but the lettering and secondary design paterns will work for anything. It is out of print and the cheapest I have seen it sold is $125 plus shipping. First printed in 1951, I have a revised addition from 1976.
Always a pleasure.
Oooohhhh... that looks super cool! Imagine a whole armor toled in that style...
awesome and inspiring!
Love it man.
😮wow just WOW! AWESOME WORK!
that's very cool for a book cover
Long time subscriber. I always look forward to your videos and i don't want to miss any of them
I think it would make an awesome leather bound book cover
"I promise you can do this! I really want you to try this!" Ok Leather Daddy ok. I'll give it a chance.
This was phenomenal. We've got the "basic tool kit" video, all the videos showing different techniques with the different tools, and now this one that "pulls it all together" for us. Also, it's very timely for me, since I have a particular design I've been wanting to try my hand at - a Celtic knotwork fox. This video makes me feel better about tackling it. Also, I thought your design panel was going to be a book cover at first glance.
You can basically do the same in metal. Only difference is, you flip it a whole lot more to give it some volume, and instead of dousing it in water, you do it with fire to soften the material up. At least that's the way I learned it for copper, silver, gold, brass and bronze. And after writing it down, I noticed, those are basically the entire spectrum of metallic dragons we got in DnD 5e.
Great video. I watch every video you put out. I think this a great use of AI. You've used it as a tool, and transformed it from what it was into something in a different medium and made it your own. I also love that you were honest about it. It is a lesson after all not an original piece youre going to sell. Keep doing your thing, and don't let the opinions of a vocal few dissuade you from exploring your art!
Very nice video, and great way to show off the use of minimal tools. I think you left one important factor off at the end though (unless I missed it). Time. Overall, how much time did the tooling take you?
You need to soften your jeweler's rouge with heat, then spread it onto your strop. Just rubbing it like you do is pretty much the same thing as just using a strop without any compound
Would look great on a center panel for a DM screen… would love to see you imbed metal in a dual layer dm screen(front and back leather. Metal panel stitched in the middle) that way magnetic dm resources.
That sounds so COOL!
I just want to say thank you for your creativity and uploads, this is definitely in my top favorites of yours
Man... I needed that, lol. I am getting beat up a bit here today and stuff like this really helps. Thank you for being here and making the day a bit brighter. I appreciate you.
If you dont want to paint, the antique-ing, is pretty good at popping out the tooling. No matter what you've coloured it as.
Very cool 😀🐲
I’m helping with the algorithm 😎🤙🏿
How has this been out for 59 minutes without me seeing it?! Thank you Cl3ver for getting back-to-basics and showing how far and how AWESOME even basic tools can make leather. 3:18 I like the outlining idea, but I would use a highlighter or contrasting color for my lining to make it stand out more from the "noisy" background.
Considering how well you do what you do and how interesting your videos are, I'm still flabbergasted that you only have 140K subs!
imagine how cool that would look as a bound book cover. Maybe it could be a memoir about dragons you've encountered on your adventures.
part of the mudding of the details is using a black antique dark brown is about as dark as you generally want to go.
will it work on wood like pine or some other softer construction lumber.
Hi, can I ask you if an embossing on the black leather, will result beautiful? Sorry for my bad English 😅 And thank you for your video, they are very beautiful 🙂🙂🙂
The other issue with using a scalpel type knife is that the cut is too thin! This is a thick blade which cuts and pushes the leather apart at the same time. I tried doing some with with a scalpel and had to go over everything with a leather needle to split the cut else bevelling would be almost impossible. Thankfully I now have one in the post.
I think what would have made the tracing a little easier is if you had changed the line colour to something like red. Than you would have seen the black sharpy lines easier when tracing :)
Can you provide a link for the tools?
It looks so nice! Also was loving the nails
2 Questions Would “laminating” the back of the paper with heavy duty masking tape still allow for design transfer on the leather?… Cuz doing front and back would allow for paper durability to reuse and not worry about wet paper if so…. Do you watch Tipsy Bartender? 😅
Very cool project! Very informative
Question: What do the marking on your nails mean?
They say "Leveling Up"😁
Level Up You, in Morse code, from left hand pinky to right hand pinky (writers point of view)
Love your content dude!! Thanks for giving me motivation to start tooling my own projects!!
my first (and so far only) attempt at tooling I laminated the pattern first
Have you ever tried printing an image on temporary tattoo paper and transferring it onto leather that way? I would think it might work if you spray water onto the leather to stick the normal paper onto it. Obviously this would be just to get the reference onto the surface and not really be the final permanent product, Im just throwing the idea out there.
We actually have a whole video on the different ways to transfer images onto leather, with that being one of the ways we tried!
Awesome Job! 👍👍👍
For some reason I’m having a difficult time hearing you this episode. Maybe the mic settings got changed or the audio balance is off?
Happy New Year to you and yours!
Happy new year!
Good job 😎 came out pretty nice.
👍👍👍👍👍
Great video, as usual. I’m curious as to what your fingernails say. Couldn’t figure it out 🤷🏼.
I like the return to basic tools. Some of the tools you've been using lately are high-budget items that require space and workshops and looots of money--something most people don't have. Skills that use basic tools are more accessible, which makes the show more relatable.
I'm actually working on tooling some designs on a leather archery quiver much like the one you made in one of your previous videos. Love your content =D
Is that Morse code on your nails?
They say "Leveling Up"😁
@@SkillTree that’s sick! I was struggling to try to read it from memory
@@SkillTree “Level Up You” could also fit 😏
Level Up You, left hand pinky to right hand pinky (writers point of view) Thought it looked familiar, but from viewers pov (DOQPD FEBEF)
Love the design
I just got some leather tools for Christmas, what project should I do first?
Hmmm. What kinda tools? If you like fantasy, bracers are super easy! You can start with little coasters too. They give you a chance to practice with very little material
Yes.
Maybe make a bookmark. simple a small so low "risk" for first project and you can try all kinds of different techniques. Have fun with it!
Could you use a Cricut to do the cutting in of the design before tooling it with the punches?
Ya know, I bet you COULD! great idea!!!!
You can't really just reverse image search something made with AI to determine if it's stolen. Even if it was very similar to a single image in its dataset, google likely wouldn't be able to tell. And if it isn't, the whole system is still made using stolen art, that's just what's going to be used and what you'll get if you decide to use it. If you just need a pattern for tooling like this or for other similar projects and you want to make sure it's not stolen, why not just find something you like and ask the artist? The large majority of artists will likely be happy to let you use it as long as you make it clear where you got it.
This is an odd ossue to me, especially when nobody asks for any kind of clarification. First, the art in question was not the point of the video, nor am I profiting from it. The reverse search, firstly, was to look for anything close as I know AI can sometimes take wholesale and I didn't even want the layout to be similar. Then, the base image was taken to photoshop where it was completely warped and altered by me to make it look like a line drawing, as the original was full color and looked like it was on leather. Then I traced out only bits that I want, Then I moved the medium to leather where the art was further changes and my style further added. All of which is moot because I sell nothing AI generated. I didn't cover any of the iterative process as, again, this was not what the video was about. Kind of a forest through the trees issue I am seeing.
@@SkillTree I understand what you're saying. I would like to clarify on my end that I'm not trying to say you're a bad person or a thief just because you used AI at all. I don't think you are. I respect you as a craftsman and as a content creator. And I also understand that you're just using this as one tool of many to make something for yourself. And it's certainly much better that you're not trying to sell this or deceive anyone, as a lot of AI users end up doing. The issue with AI itself is more than just those blatantly bad things though. The reason I brought it up, and what I assume caused the higher dislike ratio on this video compared to others on your channel, is that even with understandable uses of AI it still supports the companies that made the systems in the first place. And it rubs many people the wrong way when they see a big company like OpenAI steal the life's work of thousands, get away with it, then people that they like go and support that either through paid access to the AI or even just engaging with it, which is exactly what these companies want, it helps them be legitimized so they can push it even further. Again, I get it, I'm not trying to say you're the bad guy here or that AI being legitimized is on your shoulders. I'll continue to support you going forward. This is just something I feel very passionate about as an artist and after seeing it way too many times, I end up saying critical things of it where it ends up.
Thank you. I appreciate your salient argument and understand your point. There are companies I disagree with, ethically, so I boycott in much the same way. I will keep this in mind in future😁
O: !
Wow... that's amazing. It would make a great book cover - speaking of that, you should combine this with some book binding!!
Hey there Cl3ver!! Been watching from darn near the beginning of this channel, and love everything you've put out! I know this would be a more significant investment, but I'd love to see a short series on using different machines. For example, a benchtop burnisher; what's the best way to use one? What's the sanding drum for with leatherwork? Or like a cricut; what's the best way to use a cricut for leather? Does it actually work well/is it a time saver, or is it just kinda garbage? I'll keep leveling up, as long as you keep showing me how! Thanks so much for all you do!
Awesome vid it thank you so much I’m working on my brother’s bracer’s
Leaning a lot, thanks. Also I got the leather sewing machine for Xmas so now I really have to make things 😅
Got a leather hand-sewing kit for Christmas. Now I need to get leather and a basic tooling set. In the meantime, I have a dice cup that needs its stitches redone.
the AI was trained on someones work. Reverse image search just didn't find it.
Wide book cover!
That WOULD make a cool book cover, wouldn't it?
Level up?! This guy is a Demi God each and every project He needs to get into voice acting....perfect cartoon/ Anime rogue voice
Well I’m a subscriber so I’m here to help!!
I appreciate you!!!!
@@SkillTree feelings mutual Cl3ver
Same thing when I do a carving - to paint or not to paint is always the question!
That is pretty bananas. I always had trouble with the beveling until i found your tip on the previous episode about letting the hammer fall. My next project turned out way better. I did mess it up on the home stretch, though. It's a wallet, and I was punching from the back, angled my punch wrong, and went straight through the image. Tooling was nice, though! 😅
Turned out great! Now to do some tooling on your cosplay armor pieces
I'm already subscribed. I can't subscribe any further! Lol
Then I owe you my deepest gratitude!!!! Thank you!
What would you use to paint the leather? For instance, if you wanted the dragon green with the same red and black you have. Then adding more layers of paint onto the green dragon. Would all of that be dye or would it be actual paint? If paint what do you suggest to paint leather? @SkillTree
That would be a very cool book cover! Actually, would making your own hardback leatherbound book be a project you're interested in doing?
Looks Slick Cl3ver
Thank you!!!!!!
I can see that panel as the front of a book, like a visitor's book, or a photo book, (I know, HOW Quaint! Right!! LOL) I think you did an episode on book making and paper making and this would be a continuation of that. (IDK I haven't seen everything you have done. YET!) This would be an epic front cover panel and something to have for display and bragging rights!
@SkillTree what AI tool are you using,and what prompts did you use to generate that style of image? Do you have plans for showing how to make source art with AI? you seem to have gotten better results that anyone I know personally has managed and I'd love to know how you do it!
Hou toe Sharp
Just for future reference, our eyes are naturally drawn to the darkest areas of an artwork. If you paint something pure black it isn’t going to make that area fade into the background, it will bring it to the forefront.
Not bad for a beginner. Now now, stop the hate before it starts. I've been carving leather for 55 years.
Lol! I will take a "not bad" from an experienced pro! I have a long way to go so I am happy for any tips and tricks! Thank you so much for watching!
It's how I convinced myself that I can do this hobby. "I'm just tracing with special tools"
AI literally only works because it is fed copyrighted art and writing. It puts together the image from images that other people have made, so of course you aren't going to find that exact work. but it still only exists because it already stole from people. you shouldn't use AI image or word generators in the future
First like and second comment? Never been this early to one of my favorite channels!
sorry..if i didnt comment, you could have both =( now i feel sad
Inching your way up!
I always love your crafts, but as an artist, PLEASE stop using AI to create images, it works by scalping actual artists images and frankenstiening them together.
That's not how reverse image search works my dude. There aren't currently any ethical generative art AIs either, why did you go that route instead of getting something both above reproach and actually good?
From what I understand, that is a good way to make sure you aren't stealing original works. By reverse image searching and including images that are even similar, you can see if there are any works that it cribs off of existing pieces. Then, a step further is the fact that I further alter it with my project, omitting large swathes of detail and adding my own style to the mix. Finally, it isn't sold by me as a product. I usually have a weekend to create and film each project and this is a fast turnaround time getting me in the ballpark of what I need without taking too long. Now, were this something I was selling to the public, let's say as a template or some such, then I would either take the time and make it myself or pay another artist to do so.
@SkillTree fair enough, but take care anyways; In my experience, reverse searching never worked too well with black and white pictures;
Noted! But, I also took some time and photoshoped. It was full color and in a different perspective at first. I made it more front facing with the skew tool, then desaturated the color, then put it through a filter that made it look like line art. Just isn't what the episode was about, so I didn't go into detail, lol
I think this is fine. I'm not a huge AI fan but he's not claiming he made the image and he's not selling the image. Imo the best uses of AI art is as a tool. Such as a reference image or some practice image. Which is what this is mostly for. AI is a good tool but anyone who claims an AI image is "their art" is what makes it bad.
@@whoahanant agreed 100%
Extremely annoying man and he paints his nails, very sus
Not gonna lie, I'm really disappointed by the use of AI for this. Why not find an existing piece you like and ask the artist permission to use it (or pay them to) for the purpose of this video?
From what I understand, that is a good way to make sure you aren't stealing original works. By reverse image searching and including images that are even similar, you can see if there are any works that it cribs off of existing pieces. Then, a step further is the fact that I further alter it with my project, omitting large swathes of detail and adding my own style to the mix. Finally, it isn't sold by me as a product. I usually have a weekend to create and film each project and this is a fast turnaround time getting me in the ballpark of what I need without taking too long. Now, were this something I was selling to the public, let's say as a template or some such, then I would either take the time and make it myself or pay another artist to do so.
@@SkillTree I would rather wait months for a new video than to see another project using AI art. AI generators inherently and explicitly steal work from artists without any way of tracing it back to or crediting the sources. This could have been a great opportunity to showcase an artist whose work you enjoy. I enjoy your work and it's been extremely inspiring for me in my leather crafting journey, but I would be extremely disappointed if you continued to use AI in this way. I hope you seriously consider this feedback and reconsider using AI in the future
I am curious now, genuinely. What are your feelings on the practice of compositing for reference material? For example, if I wanted to make a knight riding a giant rat into battle. Normally, I would scrub the internet and find an image of a rat that I like, then a knight, cut them together on a background until the whole image is roughly what I want it to look like. Then use that as reference to create my own work. It is a super common practice. Is that immoral too? I didn't create the images I am referencing. I suppose that is how I see this. If I had AI generate an image, used it as is, claim it is my own, sell it and make money from it, any one of those things, I would agree with you. But as use for reference material and edited myself as such for a thing I am not even selling and still making it clear the reference was not my own... I guess I am not seeing the damage here. What are your thoughts?
@SkillTree I think the main damage is that it normalizes using AI for people who ARE using to profit off of other people's stolen art, but otherwise I don't think this is a super harmful use case. Generally I don't think compositing peoples art to create a reference for an original piece is problematic either. However, if I were to make a leather carving of "The Great Wave Off Kanagawa" I would want to pay credit to that original art. Similarly, if I was directly tracing my carving off of Artist A's knight and Artist B's rat, I would be crediting those artists because I'm directly copying their designs into another medium. If I used that composite as inspiration and started a new piece of art from a blank canvas, I might not credit those artists based on how much I deviated from that reference. I also think you did a fine job of making it clear it wasn't your original image. But I don't think you should be referring to the generated image as "reference material" when you are directly tracing and copying it.
Ah, I think the issue ther, then, is that, since the episode wasn't about the process of getting the image, you didn't get to see the changes made. The original image was dragged into photoshop and hevily altered, with the original being a 3 point perspective 3D piece. I made it 2d, changed perspective, changed the line art, removed and added bits, etc. Though, I would still never pass it off as a wholly original creation, the two look nothing like eachother lol. I do understand your point though.
sorry bro, gotta thumbs down for the AI. was excited to watch until that came in.
It is a tool like any other. The art was not the point of the video. As for the art, the AI gave me a foundation which I took steps to make sure it didn't infringe on anyone's work (even though I am not selling it so it is a moot point). I then took it into photoshop and edited it until it was what I wanted. No different than taking inspiration from a freely available piece of media, changing it to suit my needs, and then using it to practice a skill. I suppose I could agree if I were then selling the art I got from the generator, but I am not. I guess, like any tool, I don't find it unethical unless you are using it in an unethical way. Cheers
Highly interesting vid as usual 👍🤓 ( _didn't even skip the ad_ 😁 ) appalling sound as usual 😥 do you *_actually_* pass the audio througha bucket ? 🪣🎤🪣 ( & yes I *_can_* see the mic ! 😉) But again, great video, thanks 😃, perhaps resolve in post ?
What is the issue with the audio? I am genuinely curious. I seldom get any complaints from anyone and when I do it is because either myself or Madi mess up the levels and have the music too loud lol. I went and played it on 3 differend devices and it seems OK. Usine a rode shotgun mic that is only about a foot over my head and pointing towards my face JUST off camera. Love to hear your thoughts.
@@SkillTree Ok, via *_simple_* user experience. (1) "Loudness" (2) "Clarity"; (1) On my half-decent set-up, I often have to turn down many YT vid's. Which is fine, because *_above_* 100% is not achievable [ _whilst keeping it simple_ ] , but below 100% is. With your vids I have to take steps (silent room, amplification, etc...) (2) great tip @ 8:50 also showcases the issues you have with clarity, the hammer is so much sharper than the voice Your environment may be a challenge, but other YT videos e.g. woodworking get past those challenges Addendum : love your vids... watch most of them multiple times; will keep feeding the algorithm 😉 👍 *_and_* 🔔
@@SkillTree Your videos are always way quieter than the average, but there are a handful of other pretty big channels I follow that are the same. The mix is sometimes a little off, though not enough that it's something I'd actively complain about for the most part, but the actual audio quality? Meh, I've heard better, I've heard worse, "appalling" is a little OTT IMO :p Just speaking as someone who consumes a lot of similar content, I'd suggest trying a lav mic for your style. You don't need to be hiding your mics for verisimilitude, so you aren't restricted in that aspect. I don't know about the mic you're currently using but there's _such_ a notable difference in quality between 2' and 2" away for mine, regardless of the settings.