Common Surface Problems

Worn Leather

Introduction The differences between new, shiny leather and worn leather are so vast that it's difficult to always remember that the basic material is the same - only the surface treatment is different. The leather color is pure in shiny leather, partially dulled in worn leather. Reflections are a natural part of shiny leather, but they are nonexistent in worn. Highlights are brilliant and sharply defined in shiny leather, but quite dull - if apparent at all - in the worn. The very term "worn leather" is ambiguous because the degree of wear varies; it may be extreme, hardly perceptible, or average, and each maintains a characteristic appearance. When the degree of wear is minimal, some of the original surface sheen and color will be mixed with the worn, paler areas. This provides contrast in both color and texture. The color is on the surface of the leather, therefore, the more worn it is, the paler the color and the duller it will be. There will be great variations of surface composition and texture in the item you choose to paint. I find a painting technique similar to the one I use to paint wood best suited to painting leather. This demonstration veers from the norm in two respects. First, I've created an entire scene in the fourth step because I thought you might find it interesting to see how a subject can evolve into a painting. Secondly, not being an equestrian, I'm totally unfamiliar with the nomenclature of saddle parts. My reference source refers to "seat", "cinch", "horn", "saddle", and "flaps". I've isolated the seat portion as an entity and refer to it as the "seat". The flat portion underneath the seat which rests directly on the horse's back is the "saddle", and the "flaps" are the large leather pieces hanging from each side of the seat. The "cinch" is the long leather strap hanging over the seat, and the "horn" is the round handle on the front of the seat.

Step 1. Underpainting white is used throughout this demonstration. I start by squeezing out some white and raw umber. I then mix five separate mixes where mix 1 is pure white and mix 5 is pure raw umber. The other three tones are in between these two extremes. I then number these 1 through 5. I use thinned tone 2 to outline the general shape of the saddle and to fill in areas of middle value. I leave the lightest (white) areas unpainted. Tone 5 (raw umber) is used for the very darkest shadows.

Step 2. The rear portion of the seat, to the painter's left, is slightly darker than the front section and I indicate this darkness with tone 3. Highlights - such as on the back of the seat - are tone 1 (white). The right side of the seat, which is lighter in value, has a great deal more tone 2 in it. I use tone 3 for darker areas, such as those on the lower right of the cinch and below the horn. Highlights - such as the large swirl in the lower half of the seat and those on the horn - are tone 1. The saddle is almost completely tone 2, with highlights of tone 1. I use tone 3 occasionally to emphasize certain areas, such as the shaping in the lower left and the buttons securing the saddle strings. Tone 2 is used for the flap.

Step 3. In this step I lay in the basic groundwork for the final color rendering and for the creation of texture. I add phthalo blue, Mars yellow, and burnt sienna to my palette, and wait until my paint has become quite sticky before I begin painting. Phthalo blue and white make up the temporary background. I mix burnt sienna, Mars yellow, and phthalo blue for the brown color. I also mix Mars yellow and white to produce a yellow. What I do now appears quite complex to the eye but is actually relatively simple. The brown tone is applied both in a brushy manner (using thick brushstrokes) and a scumbling manner. I brush it into areas requiring a darker, browner appearance - such as to the right of the flap. In the paler areas I use the scumbling method, allowing the brown to skip along the top of the underpainting. Next, I take my yellow mixture and scumble this on top of the brown: this is done heavily in the lightest areas, lessening where the brown deepens, and omitting it entirely where I need dark brown. The highlights are the yellow mixture brushed on solidly. This is seen clearly on the cinch, which because of its worn surface is painted much like a highlight.

Step 4. Raw sienna and burnt umber are added to my palette. I allow step #3 to become completely dry before I apply painting medium to the entire surface. To achieve a creamy texture in my paint, I dip my brush constantly into a cup of painting medium as I work. In the deeper brown areas - such as the seat and the flap - I overpaint it with a reddish brown mixture of burnt sienna, Mars yellow, and phthalo blue. I don't apply this evenly, but brush in in according to how deep I want the color to be. The brown is brushed up into the highlights and carefully blended to produce rounded forms in areas such as below the horn. Raw umber and burnt umber are brushed in for texture and to define form. I brush raw sienna into the cinch and use raw umber in horizontal strokes to create texture. Since the saddle is lighter in color, glazing is done very sparingly with raw umber, raw sienna, and a little burnt umber. Notice that my brush strokes are diversified in direction, again for the purpose of creating texture. I'm the first to admit that worn leather can be a challenge, but then, artists' love to be challenged; or should.