Introduction to Leather Sculpture

llis · #1 03-30-2003, 03:18 PM

Thanks Teresa for putting this article together for all of us. It's making me want to get out the leather stuff my father use to work with.

Here's the link to the article in case others miss it....

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Articles2/5128/310/

pixelscapes · #2 04-03-2003, 09:29 AM

Wow -- what a great article! And a beautiful leaf, too.

It sets my mind to thinking of OTHER sculptures that could be made with leather... hmmmm...

Teresa, do you have recommendations for books on the topic, or other resources? And where do you GET leather to work with, anyway?

-=- Jen "Intrigued" Gagne

teresasart · #3 07-09-2003, 07:18 PM

Hey, I am SOOO sorry, I never saw your post till just now! D'oh!

Jen, there weren't really any books that I was aware of; when I started doing this it was because I saw pics of some pieces in museums in Europe and thought they looked interesting. I corresponded with the museum curators to learn more (before the days of email, so it was snail mail all the way!) Then the rest was trial and error.... LOTS of error! LOL There may be books on it now, but I've not read any. My friends tell me I should write one.

For leather, I'd suggest places like Weaver Leather in NE Ohio, or you can sometimes get decent stuff at the Leather Factory. I don't like to mail order the leather, as I prefer to pick it out myself. Unfortunately, you generally have to buy a whole side (1/2 a cow's worth, basically) so it's not cheap to just dabble in it. Some places may sell smaller pieces, but be prepared to pay more per square foot that way.

As a side note, I finished a framed sculpture recently of a dogwood branch. Didn't seem like it would take too long till I got doing it- it ended up having over 140 pieces in it!! Glad nobody could hear me grumbling at it here in my studio!

Teresa

Lauralin · #4 08-21-2003, 03:49 PM

That's so cool! I know how to do roses in leather sculpture, and wanted to see if there was anything else out there. Does anyone know what else is out there as far as things that can be done in leather sculpture?

teresasart · #5 08-21-2003, 04:08 PM

Lauralin,

The sculpting of leather seems to be more common (and accepted as a medium) in the Orient. There is an older man there who is a National Treasure of Taiwan; he does little people. (I don't even know his name)- I had come across an article about him once, and it showed him at work in his studio. Many of the tools he had made look similar to the ones I use for my work. There is even an entire show there devoted exclusively to leather sculpture, but I've not found any information in English on it.

Teresa

Lauralin · #6 08-21-2003, 04:16 PM

Ok, thank you. Do you have any idea if that man in the magazine has a website I might be able to find by searching long enough on Google? I know I found a little information from the leather museum (is it in Holland? I dunno...), but like you said, there really wasn't anything in English.

teresasart · #7 08-21-2003, 05:57 PM

I've tried to find information about him on the net, and haven't managed to locate anything. If I come across something, I'll post it here.

As a sidenote, there are other people in Taiwan who use leather as a sculptural medium, and some of them have web sites. I've seen them by doing a Google search. That's how I tried to find info about that exhibition there, but couldn't find anything in English. Too bad, as I thought it would be fun to enter a piece of my work!

Teresa

Adriela · #8 06-15-2005, 02:37 AM

Theresa, thank you so much for sharing. It delights me to find an artist who freely shares techniques. I think that's the mark of a truly confident individual. I haven't sculpted in leather in years, but I was getting the hankering not long ago. And Lo.. your tutorial. It's wonderful and the leaf is gorgeously done. There is a book called Wearable Art, I think, that features some sculpted leather. I think you could make some incredible fashion pieces were you of a mind to.

again, thanks so much. I'm looking for my leather and tools now..lol

Adri

WmDShirley · #9 06-15-2005, 10:46 AM

I used to build armor for SCA folks and since I liked the early years, 650AD or so, I used a fair amount of leather. What I do is go to a "findings" outfit, which sells material for making shoes and such. Buy sole leather, 1/4" thick and draw the patterns on it. Then I cut it with a skill saw and put the patterns into a big pan. I pour HOT water, nearly boiling, onto the leather and let it soak until the pin bubbles stop. Then I grab a piece, lay it on a stump with a hollow in it and pound the leather to compress and form it. (The hot water has de-compressed it.) I work it like a blacksmith works metal. Then I rivet the pieces onto a metal frame and viola! You have a cuirboilli helm. BUT you can do the same process to make a leather sculpture, a mask or some such thing. It dries very fast, like a few minutes, and can be sealed with lacquer or hard wax. I sometimes used boot polish. I can upload a pic of one of my helms as soon as I resize it.

teresasart · #10 06-15-2005, 05:23 PM

You're welcome, Adri.

It's good to share info on techniques. After all, they've been in use for hundreds of years!

Regarding using really hot water when forming the leather, you have to be careful with that. Many people when first experimenting mistake the term "cuir boulli" to mean that the leather must be boiled. If it's too hot (ie boiling) it will damage the leather permanently. Some heat can be beneficial in both increasing the flexibility and also in increasing the rigidity of the shape when drying the leather, but too much will cause it to become brittle and crack. This is especially a concern when some flexibility is still desired, or when the leather will not be supported from behind by a rigid surface.

The weights of leather generally used for sculpting purposes are not so thick that they require hitting the leather to manipulate its shape, so the addition of lots of heat is generally superfluous. (This is especially true when sculpting by hand. To avoid getting burnt, I usually recommend water which is comfortable to the touch.)

Teresa

Adriela · #11 06-15-2005, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teresasart

It's good to share info on techniques. After all, they've been in use for hundreds of years!

Teresa

Well, silly me. I guess when I started leather there was less available. I had to search and search to find good technique books. Glad things have changed.

teresasart · #12 06-16-2005, 10:50 AM

Adri, please be sure to post pics if you do any leather pieces! I'm sure many of us here would love to see them.

I forgot to say, when I first started doing this I did do some wearable pieces. In time, though, I wanted to go for a higher level of realism, and I was making the leather so thin that I thought it was not practical for pieces to be worn. I had not seen that book you mentioned; I'll have to look it up sometime just to see what's in it!

Teresa

WmDShirley · #13 06-19-2005, 09:06 AM

Well, I did say the water was not boiling, just very hot. The hammering is not so much to shape the leather, but to compress it while it is in the right configuration, as the sole leather is compressed by a roller to extrude the chemicals and aid in drying. When you pour hot water over it you de-compres it and it becomes flacid. Pounding it with a wide headed hammer makes it easy to shape. I was mostly making pieces for helmets, like Japanese armor, but I also made body armor like gauntlets and vambraces and even art stuff like masks. If you do accidently use water that is too hot so the leather seems to be drying out, you can restore it with hot wax treatment. Once the leather is set hard you can use wood carving tools to scribe designs and even make parts more flexible by scorping out the backside.

quickcat327 · #14 06-30-2005, 06:26 PM

Hello, I have not posted here before but was intrigued by the article. I taught leather craft for many years. I used to purchase my supplys from the Tandy Leather Company they have many franchises around the country and offer every thing from tools to books, from kits to full leather hides,they offered classes also and were free with demos and advice too. You might want to check and see if one of there stores is in your area.

WmDShirley · #15 02-16-2006, 12:22 AM

For many years I use sole leather to make armor for my medieval recreation group, the SCA. I developed a nice technique for compressing the leather and riveting it to steel bands to make fairly light helmets in the 7th century Swedish mode. Cuirboilli is a great material made with boiling water and a broad headed hammer, like a 3 lb sledge. Once I quit playing at being a Norseman I continued to make masks and other objects out of this material. I love working in leather and really appreciate this thread and the tutorial. I think there are many materials typically thought of as 'craft' goods which can easily be used to create fine art as well. For that matter, I think well made crafts are just as "fine art" as many hangings in a museum. If there's an interest I will be happy to explain what I do with the leather and the surface treatments that can be used on leather.

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