It’s no secret that I love to paint on apparel. Hand painted T-shirts, hand painted sneakers, hand painted denim jackets…all of these have been a part of my work for a long time because I love to have fun and try new things. Plus…wearable art! Still, I never contemplated painting on leather. Yet, when one of my long-time clients, who already owns a few denim jackets, asked me to custom paint a leather jacket, I couldn’t say no! The buttery feel of the leather proved to be my favorite and most unusual canvas yet.
The two most important things to do before you start are to prep your surface and to carefully select your materials.
Although I’m always game to try something out of my comfort zone, when the leather jacket I was to paint arrived, I felt really intimidated. I knew I had to get the best paint for this project.
For past projects like the shoes and denim jackets, I used my favorite acrylic paints from Liquitex as well as my favorite fabric medium which is also by Liquitex. I like to use only the best materials for my work whether I’m making enormous paintings, mini paintings or apparel and this time around I looked no further than Angelus Leather Paint. I tried a few different options and this brand was my favorite by far. My client and I agreed on the colors and style before I began my work, but I’m always grateful to my clients for trusting me and my vision.
I tend to favor heavy body paints (because I like to have control over how thin I make them simply by adding water or flow aid) so for me it was a bit of a challenge to paint with the Angelus paints simply due to the thinner consistency. However, you cannot beat the quality. I’m super picky! You can absolutely use standard acrylic paints for painting on leather but I opted to go this route as the price difference was fairly nominal from what I already have in my studio and I wanted to try something new.
Pro Tip 1: In case you’re wondering, if you’re not going to use leather fabric paint, you need a fabric medium so that your acrylic paint doesn’t crack on the leather - assuming you haven’t primed your leather fabric, I recommend layering the paint slowly.
Pro Tip 2: If you opt to use standard acrylic paint, use a brush to mix one part fabric medium and two parts paint in a separate container before applying it to your surface.
Pro Tip 3: While I’m ALWAYS all for going outside the lines when making art, I always tape out the section that I want to paint on my jackets. I prefer to know I’m staying within the portion of the fabric that I want to cover with my paints. Any painters tape will do but I like this one by 3M. I would also try the tape on an inconspicuous spot before committing to it to be sure it doesn’t cause damage to your material.
Have you ever tried to paint on leather? I’d love to know in the comments!
These make a really fun gift and are a great option for commission.
Please reach out if you’d like to learn more!
