To pick up where I left off after the stitching and boarders are set its time to pick a design or draw your own design. To be truly custom I choose to draw my own designs. Lets take something simple like a cross for a bible cover. once the size is set for the cover the size of the design is determined by this. I fit my designs in these areas. The cover must be divided up by front cover, back cover, and spine. this gives me my workable areas. That's why its good to know math with fractions included. Proportions is key don't want to draw something that just doesn't look right. After I have my art on paper its time to transfer it to a Mylar film this film is waterproof and will allow me to transfer the design to my actual leather project. So i have to trace to Mylar then using a stylist i trace the art on to the leather. After this is completed I use what is called a swivel knife to cut my design allowing the relief work to be done to give that 3 d look This is called leather tooling. A lot of people think I do branding but that is a completely different process. Using different tools I can get the desired effects I want to my art work on leather. Using these tools takes much practice and years of trial and error to get a personal style. and my style is always evolving.
Shown are some tools used in the trade.