Convincing leather

[IdofEntity]

Hey everyone,

I've started on some Wood Elf Glade Guard using an autumn colour theme. Light orange, browns, and pale red. I'm having some difficulty deciding on how to treat the boots and leather bracers that the glade guard wear. So I'd love some suggestions on what colours to utilize. Using GW, Vallejo, or actual colour names would be extremely appreciated.

I tried using Snakebite Leather, drybrushing on Bestial Brown, and highlighting with bleached bone and wasn't too happy with the effect. (thinking bleached bone was a mistake, and should have gone with something not so high a contrast to prevent it from creating a "shine" effect)

Would starting with a lighter brown, and then lightly inking provide a better result?

Thanks in advance,
Id

 

[Hendarion]

I'm using GW-colors for that: Base Vomit Brown. Then I use Flesh Wash to create the shadow and deeper areas. I'm not using it as an actual wash, I'm just using it to blend, it has a nice fluidity for that already. The only problem is that it is glossy in the end, so make sure to use a good varnish. The highlights I put only very sparely with Bleached Bone, on really extreme points. Really just sparely. The outcome is a quite bright/new leathery or wooden look. If required, I would make a picture, but it's too dark outside atm and raining... and I don't have a light-box.

 

[green stuff]

I tried using Snakebite Leather, drybrushing on Bestial Brown, and highlighting with bleached bone and wasn't too happy with the effect. (thinking bleached bone was a mistake, and should have gone with something not so high a contrast to prevent it from creating a "shine" effect)

Just for the record, there are all types of leathers (shiny, worn, cracked, different colors, ...) :

The colors you indicated can work, it just depends how and where you apply them. Rather than drybrushing the bestial brown, I'd use it for shadowing and apply it as a wash. I'd also use Scorched Brown to get the shadows deeper.

 

[IdofEntity]

That last picture looks close to what I'm aiming for. Since the boots are meant to be practical, and thus not shiny when combined with camo colours, having a reflective shine on them seems like a bad idea. I'd rather not go for a cracked look. Thanks for the idea on the wash! I'll try that tonight on a test model when I'm home.

 

[freakinacage]

i would use and orangy brown and the darken it down with dark brown then black (the black makes it duller and more realistic imo)

 

[CreganTur]

Here's what I used for the leather on my centurion. This isn't the best pic, sorry, but it does show the good effect:

-Basecoat with Snakebite Leather
-Do a few glazes with Vallejo Smoke until you get it as dark as you want- this gives it a very nice dark and worn effect
-HL with Snakebite Leather
-Extreme HL with Desert Yellow
-extreme extreme HL with Bleached Bone