I hope everyone has been enjoying their winter break so far! As finals and classes come to an end, it leaves more time to work on personal projects, and with the Holidays right around the corner, it couldn’t be more perfect.

I’ve always been a fan of making my friends and family handmade gifts, and this year is no exception.

I tend to always stick with a trend with my gifts, whether it be clay, crochet, or paintings, and this year, I’m doing artwork on sheets of leather. Not that long ago, I was gifted several pieces of leather and tools to go along with it. Because it’s unlike my usual art mediums, I was unsure what to do with them, until I got an idea.

One of my friends is big into transformers, so I wanted to gift him something relating to his interest. I then sketched out his favorite transformer, Thundercracker, on a separate piece of paper before I transferred it onto the leather using charcoal.

After the design was transferred onto the leather, I went over it with ink to solidify the lines. Once I was satisfied with that, I added color to it using acrylic paint since color makes everything better.

After the color was done, I went back in with my pen to add all of the final details and hatching.

Finally, once everything was done, and I was satisfied with how the artwork looked, I placed it in a frame before I swapped it up so I could give it to him.

Overall, working with leather was an interesting experience and I definitely want to work with it again!

I hope everyone is enjoying their break and staying warm over the winter. I can’t wait to see everyone back on campus, and enjoy the Holidays!

-Sarah