Field Marks – zoo animal signatures stamped in leather

From the Practice Log – an ongoing series of original leather stamping studies.

A September study. Volume II.

A field guide teaches a way of seeing: the whole animal rarely shows itself, so you learn its marks – a track in the mud, a call from the trees. Field Marks presses five of those signatures into leather, luggage tags down to journals.

First, the sandhill crane, which can put more than two hundred miles behind it in a single migration day, most of it gliding. We stretched that glide down the length of the tag and set 200 MILES BY DINNER beneath the flight line.

Black-and-white die artwork of a gliding sandhill crane above 200 MILES BY DINNER for the Field Marks leather collection, Volume II.

It looks genuinely beautiful – one tag in pale greige, the crane's own morning gray, and one in deep navy for the open sky.

A gray-sand leather luggage tag stamped with a gliding sandhill crane above 200 MILES BY DINNER, from the Field Marks collection, Volume II.

A blueberry leather luggage tag stamped with a gliding sandhill crane above 200 MILES BY DINNER, from the Field Marks collection, Volume II.

The black tag carries the crane in gold.

A black leather luggage tag stamped in gold with a gliding sandhill crane above 200 MILES BY DINNER, from the Field Marks collection, Volume II.

Next, the blue-throated macaw, a bird you hear long before you see it. We drew it mid-announcement, beak open and tail streaming down the fob, over the words HEARD FIRST – which is also how keys enter a room.

Black-and-white die artwork of a calling macaw above HEARD FIRST for the Field Marks leather collection, Volume II.

Looks great when stamped onto the leather – deep navy for the bird's blue, golden tan for the gold of its chest.

A blueberry leather keychain stamped with a calling macaw above HEARD FIRST, from the Field Marks collection, Volume II.

An Arizona tan leather keychain stamped with a calling macaw above HEARD FIRST, from the Field Marks collection, Volume II.

Then the porcupine, whose quills come loose at the lightest touch, so whoever gets too close walks away with a souvenir. Ours ambles off the corner of the toiletry bag with one quill left behind, above the words LEAVES AN IMPRESSION – which is exactly what a stamp does to leather. True black over deep espresso brown, the animal's own coat.

Black-and-white die artwork of a walking porcupine above LEAVES AN IMPRESSION for the Field Marks leather collection, Volume II.

Black and dark-espresso leather toiletry bags stamped with a walking porcupine above LEAVES AN IMPRESSION, from the Field Marks collection, Volume II.

Then the collection's nameplate for the catchall tray: FIELD MARKS, circled by the signs the animals leave behind, from three-toed tracks to a stray quill. A tray is where the day's own evidence lands, so it takes the name at generous size.

Black-and-white FIELD MARKS nameplate die circled by animal tracks, feathers and a quill for the Field Marks leather collection, Volume II.

It looks genuinely beautiful pressed into the golden tan.

An Arizona tan leather catchall tray stamped with the FIELD MARKS nameplate and a ring of animal signs, from the Field Marks collection, Volume II.

And finally, the one we liked the most. A bald eagle earns its white head slowly – the full field mark arrives at about five years old. We set that profile in the corner of the journals over GIVE IT FIVE YEARS, fair advice for any page worth filling.

Black-and-white die artwork of an adult bald eagle above GIVE IT FIVE YEARS for the Field Marks leather collection, Volume II.

Looks absolutely gorgeous when stamped onto the leather – one journal in deep brown, the eagle's folded wings, and one in pale greige, its hard-won white.

A dark-espresso leather journal stamped with an adult bald eagle above GIVE IT FIVE YEARS, from the Field Marks collection, Volume II.

A gray-sand leather journal stamped with an adult bald eagle above GIVE IT FIVE YEARS, from the Field Marks collection, Volume II.

We made this out of love. Leatherius Woodman is on a mission to create and share artifacts of beauty, craft and love – this study is one of them, and we hope the feeling is mutual. Every image is a render – how we prototype before cutting a die.

If you'd like these made real, or anything here changed – say hello through our contact page.