Look Again – a leather stamping collection on the artist's habits

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

A September study – Volume I-A.

Look Again is a small collection on the working habits behind every good picture – the first mark, the daily practice, the long second look, and the decision about what stays. We designed five stamps around those habits and pressed each one into leather.

First, we made the first mark. One loaded brushstroke over the words FIRST MARK, in the corner of a journal – a blank page is easier to face when the cover has already begun.

The black-and-white FIRST MARK brushstroke stamp plate from the Look Again leather collection about the artist's habits.

In black the press sits as a quiet shadow relief; on pale gray sand it reads like ink on toned paper.

A black leather journal blind-debossed with the FIRST MARK brushstroke from the Look Again collection about the artist's habits.

A pale gray-sand leather journal blind-debossed with the FIRST MARK brushstroke from the Look Again collection about the artist's habits.

Next, the design that named the collection. An open eye over LOOK AGAIN – what a picture asks of its viewer, and what a maker does a hundred times before calling a thing done. On a keychain it rides where the keys ride, so it gets read every day.

The black-and-white LOOK AGAIN eye stamp plate from the Look Again leather collection about the artist's habits.

Looks great when stamped onto the leather – once in warm red, once in navy.

A warm red leather keychain blind-debossed with the LOOK AGAIN eye from the Look Again collection about the artist's habits.

A navy leather keychain blind-debossed with the LOOK AGAIN eye from the Look Again collection about the artist's habits.

Then, the catchall tray. We set four crop marks around the words WHAT STAYS – on a proof, crop marks decide what makes it into the picture; by the door, the tray holds the day's own selection.

The black-and-white WHAT STAYS crop-mark stamp plate from the Look Again leather collection about the artist's habits.

It looks genuinely beautiful on the golden tan.

A golden-tan leather catchall tray blind-debossed with WHAT STAYS and crop marks from the Look Again collection about the artist's habits.

Then, for the toiletry bags, we crossed a paintbrush with a toothbrush above DAILY PRACTICE – the two disciplines nobody regrets keeping. The stack pairs warm mid-gray over deep espresso brown.

The black-and-white DAILY PRACTICE crossed-tools stamp plate from the Look Again leather collection about the artist's habits.

Country-gray and dark-espresso leather toiletry bags blind-debossed with DAILY PRACTICE from the Look Again collection about the artist's habits.

And finally, we set TRAVELING EXHIBITION inside a proper picture moulding, stepped corners and all, and hung it on a luggage tag – any suitcase packed with care qualifies. Looks absolutely gorgeous when stamped onto the leather.

The black-and-white TRAVELING EXHIBITION picture-frame stamp plate from the Look Again leather collection about the artist's habits.

The black tag carries the frame in gold foil. The other two are blind debossed – one in warm mid-gray, one in pale sea-blue.

A black leather luggage tag gold-stamped with TRAVELING EXHIBITION from the Look Again collection about the artist's habits.

A country-gray leather luggage tag blind-debossed with TRAVELING EXHIBITION from the Look Again collection about the artist's habits.

A pale sea-blue leather luggage tag blind-debossed with TRAVELING EXHIBITION from the Look Again collection about the artist's habits.

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 any of these made real, or anything here changed – say hello through our contact page.

P.S.

An alternate black leather luggage tag gold-stamped with TRAVELING EXHIBITION from the Look Again collection about the artist's habits.

An alternate country-gray leather luggage tag blind-debossed with TRAVELING EXHIBITION from the Look Again collection about the artist's habits.

An alternate pale sea-blue leather luggage tag blind-debossed with TRAVELING EXHIBITION from the Look Again collection about the artist's habits.