Dan is right. The way I did it was pretty complicated. I would just make sure that you use dilute rabbit skin glue (like one part gelled glue to about eight or nine parts water with a very small amount of alum added (maybe 1/4 teaspoon to a cup). Both of these additives will cause the milk paint to bind better to the leather. Then when you paint on the milk paint (not very easy), you have to do it in washes and then stop when it begins to streak! It will become more opaque when it dries. Then you can add another coat. I would not build it up much at all (it will crack when bent if too thick) --and it will still look kind of golden --then I would switch to a mixture of titanium white powder (white lead substitute) mixed well into a mixture of linseed oil mixed with beeswax (heat wax in double boiler, add oil off burner, about 3 parts oil to one part beeswax). Add a lot of Titanium White powder, use a palette knife. Rub the mixture into the painted leather, let dry. Later use Dubbin as a final coat, can add Titanium White to it too. I warn any who would try this ahead of time that it is DIFFICULT! Supplies are expensive, so do a LOT of tests first... If you want to paint decoration --you can wet the leather and use a dried out ballpoint or stylus to transfer the design, and then tape it off with painters' tape. It's not easy.
Qui sepeliunt capita sua in terra, deos volantes non videbunt.
--Flavius Flav
