Materials needed
Drawing for leather is very similar to drawing in general with a few stylized techniques. You are going to want either paper to practice on or that clear tracing paper, so you can go straight from drawing to tracing on your leather. You are also going to need a pencil and a ruler. A ruler isn’t necessarily needed, I only use it when I need to make the dimensions the same as my project. Once you have everything ready find a flat surface and get ready to design.
Style
The style of your designs depends mostly on your personal taste. Leather work does have a particular style that most carvers stick to, but you don’t have to. The western look that you mainly see is called Sheridan style. This style involves the winding vines and leaves with the flowers as the main accent. It’s main element is flow. Designs drawn with this style lead your eye around the pattern in a natural way. Take this picture to the right of a Sheridan design. You can see how the vines and leafs lead your eye throughout intertwining and accenting the flowers. Once you get a design you like just copy it onto your leather. I use tracing paper and either a pencil or a modeling tool. I put the design on slightly damp leather and use the tool to leave an imprint.
Conclusion
It is going to take some practice to get the feel for creating your own designs and your personal style. If you are not too sure about drawing your own patterns you can find free ones on the internet. The Elk Tracks Studio has some great patterns available for free and to buy. His designs are very clean and he tells you which tools he uses when he ends up carving it.
Bevel 