Painting or staining rawhide

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mr dazzler

Native
Aug 28, 2004
1,722
83
uk
Is there any advice available on painting onto rawhide (drumhead, goat or cow) what sort of ink or paint, should the raw hide be damp or dry etc?
 

Woody girl

Full Member
Mar 31, 2018
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Exmoor
I have a drum that I'm awaiting inspiration and time to paint which was hand made for me. It's elk skin, so I am a bit scared of starting this project as I'm not the world's best artist.
Talking to another friend who paints shamanic drums she recommends proper artists acrylic paints.
I think once I decide on my design I shall get her to do it for me!.
As far as I have been able to acertain the skin needs to be dry, not damp as the paint won't adhere properly to a wet skin.
Hope that helps. Post a pic when you are done. I'd love to see it.
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
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McBride, BC
Acrylic artists' paints are used on dry hide for First Nations drums here in the Pacific Northwest.
Google for many examples online.
Best to make many drawings and designs that can be cut out as stencils.
If you need to dilute the paint for a thinner color, do so with artist's acrylic medium, NOT water.
You can mix all the brands OK.
 

mr dazzler

Native
Aug 28, 2004
1,722
83
uk
thanks for the tips. I used to make stencils for a living years ago (ruby lith) would most likely be a good way to do neat text
Does acyrlic stop on well or does it peel when the drum gets well used and gets damp and dries out repeatedly (as they do)?
 

Woody girl

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Mar 31, 2018
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It rather depends on the amount of use and the type of beater. I have a decorated 30 yrs old bodrahn. The paint has worn over time, but that was with a wooden beater and many yrs of use on a regular and enthusiastic basis. I use a felted wool beater now for the shamanic drum. It should be fine for years and can always be touched up if wear shows. It doesn't seem to peel at all just wear thinner over time.
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
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McBride, BC
I'll have to ask some First Nations elders about wear and peeling.
Personally, I think the wear from use is attractive.

Google UBC/MOA and search the online collection for drums.
I haven't dome that yet but I will out of curiosity.

Will be lots of drumming this weekend as 2 big new house posts will be installed in the Heiltsuk Big House.
Probably live on line so you can see the drumming.

edit: went into the UBC/MOA and found a Haida drum that showed signs of wear, probably from use. Loos OK, no big paint flakes peeling off or anything like that. The other PacNW drums looked very fresh and clean (wall-hangers?)
 
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Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
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Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
Natural pigments have been used for tens of Millennia.
The oil base ( linseed oil or similar) will soak into the hide, and improve it as it is a natural p4oduct.

It will wear nicely too
But you do what you feel for!
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
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McBride, BC
Oils will soften the drum head to make it sound dull. Water based stains and pigments would not affect that.
No linseed oils on the PacNW coast only animal products like ooolican oil and maybe rendered fats
from sea mammals and salmon eggs. Across the plains, bison, bear and goose/duck fats.

Scrolling through the online collection in UBC/MOA, I was surprised to see how many drums are not decorated at all.
Maybe just those for big ceremonial purposes?
 

Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
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Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
I was thinking more an oil like linseed oil. Dries. Has been around Europe and Middle East for thousands of years.
Drums too.
Other natural oils dry too. Artists / painters will know.

The Saame decorated their drums.
Raw, hairless raindeerskin ( soak skin in a creek for a time, scrape off hair) painted with a mashed up bark ( paste) from a hardwood tree. Not birch. Aspen? Alder?

Oldest drums are around 700 years old. They had no Acrylic paint then.
:)
 

Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,293
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
For staining of the hide I would also use something from Nature.
The members here that are into wool and fabrics will know wh@t will work.
Spring grass makes Yellow,
Hypericum ( Eng. ?) a reddish or brownish colour.
 

mr dazzler

Native
Aug 28, 2004
1,722
83
uk
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mr dazzler

Native
Aug 28, 2004
1,722
83
uk
Again thanks for your suggestions. One thing I will try is using ebonising solution (maybe masked off with a stencil) to get a black. It worked brilliant for me on veg tanned leather to get a beautiful black sheen on one of my knife sheaths. If rawhide is naturally acidic it should work??
I have had good success in the past making paints from natural earth pigment mixed with tough acrylic floor varnish. It wears nicely without peeling, maybe that would be a workable solution. I'll let you know how it goes
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
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S. Lanarkshire
Do you know how henna works ? or leaf printing on linen, or the Japanese cloth painting that gets laid aside to absorb the dye ?
Those are mineral and tannin dyes. Very natural, just ground up (rub on a harder stone to make the dust) and made into a paste.
The classic ones are Ochre, Ironstone, copper ore, but you can also make a lake from plant materials like walnut hulls, elderberries, buckthorn bark, hawthorn bard, alder bark, oak galls, etc., and they will all work.
Their brightness isn't the bright of modern dyes, but it's still colourful and appealing and very right on something like this.
 
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Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
The vinegar/iron ebonizing stain complexes with the tannin.
The complex cannot be washed out.
Some woods are far better (oaks) than others (birches).
Tanned hides should be nearly ideal for that treatment.
 

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