F.A.Q.s

We've painted on treated and untreated cowhide, horsehide, goatskin, lambskin, nappa leather (pigskin), buffalo and even man-made leathers.  Each leather type requires a slightly different preparation, to ensure good adhesion of the paint to the leather surface.

We use a specialty paint made just for leather.  It is water/alcohol based, and is permanently affixed to the leather surface.

We make every effort to ensure our preparation, painting and sealing process will create artwork that will last for  the life of the jacket. We guarantee that the artwork will not peel or slough off, but your artwork will show fine hairline cracks over time, as the leather underneath dries.

We can create almost any artwork you'd enjoy wearing on your jacket! We've created modern fantasy scenes, classic vintage pinups, airplanes, cars, motorcycles, animals, logos, and more. See our jacket gallery for just a few of the hundreds of jacket pieces we've completed.

We specialize in the creation (and re-creation) of vintage WWII type "nose art" jacket artwork, that usually included a pinup girl, some text and possibly an airplane and mission markings.   We take extra effort to create the artwork to look gracefully aged, without harsh blocks of colors, or sharp stark outlines.  When designing your artwork we try to meet your artwork expectations, either for  a vintage look, or something with more modern appeal.

Using basic images that you provide, or ones we create or find for you, we generate designs that you approve, in person, via email or even snail-mail, in writing.  We create mock-ups of each design, that includes the fonts, basic images, placement and size so you have a fairly good idea of what it will look like, even before we start painting!   Once we have design approval, (if the jacket is in the studio), we start the leather preparation, painting and sealant.  The design process can take a few minutes, to several days, depending on how developed your idea is for your jacket, our work schedule, the  communication process, etc.

Once we start painting a jacket, it takes about 6 days to complete, from jacket prep to sealing, and preparation for pickup or shipping.

Prices range widely, depending on several factors, such as the complexity of the art, the size of the design itself, and the type and condition of the jacket painted. We have done jacket designs for as little as $90 and some have been as high as $650.00

We do not take payment for the jacket until you see the final artwork (via a photo) and are satisfied with the results. If we are just designing a jacket for you, and we do not have the jacket on premises, we will ask for a $30 deposit prior to providing you the design. We can take payment via PayPal, or a CC number over the phone, or a check.  We don't charge you a design fee, it's all part of the jacket painting process!

We prefer to create your custom design on a jacket you already own and are comfortable wearing. But, we have procured jackets on behalf of clients, where the jacket is delivered straight here for artwork services prior to final delivery to the client. We do also carry a line of lightweight, lambskin A-2 jackets, with standard square top-hand pockets,, one-piece backs, with cotton liners, sleeves and cuffs, for a very reasonable price.

We've painted nose art designs on metal, fabric, leather and canvas. We can also create vinyl stickers from our nose art designs that can be reproduced as many times as you need.

We work with you through the design process, providing initial sketches / mock-ups from your design ideas, and work from there.  Our nose art creation process includes the development of design sketches and/or research to create just the type of nose art you envisioned.

It depends on the surface that we'll be painting on. When we're painting on an aircraft, we use high gloss enamels.  For reproduction or aircraft panels to be hung indoors, we can also use acrylics covered with a matte clear-coat.

When we are re-creating a piece of nose art that originally existed on a military aircraft, there is generally no copyright issue, as this "artwork" was created via a government institution and is part of public domain. Some current military units (ex: the Air Force Thunderbirds)  have provided exclusive rights to some of their visual logos, insignia, etc. to only certain organizations. Legislation exists that forbid any person or entity outside of some government agencies  to use their logo/insignia unless they are an official representative of that agency.   In all cases, however, we CAN create a "for personal use only" design that includes any image, from Mickey Mouse to American Airlines' eagle emblem, without copyright issue.  We cannot recreate copyright images in multiples, for commercial use, without violating copyright laws, and thus we avoid this practice.

We specialize in the creation (and re-creation) of vintage WWII type "nose art" jacket artwork, that usually included a pinup girl, some text and possibly an airplane and mission markings.   We take extra effort to create the artwork to look gracefully aged, without harsh blocks of colors, or sharp stark outlines.  When designing your artwork we try to meet your artwork expectations, either for  a vintage look, or something with more modern appeal.