Designing with Stamping Tools – Lesson Two: Irregular Shapes
Designing with Stamping Tools – Lesson Two: Irregular Shapes builds on foundational stamping concepts by focusing on one of the more challenging aspects of leather design: working within uneven or complex shapes. In this home study course, the late Paul Burnett demonstrates how to adapt stamping layouts to fit natural curves, asymmetrical forms, and non-linear spaces.
Through step-by-step examples, this guide shows how to simplify irregular spaces, use borders effectively, and maintain visual balance even when symmetry is not possible. The lesson includes techniques for adjusting spacing, building borders around curved edges, and combining multiple stamping elements into cohesive designs. Additional exercises demonstrate how to subdivide larger areas, create circular and floral-based compositions, and texture negative space to enhance the overall design. As with other materials in this series, these pages are presented as scans of the original self-produced lessons, so minor imperfections may be present as part of their original format rather than modern restoration.