The Reverse Side

OBSERVATION 002 / MATERIAL

THE REVERSE SIDE

On surface, irregularity, and choosing what is usually hidden. 

Leather generally arrives with an understood front and back.

The grain side is the surface we're accustomed to seeing. It's the side most often presented outward and ultimately used to define what a particular leather looks like. The reverse is typically treated as secondary, something that faces inward, gets lined, or disappears once an object is assembled.

I've never found that distinction convincing.

Whenever I receive a new hide, one of the first things I do is turn it over. Even when I've chosen the leather specifically for its grain or finish, I want to see what's happening on the other side before deciding how I'll use it.

Sometimes what I find there is more interesting than what I originally bought the hide for.

The surface becomes softer and less uniform. Fibers change direction. Color shifts from one section to another, and with certain leathers, traces of the structure beneath the surface begin to reveal themselves. It can feel like discovering a second material within the same hide.

Grain surface of horse culatta hide 

GRAIN / FLESH

The two sides of a hide are fundamentally different surfaces.

The grain side is the exterior surface of the skin and carries its natural grain structure. 

The flesh side is the interior surface. Its exposed fibers create the softer, more suede-like texture generally associated with the reverse of a hide. How that surface looks and feels can vary considerably depending on the animal, tanning process, thickness and how the leather has been prepared. That surface may be left relatively untouched or altered through dyeing, finishing, polishing and other processes.

Calling one side the front and the other the back makes practical sense, but it can also create an assumption that one is inherently more useful or desirable than the other.

From a making standpoint, I don't necessarily see it that way.

TURNING THE HIDE OVER

Looking at the reverse isn't only about finding an interesting surface.

A hide can change considerably from one area to another. Thickness varies. Some sections have noticeably more stretch, while others feel denser and more structured. With horse culatta, areas around remnants of the shell can have a firmness that is very different from the softer, more flexible sections surrounding them.

Those differences start to suggest different uses.

A section with more movement might make sense somewhere that needs flexibility, while a denser area can provide structure where I want an object to hold its shape. Variations in thickness introduce another consideration, particularly when several pieces need to come together consistently. Without a proper splitter, those differences can become challenging to manage during construction.

So when I turn a hide over, I'm not simply deciding which side looks better. I'm trying to understand what each part of the material wants to do.

Sometimes the "reverse" side (right) can feel like the "finished" side (left)

CHOOSING THE SURFACE

Once I've looked at both sides, the idea of a definitive front and back becomes less important.

Sometimes the grain is clearly the right choice. Other times a section of the reverse has a texture, mark or transition that gives the object something the grain side couldn't.

This becomes especially interesting with culatta. The reverse can move between pronounced suede-like areas, smoother sections and denser remnants of the shell, sometimes within a relatively small area of the same hide.

Pattern placement then becomes part of the design.

Moving a pattern a few inches can change not only the appearance of the finished piece, but also its flexibility and structure. Two objects cut from the same hide and constructed from the same pattern can end up with noticeably different characteristics.

I don't see that as inconsistency. It's part of allowing the material to participate in the outcome.

WEAR

The reverse side also responds to use differently.

Areas that begin soft and fibrous gradually compress through handling. Friction can flatten the nap and create smoother, darker areas. Natural oils from the hands deepen parts of the surface, while protected sections retain more of their original texture.

Over time, the difference becomes increasingly visible.

A piece that begins with a relatively soft, suede-like surface may eventually develop polished areas around its edges, openings, folds and wherever it's handled most frequently. The material records that use directly.

It's difficult to reproduce convincingly at the workbench because it isn't simply an applied finish. It develops slowly from the way an object is carried, touched and lived with.

 

Reverse side of horse culatta in dirty red 

WHAT IS USUALLY HIDDEN

I don't use the reverse because I think it's more interesting than the grain. Sometimes the grain side is exactly what an object needs. Sometimes it's the reverse. And occasionally the most interesting part is where the characteristics of the two begin to meet.

What matters to me is being able to look at the entire hide before deciding which parts deserve to be seen. There can be a lot of character in a surface that would traditionally be turned inward, covered with a lining, or simply never considered part of the finished object.

Sometimes all it takes is turning the hide over.