How can you make a plastic look like real leather?

I have seen plastic where an artist took a real piece of leather and heated the surface of the plastic, then pressed the leather into the hot surface. The look of the leather melted into the plastic, and he peeled the leather off, to reuse for another piece. Then it is painted the color of the leather.

Another was is to use a painting technique of touching wet paint with a rag to make it look like leather. This method is explained in a book you can pick up at the paint store called faux paint finishes.

First answer by Yarnlady. Last edit by Yarnlady. Contributor trust: 194 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 3 [recommend question]