Friday, May 25, 2012

Illustrated Shoes


The other day on Pinterest, I came across a site called Figgie Shoes where the owner paints custom designs on shoes (heels / flats for weddings, baby, etc.). I had to try it *immediately!*

I think the artist at Figgie Shoes uses a paint brush, but I am not as skilled in that arena so decided to try it with ink and paint pens instead. Off to Joann’s I went and picked up this set of pens (fine and regular point on either end) as well as a white Sharpie branded paint pen. Then I went to Goodwill for some shoes.



On my practice pair I started by freehand drawing with orange pen. I think these particular shoes are made of a sort of faux leather. The ink took to the material nicely. At first I thought it looked nice and subtle – you could barely see the design. Then I decided I wanted the design to stand out more so I went over it with the white paint pen.

The orange bled into the white, making for a sort of mixed-color effect. It wasn’t bad, but for shoe #2 I opted to start out with white alone. I prefer the white by far! What do you think? Someone told me the design on these reminded them of henna tattoos (something else I want to try). I take that as a compliment!

After the above pair, I was itching for more. I dashed down the hall to my 2 year old’s closet and found a pair of shoes I’d bought for her at Target that were a size too small. They still had the tags attached, and I hadn’t gotten around to returning them. Perfect! So I went for it on this pair with all the colors. White still stands out most, but the other colors look great too. I think it really turned out cute. I gave it to a friend who is expecting a baby girl soon. I didn’t get a full picture before so this is a small phone shot that she took.

I'm addicted now, so plenty more to come and with bigger and better photos! This is actually a pretty easy craft to try out. If you're nervous you could use a stencil. What do you think? Will you give it a try? If you do, link back to your photos because I want to see!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Love, love, love! You have such a talent, girlfriend!

Unknown said...

Love, love, love! You have such a talent, girlfriend!

SarahDesign said...

Thanks squito! You made my day!