Art Kicks

Spidey v. Wolverine

2011-05-12T07:48:00.000-07:00

This pair was heavy on research. Our client was expecting certain costume with certain features. As a self-described comic book nerd, perfection was key for him.

May have had the best time research these vs any other pair. Got to spend a few hours in my apartment sitting around reading comic books. Little backstory: my first drawing "mentor" was Sonic the Hedgehog comics. I'd spend hours recreating my favorite panels from the comics, in the process internalizing all the technique and styles of my favorite artists.

After researching I gained two things.
1. Accurate sketches of both the characters.
2. A knowledge that Wolverine can kill exactly 36 ninjas in one issue.

2011-05-04T11:47:00.000-07:00

Crows and Ravens, again

2011-04-04T16:09:00.000-07:00

This has got to be the third crow/raven themed pair of Art Kicks we've had commissioned (granted one pair was dead bird themed). But this is getting ridiculous. Customers, we can do other animals! I recently just did a detailed illustration of a manatee for a project. Those too can be put on Art Kicks! Give us something new. Squirrels, llamas, sea cucumbers, deer, anglerfish, ostriches, candiru, emu, alaskan king crab, proboscis monkeys, slow lorises, manatees, especially manatees. Just not anymore ravencrows!

I chose a a very simple color scheme, using only five markers for the majority of the design.

Art Kicks: Charity Japanese Relief Pair

2011-03-19T16:29:00.000-07:00

With the recent developments in Japan, we think it's time to lend a helping hand.

We're offering a special Japanese charity pair of Art Kicks. You'll still get whatever design you want, but the shoe cost will be raised to $350 with all profit (minus the 40 cost to buy the shoes) going towards the American Red Cross-Japanese Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami Relief Fund.

Due to our backlog of orders, we can offer only a single pair like this. If we can wade through our pile of orders, we'll try to offer another pair.

Adventure Time by Cam Giblin

2011-01-05T17:04:00.000-08:00

Pretty self-explanantory, based on the children's show Adventure Time.

This show reminds me of a tamer version of Ren & Stimpy.

Dia de los Muertos by Cam Giblin

2010-12-29T13:43:00.000-08:00

Design for my friend George from New Mexico. He let me have complete creative freedom on this pair, all the way up to choosing the subject matter. Tried to stay pretty true to Dia de los Muertos tradition by incorporating the makeup, skull candies, flowers, picture of loved one, etc.

Since I've been using a fume mask I've noticed a huge decrease in headaches and general wooziness while I work on a pair. I don't care that the U.S. Labeling of Hazardous Art Materials Act has labeled the markers "nontoxic", these things kill.

This was, by far, one of my favorite pairs to create.

ZOMBIES 2: Electric Boogaloo

2010-12-20T21:39:00.000-08:00

Not much to say about this pair. Had a lot of fun doing it. I think I drew some killer (har har) hands on the backs. There's a painfully obvious Tony Moore influence, but they say steal from the best, so there you go.

Avatar the Last Airbender by Cam Giblin

2010-12-14T17:31:00.000-08:00

Pretty simple pair.

I was able to start and finish them entirely during an Indiana Jones marathon on TV.

I was working on the halftone background about the time the priest was ripping the still-beating heart from that guy's chest.

Owls

2010-11-29T22:28:00.000-08:00

Fun, simple, colorful, expressive, clean.

One of my favorite pairs so far.

ZOMBIES!

2010-11-28T01:51:00.001-08:00

Been away from shoes for a while--working way to hard to do anything but sleep in my free time. Recently I've been trying to scale back at work so I can come home and get some quality chemical huffing time. Nothing really relaxes me like the fumes of brand new shoes, sharpie, fabric marker, and sealant spray.

On an unrelated note, I've noticed that I can't taste food anymore.

Imagine my excitement when an Art Director at Goodby commissioned lil' ol' me to do a birthday present for his awesome wife. I have yet to meet her, but I can infer her awesomeness from the fact that she rocks gory zombie kicks.

The sides are a tribute to the lettering on 1970s Zombie film posters. As a present to myself (justified by an "investment in a project") I bought a massive book on 70s lettering and proceeded to rip off the coolest stuff in the horror and comic book chapters.

The final shoes being modeled by a happy recipient:

Calder's Circus - Evan's 50th Pair!

2010-07-22T02:27:00.001-07:00

Beginning in 1926, Alexander Calder created an elaborate piece of kinetic sculpture slash performance art slash toy set which has come to be appropriately known as Calder's Circus. Calder would reenact the circus of old with his wire and cloth scultpures, speaking for the characters and providing sound effects. He built wire trapeze artists that really could flip and catch the swinging bars with their hooked hands. He constructed a cowboy who could flip a lasso around a horses neck with a spring-loaded arm. He built over a hundred different characters, all engineered to perform their real-world skill.

Calder also created extensive sketches prior to building the circus, some of which are recreated on the sides.

I really developed a deep appreciation for Calder, as I always seem to do for my subject material. For more on the circus, make sure to watch the surviving films of Calder's demonstrations:

Album Year: The Remake

2010-07-15T20:51:00.000-07:00

These are based on the pair Cam did a while back, only I had to modify them a little bit because Cam has a much steadier hand for intricate detail work. I blew up the images and scattered them around to fit my less detail-oriented style. The results are interesting. It's like comparing the original film to its remake.

Percussion/Mountain Biking by Cam Giblin

2010-07-04T12:26:00.000-07:00

This pair is pretty self-explanatory, it's based on the client's hobbies. She likes percussion instruments, BAM, first shoe, and mountain biking, BAM, second shoe.

This is the first time I've used a fume mask while designing a pair of Art Kicks. My poorly ventilated apartment has not been the most ideal place to work with 30 or so Sharpies. Nontoxic they say? Bah! My splitting migraine and trembling limbs would say otherwise. Now that I'm using a mask, these ailments have all but disappeared.

More Oceans

2010-07-03T16:02:00.000-07:00

I've done several ocean and water themed pairs. Can't complain. I love the subject. It makes me think of some of the best days of my life spent on vacation in Bermuda, San Diego, and Mexico. One day, when I manage to hit it big doing these shoes, I will retire on a beach somewhere and draw oceanscapes forever.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

2010-06-20T21:24:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite movies of all time and one of my favorite actors. This was a dream assignment.

I used an extremely limited color palette for this pair--black and three different tones of brown. Inspired by the movie posters for the film, which were printed with muddy brown backgrounds, I left large white spaces that will get dirty and fade as the shoes are worn. First time I've tried something like this--we'll see how they look in a few months.

"There are two types of people in this world, my friend. Those with job security and those who draw. You, my friend, draw."

Sin City by Cam

2010-06-18T18:52:00.001-07:00

I came home to my apartment and waiting for me was this magnificent pair: Cam's graduation gift to me. They're perfect--amazing recreation of Frank Miller's art and painstaking attention to detail. Thanks times infinity to Cam.

Peacock by Cam Giblin

2010-06-18T18:50:00.000-07:00

One of the more unique Art Kicks orders I've gotten. Walking home delirious from lack of food I got stopped by a girl who noticed my shoes. She ended ordered a pair the next week, and I finally had grocery money. My health and Art Kicks are now one and the same.

The concept was based off her affinity for peacocks and middle eastern design.

These Art Kicks let me mindlessly doodle paisley for hours. Yay paisley, you make my life that much easier.

Carleton College

2010-06-16T14:20:00.000-07:00

A friend of the family commissioned a pair of Carleton College shoes as a graduation present for her daughter, who just finished up four years there. I've come a long way from being the artist who was afraid to draw buildings. Now I really enjoy architectural studies. And when the building is really hard to draw, I can just cover the hard parts in snow. Huzzah for winter!

The Jetsons

2010-05-27T23:54:00.000-07:00

I love this show. I did before working on this pair, but now I REALLY love this show. You'd think that meticulously scrutinizing cartoons would ruin them, but the Jetsons really holds up for me.

It's counter-intuitive, but line work is not nearly as important in a pair like this as color choice. Choosing the right color palette can make all the difference in creating a likeness of familiar characters like the Jetson family. Imagine George Jetson with yellow hair instead of brown. It's weird, creepy, and ruins the entire likeness. Luckily, I've got a lot of markers to choose from these days, so matching color is possible.

Physicists

2010-05-17T22:32:00.000-07:00

I did these ages ago, but I had to wait to put the pictures up because they were a surprise graduation gift. My friend just finished his degree in theoretical physics at Rochester University, which means that, despite his best efforts to explain, I have no idea what he studied.

Because so many of the scientists made their discoveries in centuries past, I wanted the art to have a classic feel, perhaps like a pen and ink newspaper illustration from the 19th century or an etching from the 18th.

The Blue Room by Cam Giblin

2010-04-29T21:52:00.000-07:00

"The Blue Room" Jazz-themed Art Kicks design. No those aren't famous musicians on the front; I just googled "Jazz stuff", and they came up. If you want to pretend they're you're favorite Jazz artist, have it. All in all, one of my easier designs, but my favorite thus far.

"Blossoms" by Cam Giblin

2010-04-21T12:42:00.000-07:00

This was a relatively simple and straightforward design. I was given the theme Buddhist/cherry blossoms and allowed to have at it with artistic freedom.
She asked the beginning initials of her partner and two children to be incorporated into the trees.

AK image gallery done my way. With my own hands. That touched a computer.

2010-04-14T11:14:00.000-07:00

Art Kicks look glorious when you can see them all at once, on one page. For a year now, I've been dreaming of a photo gallery done my way. Well, recently I've been learning html and CSS for just that purpose, and without further ado, I present:

http://www.evandschultz.com/custom_shoes.html

Robots for a baby

2010-03-23T23:46:00.000-07:00

No, I don't actually think the baby will wear these. The baby hasn't actually been born yet, in fact. This is a present for the expecting parents, who hopefully won't notice that some of the robots cross the line from adorable into slightly creepy.

"Album Year" by new artist Cam Giblin

2010-03-20T09:58:00.000-07:00

Hey, this is Cam Giblin of LonePinesDesign.com, Evan's new Artkicks designer.
"Album Year" were my most challenging pair of Artkicks yet. These shoes include 20+ hours of labor and 19 different album designs. All in all, a fun design though.

Complex albums like "Appetite for Destruction" by Guns 'N' Roses had to be simplified so they would fit on the shoes, but I can safely say those are the tiniest skulls I have ever drawn.

House with Cracked Walls by Paul Cézanne

2010-03-06T19:58:00.000-08:00

Being asked to replicate a painting on a pair of shoes is a difficult task in any case. When the artist I'm asked to replicate is Paul Cézanne, the master of expressive landscape, I get a little panicky.

I think the final shoes came out well, however. There's a few inconsistencies between my replica and the original, but they're minor. I used over 50 colors, a personal record by far.

Turtle Aeronautics and Space Administration

2010-02-22T19:47:00.001-08:00

If turtles decided to go to space, sea turtles would definitely be the ones chosen to go. Land turtles would fail miserably trying to navigate in zero gravity. Look at an African Tortoise and try to imagine that thing in a space suit. Yeah right. Sea turtles live in an aquatic environment, and NASA uses underwater training to prepare astronauts for space travel. It makes so much sense. Sea turtles are definitely Turtlenauts.

I tried to give the backs and sides the feel of a spacesuit covered in patches. Turtles wouldn't journey in the name of the United States, however. They would journey for all turtle-kind, hence the change in the flag patch.

Party Animals by Cam Giblin

2010-02-14T18:01:00.000-08:00

Cam's first pair was for himself and he knocked it out of the park. The pictures speak for themselves. Let the orders pour in.

New Artist: Cam Giblin joining Art Kicks!

2010-02-14T17:45:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been about a year, 40 pairs, and a hell of a ride. I'm looking forward to doing 40 more pairs, but I have so many orders that I can't handle everything myself. To help out, I've asked fellow University of Oregon student Cam Giblin to join me as an artist. He's recently made a splash in the local Eugene music scene doing artwork for bands and concerts and after seeing his stuff, I knew he would be perfect to bring on board. He's got a killer style, different from my own in many ways, but still perfect for the Art Kicks brand. It's fun, it's unique, and it's really damn good.

Bird Skeletons

2010-02-13T02:24:00.000-08:00

I added up the number of finished shoes that I've done in the last eleven months and I realized that this pair right here is number 40. I know the "Finished Shoes" link on the right is a little low--a few pairs never made it on the blog.

Really damn cool that I managed 40 pairs in under a year, almost all of which are on feet and out getting wear in the world.

I'm grateful for all of the support, the encouragement, and everything I've learned along the way.

Golden Age Comics

2010-01-23T13:47:00.000-08:00

While this pair may seem simple, it was in fact one of the most difficult pairs I've ever had to do. Because I'm working on cloth, ink spreads if you leave the tip of the marker down too long. If you let colors run into one another, they mix. This can be a cool effect if you want a painterly style with gradients, but it doesn't replicate the stark contrast of old comic books. In order to get clean comic book lines with as little mixing as possible, I had to wait for each color to dry before I started on the adjacent color.

A-One Title Company

2010-01-10T14:48:00.001-08:00

This pair marks a first for Art Kicks in that they are a promotion for a business rather than a pair for casual wear. The company is based in my hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, which meant that I was able to depict some classic southwestern images. Particularly proud of the Sandia Mountains on the side of the left shoe.

"Chanel" slip-ons

2009-12-21T17:57:00.000-08:00

On the surface, this pair depicts imitation Chanel slip-ons covered in Chanel jewelry. Yet I think they makes some really interesting statements. The juxtaposition between the Chanel logo and the Vans logo raises questions about brand identity and pricing. Does the fact that I drew the Chanel logo on a piece of apparel
make them worth much more than a normal pair of Art Kicks?

Below are a pair of actual Chanel slip-ons, which provided me the base for the design.

Art Gallery #4 - "The World of Tomorrow"

2009-11-29T16:33:00.001-08:00

When I work on shoes I like to listen to old 30 minute radio programs from the 1940s and 1950s. I particularly love a program called "Dimension X," a sci-fi fare that showcased some surprisingly good stories from some famous authors such as Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov. Listening to announcers read lines like, "It is the year 1984 and man has finally colonized the moon!" inspired me to create this pair.

This pair will be for sale at Ink Thirsty Gallery in Eugene, Oregon until the end of December. Email me for more information.

Thanks to all for a great opening!

2009-11-28T17:09:00.000-08:00

To all who came to Ink Thirsty last night, thank you so much. It was amazing to see a gallery full of people who were excited to see my art. It really makes all the hard work worthwhile.

The display was great--very industrial modern and lit from below for added effect. Didn't hurt that the shoes were featured in the center of the gallery as well.

For more info on the gallery, as well as inquiries on purchases, go to inkthirsty.com.

Art Gallery #3 - "Tech Tree"

2009-11-28T16:51:00.000-08:00

Because shoes come in pairs, there's always an excellent opportunity for interesting juxtaposition of objects. Cherry blossoms are beautiful and always visually engaging. Five and a quarter floppy disks are not.

These shoes are available for purchase at Ink Thirsty Gallery in Eugene, Oregon until the end of December. Email me for more info.

Art Gallery #2 - Entomophobia

2009-11-26T23:56:00.001-08:00

This is one of the simplest and starkest designs I've done. Also the first time I've experimented with imitating the look of halftone dots. I think it works quite well.

These shoes are available for purchase at Ink Thirsty gallery in Eugene, Oregon until the end of December. Email me for more info.

Art Gallery #1 - Futurist Cubism Lace-ups

2009-11-26T17:55:00.000-08:00

The first of the shoes that I'm doing for the show at Ink Thirsty Gallery. This pair is based on the aesthetic of the Futurist paintings created before World War I. I don't particularly agree with the politics of the movement (hyper-nationalism never worked out too well) but I love the style.

This pair is available for sale at Ink Thirsty gallery in Eugene, Oregon. Email me for more info.

My shoes in a gallery!

2009-11-25T03:07:00.000-08:00

The big news for this week is that four pairs of my shoes will be on display starting on Friday November 27th at Ink Thirsty Gallery in downtown Eugene, Oregon. (http://www.inkthirsty.com). I'm really excited because it's a great opportunity to do some original art that I have had in the back of my mind while doing custom orders for the last 9 months or so. I've been sleeping 4-5 hours a night for the past 2 weeks to get everything ready on top of school, but it's totally worth it.

I don't want to spoil the opening (7pm, by the way for anyone in town), but here's a glimpse of some of what I've been working on.

Willy Wonka

2009-11-18T23:54:00.000-08:00

I can officially announce that I have seen "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" about 7 times. Oompa Loompas haunt my dreams. But the shoes turned out pretty damn cool. Lots of hours. Lots of detail. I'm pretty happy with them.

The ArtKicks process, really fast

2009-11-02T18:51:00.000-08:00

My friend Gabe (http://www.gabrieltothfejel.com/blawg) put together an awesome time lapse movie of me working on part of the human anatomy shoes. Makes me look cooler than I actually am.

Art Kicks: Human Anatomy from Gabe Toth on Vimeo.

Human Anatomy

2009-11-01T23:57:00.000-08:00

Inspired by the Bodies Exhibition, these shoes feature semi-accurate anatomical structures mashed together in a bloody cornucopia. While most people who see these are likely to feel their stomach turn, I'd like to take this time to clarify that I view these shoes as a tribute to the wonder of the human form rather than some sort of expression of violent obsession. We have amazing things going on inside of us all the time--things we never see nor seem to be interested in pondering.

Help me win another shoe contest!

2009-10-16T23:25:00.000-07:00

I won the last Paint Or Thread custom contest, now help me do it again! I submitted my Where the Wild Things Are shoes this time.

http://www.paintorthread.com/contest/paint-or-thread-custom-sneaker-contest-2/

Email contact@paintorthread.com and tell them you like entry 'N' the best!

Art Kicks in Louisiana Gardener Magazine

2009-10-10T14:05:00.000-07:00

One of the pictures that I sent to Louisiana Gardener is running in the most recent issue. Here's a scan of the page I'm on. I'm not sure about how large the readership of Louisiana Gardener is, but it's a great start to my entrepreneurial PR effort for ArtKicks. Today, Louisiana Gardener. Tomorrow, Time's products of the year.

1960s Batman

2009-10-10T01:16:00.001-07:00

It wasn't dark, it wasn't brooding, but damn if it wasn't the best batman adaptation of all time. Three reasons: Adam West, visible sound effects, and the Cadillac Batmobile. To me it feels like every pair of shoes up until now has been a warm up to this pair--lots of lighting effects, dynamic typography, and quite an elaborate design with many different elements.

Eisenman Architecture

2009-09-16T23:54:00.000-07:00

I once complained on Twitter about drawing straight lines on shoes. This pair was, in a way, the ultimate punishment for glib pessimism. It's all straight lines. However, this sort of forced lesson is incredibly valuable, as it forces one to address confidence issues. I can now say after many hours that Architect Peter Eisenman has helped me address my fear of straight lines on canvas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Eisenman

The Eisenman works depicted on this pair are the Wexner Center for the Arts, The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, and House VI.

Where the Wild Things Are

2009-09-16T20:14:00.001-07:00

Made these for a loyal Where the Wild Things Are fan, in time for him to wear them to the premiere of the new Spike Jonze film. One particular challenge for this pair was replicating Maurice Sendak's artistic style in marker. From what I can tell, Sendak used colored pencil and acrylic paint to illustrate the original book, mediums which either lead to smoothly blended colors or many sketchy thin lines. Marker is good for neither.

Passion Flowers

2009-08-22T10:19:00.000-07:00

I sent these pictures to a botanical magazine and hopefully they will run an article on ArtKicks in an issue close to the Christmas season.

Texas and Travel

2009-08-19T20:08:00.001-07:00

For this pair, one shoe represents the wearer's home state of Texas and the other shoe represents all of the places that she has traveled. The "Green Building" adorning the right shoe is the tallest building in Dallas.

More Than Meets the Eye

2009-08-10T02:44:00.001-07:00

Holy hell, the Transformers are so incredibly painstaking to draw. Doing this pair has given me an immense amount of respect for both the animators of the original animated series and the comic book artists who continue to add detail to the character designs.

The recipient of this pair is a major fan of the original Transformers, specifically the movie that came out in 1986. For this pair, one shoe is Autobot themed and one shoe is Decepticon themed. The leaders of each faction were good choices for the dominant images. Hot Rod and Starscream snuck onto the inside panels.

The backs feature the logos of the respective factions.

Modern Fairytales

2009-08-02T21:15:00.000-07:00

Jack wears a hoodie and Ray Bans (a red hood--GET IT?) as he holds up his killer cool beanstalk. Unfortunately, everything is falling down from the Giant's lair, golden-egg-laying-goose and all. Poor goose. It looks so sad and confused.

The wolf just got back from the mall. He picked up his studded belt at Hot Topic, his light green shirt from American Apparel, and his hat from Lids.

When your idea is stolen...

2009-08-02T20:26:00.000-07:00

BedazzleKicks stole my damn business idea. Thanks a lot, BedazzleKicks, now the majority of my customers will be wearing glitter instead of marker.

http://bedazzlekicks.blogspot.com/

Dinos 2: Dino Boogaloo

2009-07-28T18:09:00.001-07:00

Made for a fan of the first Dino shoes. For this pair, I pushed the bright colors and cartoony feel a little more, trying to get even closer to that childhood educational placemat feel I also played with bringing the T-Rex's body across the right shoe so as to make the design feel unified across two shoes.

Contest winnings!

2009-07-16T19:34:00.000-07:00

After my Flying Death Unicorns won the Paint or Thread Custom Contest, I picked out my 12 free shoelaces and free t-shirt from Fully Laced as my prize. They recently arrived. Everything looks awesome. All of my shoes are getting gutted and re-laced with crazy awesome colors. I wore my "My Kicks Break Necks Shirt" today and got tons of comments on it, even leading to me giving out a few business cards for ArtKicks. Thanks to both sites.

Cthulhu

2009-07-12T12:35:00.000-07:00

Cthulhu is a demon created by H.P. Lovecraft--possibly his most famous creation. The descriptions of Cthulhu in Lovecraft are vague, but the currently-accepted depiction of Cthulhu is a tentacled face atop a humanoid body and dragon-like wings protruding from the back. Cthulhu's wrath on humanity is described as too horrible to fathom. My own interpretation of its wrath is shown on the left shoe. While I really do enjoy drawing dolphins, it is nice to break out the red fine point marker and draw some blood spatters.

Oceans and Dolphins

2009-07-10T02:59:00.000-07:00

Every image on this pair is something I have never drawn before. As it turns out though, I really enjoy drawing both coral reefs and dolphins. The water reflections on the right shoe is one of the most labor intensive images I have ever rendered, but several hours spent covering both shoe and myself in blue worked out pretty well. If these shoes had been a bigger size, I wouldn't have even attempted it.

The Beatles

2009-07-09T00:17:00.001-07:00

Made for my very own father, an avid Beatles fan and supporter of ArtKicks. Many of the images on this pair come from the 1968 animated Yellow Submarine film. It was his idea to have the submarine stretch across both shoes. Utilizing both shoes as a single canvas is something I have not done up until now, but I'm glad I started because it opens up a great deal of possibilities for horizontal design in an otherwise vertical medium.

When viewed from the right side, the classic Beatles logotype and Apple Records logo juxtapose to give the feel of an old Beatles LP.

New Mexico Horses

2009-06-28T14:36:00.000-07:00

Made for an avid equestrian and proud New Mexico resident. The Flying Death Unicorns were good practice for this pair, although I still find horse muscle structure to be incredibly difficult. The lettering on the sides turned out pretty well. It's a fun challenge to try to freehand replicate the exact same letters on two shoes.

I am victorious!

2009-06-26T00:13:00.000-07:00

Cue up your Chariots of Fire soundtrack, because I am proud to announce that I won Paint or Thread's Custom Contest #1. I'm totally ecstatic.
http://www.paintorthread.com/results-custom-contest-1/

Thank you very much to all who voted! It means a lot to me!

Now I get to raid the Fully Laced store (http://www.fullylaced.com/) for 12 free pairs of shoelaces and one free t-shirt. Oh, and bragging rights. I win those too.

The Maltese Falcon

2009-06-22T01:17:00.001-07:00

I finally own a pair of ArtKicks. That's right, I was so focused on getting my shoe business going that I neglected to create the greatest promotional tool of all--a pair of shoes to adorn my own feet. For the subject, I chose one of my favorite films of all time, the 1941 noir classic The Maltese Falcon.

This was a great opportunity to demonstrate some elements that haven't been a strong presence in previous pairs: caricatures, black and white design, and clean lettering. Consider this pair to be the Falcon poster that should have existed. I lifted the typography from existing posters, but the rest is my own design.

Time to go network.

Ravens

2009-06-20T00:58:00.000-07:00

These shoes are perhaps the most labor-intensive pair I have ever done. I used many many photos of crows and ravens in order to get the feather structure and subtle color variations of the plumage correct. I'm really happy with the final result, particularly the painterly quality of the blue, green, and black on the Raven on the right shoe. These sorts of moments might even fool someone into thinking that I used paint and not marker for this pair.

What 144 markers looks like

2009-06-16T23:15:00.000-07:00

My dad surprised me with a massive number of Sharpies as an end of the school year present. I was blown away at the number of colors he got ahold of. Some of them are even twin tip fine point and ultra fine point. Basically, this is like Christmas, Halloween, and my birthday all rolled into one. I'm gonna do a massive number of shoes this summer.

Rock & Blues

2009-06-11T22:25:00.001-07:00

These were done for a guy who loves music, specifically hard rock and blues. If there's one thing I learned from this pair, it's that musical instruments are pretty damn hard to draw. I'm pretty happy with the final result though. I think the color blending on the stand-up bass exceeded my expectations. It really seems to pop out from the blue background.

Tropical Beaches Strike Back

2009-06-08T14:28:00.000-07:00

This is the sister pair to the original Tropical Beaches. The girl who commissioned both pairs gave the first one to her sister and will keep this one for herself. Rather than copy the original exactly, I experimented with taking the design and making it slicker and tighter. This is the first pair where I really experimented with utilizing negative space, and I think the open white space on the sides works surprisingly well.

Dinosaurs!

2009-06-05T21:34:00.000-07:00

Dinosaurs are interesting subjects for art because there are so many different potential styles in which to depict them. Rather than going for a museum-quality rendering of anatomy or a frightening depiction of killing machines, I wanted these dinos to be reminiscent of the art on the rubber placemats I had as a kid. I still pushed myself for a lot of detail, but I wanted the overall feel to be fun.

My shoes are in a contest! Start voting!

2009-06-04T18:21:00.000-07:00

My flying death unicorn shoes are in the first ever Paint or Thread shoe customization contest!

http://www.paintorthread.com/contest/custom-contest-1/

Help me win this thing! Send your vote to contact@paintorthread.com by June 11th. Tell them you like entry "D".

Below is a graphical representation of my impending victory:

France and Modern Dance

2009-06-02T05:13:00.000-07:00

Made these for a girl who is looking forward to living in France for the next several years. She's also involved in dance and enjoys photographing her fellow dancers. I used some of her photos and design work as a reference and inspiration for the pose of the dancer and the color scheme of the shoes overall.

Bonus Sketchbook Material

2009-05-31T17:49:00.000-07:00

I'm working on several more pairs, but I won't have them done for a few days. In the mean time, I figured I'd show some behind the scenes stuff out of my sketchbook. These are all preliminary drawings I did while I was thinking of design ideas. In the case of the Catiator, the preliminary drawing turned out to be exactly the same as the final design.

Cubist Greek Architecture

2009-05-30T03:12:00.000-07:00

This is a departure from my normal style of representational imagery, but it's nice to get a chance to flex my graphic design muscles. The recipient of these shoes wanted something influenced by the architecture of the Greek Isles but didn't want a simple drawing of buildings. We talked for a while and I finally came up with a modernist cubist abstraction, utilizing the classic white and blue color scheme.

Giant Fly Vs. Deadly Mantis

2009-05-24T21:57:00.001-07:00

Inspired by 1950s B-movie posters, I present the saga of an epic insect war. The battle between the Giant Fly and Deadly Mantis leaves charred bones in its wake. Panicked 1950s people flee in terror. It's shocking. It's terrifying. It's thrilling.

Tropical Beaches

2009-05-20T01:17:00.000-07:00

For this pair, I was given a specific list of things to include rather than a vague theme. Fitting everything together in some sort of fluid design is always a fun challenge. These turned out pretty well. Night scenes are really difficult in marker because the color palette is limited to blues and purples for the most part. To my relief, however, the one on the right shoe actually resembles a serene twilight beach.

I've got 4 weeks left in Oregon--get me orders soon!

2009-05-16T13:09:00.001-07:00

This morning I woke up and realized that I've only got four more weeks in Oregon before I go home to the Southwest for the summer. ArtKicks is going to be an ongoing project this summer, but for anyone in Oregon who wants a pair, it will be much easier (and cheaper) if we don't have to worry about mailorder. So if you want a pair from me, get me your order in the next week or two. I'm going to really push myself to get as many pairs done before June 14th as I can.

Flying Death Unicorns From Space

2009-05-15T17:48:00.001-07:00

I think the most hilarious thing that could ever happen to humanity would be the destruction of civilization by unicorns. From space. With rainbow death lasers that shoot out of their eyes. Not so cute now, are they? We would never see it coming. We're too busy being scared of the obvious, non-mythical animals like bears and tigers.

If anyone has a better camera and more photographic skill than I, please let me know. I'd really like to photo these in better quality because I think a lot of the detail gets lost with my point and shoot.

Leaves, Trees, and Vines

2009-05-05T20:41:00.000-07:00

These are probably the most time-consuming pair I have ever done. Lots of tiny little details and repeating patterns. Also experimented quite a bit with blending colors this time around.

Catiator and Catador

2009-04-25T02:46:00.000-07:00

I dream of a world in which cats are not discriminated against. I dream of a world where cats can brutally battle one another for our entertainment. I dream of a world where cats win our hearts with their finesse and skill as they weave about an angry dog with only a red cloth for protection.

"I'M CATICUS!!!"

"Perro! Perro!"

I'm pretty happy with the final result. Drawing relatively physiologically-correct animals was a challenge, especially because I don't really draw a lot of cats or dogs, despite my love of them. Thanks to various lolcat photos for reference.

Traveling, summer camp, Oregon, and community

2009-04-19T03:52:00.000-07:00

My friend wanted his shoes to represent two parts of his life: his community of friends in Oregon and his planned travels this summer.

The left shoe (home) features a drum circle, something that he emphasized as being very representative of the communal spirit found in his student co-op. The right shoe (traveling) is the kind of scene that most of us associate with summer camp--roasting marshmallows over a fire underneath the night sky.

The heel of the right shoe features my own rendition of his 1996 Ford station wagon (broken door and all) on its way to the summer camp.

Both shoes feature a lot of green forest imagery for extra hippie imagery and Oregon-nostalgia.

He also requested that I sign them. I'm flattered that he thought my name worthy of adorning his shoes.

The blanks are starting to pour in . . .

2009-04-16T23:11:00.000-07:00

Two pairs of blank vans arrived at my door this morning, and two more should show up tomorrow. I've got a total of about seven orders in various stages, which means that my April deal was a smash success beyond my expectations. I'm well on my way to achieving my goals of building awareness of my product and putting together a diverse portfolio.

I think I'm going to have to cap April orders pretty soon. I'm going to be way over my head if I get very many more, so if you want to take advantage of the free April deal, do it soon!

Twitter shoes

2009-04-12T18:57:00.000-07:00

Just finished these up for a friend. She requested that her shoes be Twitter themed, with one shoe focusing on the Twitter Bird and the other emphasizing the "Fail Whale" (the image displayed when Twitter is over capacity).

Tried to replicate the Fail Whale as accurately as I could.

Nothing says awesome like the Fail Whale on a unicycle.

Skulls and Psychedelic Chemistry

2009-03-16T14:58:00.000-07:00

Made these for a friend who is majoring in chemistry. Really shows off the vibrant colors you can achieve with Sharpie marker on canvas.

Sunny Cornucopia

2009-03-16T14:33:00.000-07:00

The very first pair of ArtKicks! Unlike some of my other pieces with a visual theme, these shoes are a mish-mash of various cultural references, metaphors, and objects that are all personally meaningful for the wearer.