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.
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 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.
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.
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.
- How do I order a pair? Send me an email at evandschultz@gmail.com with your shoe size in Vans (if you know it) and some design ideas. I'll email you back and let you know where we go from there. You can also order through my Etsy store.
- Can you really draw anything on shoes? Yeah, pretty much. Whatever theme or design you have in mind can probably be adapted to a pair of shoes.
- What if my idea is stupid? I promise you, it isn't.
- What if I don't know what I want on my shoes? We can either work together to come up with something or you can take a look at my list of themes I've always wanted to draw on a pair of shoes. Or, if you're feeling really generous, you can give me the gift of complete artistic freedom and turn me loose.
- Can I see some sketches before I agree on the final design? Always. Every Art Kicks client sees at least one set of sketches for approval before we begin drawing on the actual shoes.
- What do you use to draw on the shoes? I use three brands of permanent marker: Sharpie, Staedtler, and Prismacolor. If you represent the marketing department of any of these brands, let's talk.
- Do you spray something on the shoes to protect them? Yes! I finally found something that seals the artwork without causing the marker to bleed. I put two coats of Vans Stain and Water Shield on every pair of shoes I make.
- How well do ArtKicks hold up over time? Surprisingly well. I wouldn't go hiking or jogging in them, but for normal everyday wear, the images last about as well as a commercially printed pair of Vans shoes. EDIT: Recently my dog peed on my Maltese Falcon ArtKicks and I had no choice but to run them through the washing machine. They emerged a tad bit faded but completely recognizable and nothing bled or ran.
- What kinds of shoes can you draw on? I've done Vans slip-ons and authentics (the low-top lace-up), as well as Keds slip-ons and Converse Chucks. If you have a style of shoe in mind and it comes in white canvas, I can probably draw on it.