How to Paint Designs on Shoes

Shoes can be expensive, especially the more stylish ones. But why be limited to the shoes that stores carry? You can make your own stylish one-of-a-kind shoes by painting them. Using just paint and a paint brush, you could even start a trend.

Things You'll Need

• Canvas or fabric shoes
• Pen and paper
• Pencil
• Acrylic paint
• Brush

Instructions

1. Decide on the design you would like to paint on your shoes. You can go with abstract designs, checkers or even famous works of art. For inspiration, check out Web sites like The History of Art, which has examples of art from prehistory to the present (see References 1). You could even do a trompe l'oeil (fool the eye) design. These appear to be three-dimensional or mistaken for the thing itself.

2. Draw your design on paper so you can get an idea of how it would look before you paint it. This is especially important when your design is three dimensional (see Step 1).

3. Pencil your design on the shoes. Once you have the design mapped out, you can make any adjustments you need to make to get the the design to look proportional.

4. Paint the design on your shoes using acrylic paint. You may have to use smaller brushes for the more intricate designs. Fortunately, acrylic paint dries very quickly, which means you will not have to wait long between adding different colors.

References

• All-art.org: History of Art
• ArtLex.com: Trompe l'Oeil
• Columbianmissourian.com: Home » 2007 » 06 » 05 » emailE-mail printPrint Young artist explores new avenue --- Shoes