Shoe painting- Part 1
As with the majority of my projects, this one started as an idea that just popped into my head. I can't force ideas--they just show up in my brain and live there, nagging, until I make them happen.
I've seen painted shoes before and am a fan of the comic style that they are usually painted in. Bright colors and black outlines. I quickly committed to painting that style with a TCFAM Gives Back theme.
In honor of two years of Tracie and Cheryl going viral on TikTok and, thus, two years of the TCFAM, T&C created the TCFAM Gives Back campaign to encourage everyone to be of service in their own communities. I honestly wasn't sure what I was going to do in Thibodaux, but then my friend Mac decided to host a fundraising event in Houston, so I made plans to spend the weekend there.
One week before this event, I decided to paint shoes to match the TCFAM Gives Back t-shirts. I secured the only decent pair of plain shoes I could find, grabbed some basic acrylic paint, and ordered a sealer online. What could possibly go wrong?
I took pictures of the shoes and uploaded them to procreate to plan out a design and then got to painting. The matte paint went on really easily and had good coverage. The satin paints had so little coverage that it took four coats to look decent. Once the base colors were on, I tried to use an acrylic paint pen for the outlines, but it didn't really work, so I switched to black paint and a brush. I used the paint markers for the designs and love how they turned out. The sealer was simple enough to use and I think I put three thin coats on. I also remembered a technique I had seen for painting the sides of the laces. You roll them up, secure with pins, and dip them in paint. That worked perfectly!
So my shoes were looking fine and I was so excited to wear them for the event. I was concerned that the paint might scratch off, so I was careful to wrap them in a t-shirt in my luggage. The morning of, I put them on and went to the grocery store. I quickly realized when we returned that the shoes were not going to hold up. The paint was scratching at every crease and the paint on the sides of the soles was peeling. After that point, I was enjoying documenting their slow demise and leaving blue paint confetti everywhere I went.
My friend, Laura, messaged some of her friends who paint shoes and other clothing to see what kind of paint they use. It turns out that the brand of sealer I ordered has an entire line of paints specifically for painting leather. My summer to-do list includes peeling the rest of the paint off the shoes and re-painting them with the leather paint.
One of my favorite aspects of trying out new craft projects is the learning process. I love learning new techniques and new little insider tidbits about the best way to create something. My Summer 2025 to-do list includes finishing that crochet project, watercolor, finishing the prep for my action research, and even some screen printing! It's been a minute since I've done that and I'm excited to give it another go.
The TCFAM event was so much fun! I loved getting to hang out with my friends and offer up my watercolor painting services. We ate yummy foods, including cantaloupe gelato 😍, played spades and giant UNO, and no one gave me any grief over going to bed early. They are really the best people. I even got to end the weekend having brunch with a friend from the X-Files fandom that I haven't seen in person in over 5 years.
