Help with the best way to customize my sneakers + WIP Custom Back to School Nike Main Draw

[bidou]

Hi guys,

I'm looking for a while over the Internet trying to find the Nike Scribble Back to School sneakers without success.

The only one I can find are fakes.

Anyway, I decided to buy some blank shoes and do it myself :

I thought about using aceton to remove the layer on the leather and then use POSCA pens to draw the lines.

I'd like to know if this is the best way to do it. Do I have to paint the shoes in white first or can I just draw the lines directly on the prepared sneakers?

If POSCA is a good idea, what kind of produt do I have to add when it's done to avoid losing colors because of the rain etc?

I'd like the yellow swoosh to be a bit glossy, how do I do that?

I'm actually hesitating between POSCA and acrylic paint but... Drawing straight lines with a pencil's gonna be a pain in the *** don't you think?

Thanks for all the precious answers guy!

 

[polar]

First off I honestly had little idea about POSCA pens, but I googled them and the product looks really cool. The artwork created by some of the artists is crazy, but if it works on sneakers is a risk. The main paint people use is angelus leather paint (which you can buy on turtlefeather.com or angelus direct) and that is because it is flexible. That is my only concern with the POSCA pens is that hopefully the paint doesn't crack after you draw on all the lines. It probably won't crack since you are doing small lines and not filling in with the pens. I would just suggest experiment and see what works best.

I personally use acetone to prep my shoes. There are some angelus products out there that do the same job, but all you are trying to do is just take off the finish. To add that glossy finish on the swoosh, and to protect your shoes from the rain you are going to want to buy some finisher. I like the angelus finishes, some people (such as well known Mache) uses Krylon Matter Finisher 1311. These finishers will protect your shoes from rain, but if you are heavy on your shoes the paint will still scuff.

You could paint a base layer of white, but you should be fine just applying the lines straight to the sneaker.

 

[bidou]

Thanks for the precise answer. I think I'll go with Angelus leather paint after all. I want something neat.

OK so I went to the Angelus website and if I got everything right I should be OK to start with all of that + some acetone to remove the finish, right?

I hope 1oz will be enough to draw the lines.

Is 4oz enough for two shoes regarding finisher?

What kind of pencil do you guys use? I still have some from art school: some made of Pork Bristles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristle) which sould be good for acrylic paint and and some "petit-gris" which are more for watercolor painting.

Thanks!

 

[bidou]

While waiting for advices before ordering the products I started working on Phostoshop on the external side to see how the rendering could be on an Main Draw shoe:

 

[polar]

Yea 4oz should be enough for the two shoes, you want to apply a light layer to them so you won't use that much. I'm sure that pencil will work.

Btw I would not recommend painting the sole like your photoshop render. Even if a finisher is applied the paint will just rub off after some wear. IF you are going to paint it, then you can try and protect the paint as long as possible with a product called a "sole-saver".

Good luck with the customs!

 

[bidou]

Thanks for the advice. I actually won't paint the sole. The original picture had a dark blue sole that's why I put it in yellow but it'll stay white.

I just received everything, I bought two blank pairs in case I screw up.

I'll start tomorrow and will update with some pictures.