Graffiti Shoes (A Tutorial)

My daughter is outgrowing shoes so fast I can barely keep up! Now I just stock up on plain converse style sneakers and we decorate them ourselves to make one-of-a-kind, personalized "art" for her feet. We get compliments on them wherever we go! People always ask her to stop so they can read the words.





Materials needed:
:: Glittery puffy paints
:: Sharpies and fabric markers
:: Acrylic paints or fabric paints

For this pair of graffiti shoes I started with a plain pair of black shoes:


Step 1: I covered the edges of the white rubber with scotch tape (which sticks well to rubber)....


....and then added the masking tape to cover the larger areas. I put crumpled up paper towels in the inside to keep paint out.


Step 2: I used gesso to cover the shoes in white splotches, but you can use white acrylic or fabric paint.



Step 3: I started randomly covering the shoes in various bright colors.....


......and adding some white back in.


Step 4: I brought out the sharpies:


I added words around the shoes in black marker and then used different color sharpies to color around them.



Step 5: I used a small paint brush to keep adding in bright colors. The key is to just keep layering and changing your mind on words and colors......like graffiti. Great graffiti is made of layers over layers over layers!



Step 6: I used a silver metallic sharpie to clean up some of the edges of my images and words.


Step 7: Once the main portions of the shoes were finished I used a glitter puffy paint and made rows of dots along the toe (note: you will have to scuff the toes and prime first for the paint to stick)......


...and randomly around the shoes. Let these dry and they will be a big glob of shiny glitter!


The finished shoes!