Introduction: Drawn on Beetle Shoes

About: I am troberts8, also known as Tami Roberts. I am an artist and craftsperson. I am an identical twin Gemini. I live with MS. Some of my favorite things to make are TV/Movie replicas, customized shoes/clothes an…

I customized a pair of leather flats as a birthday gift for my twin sister (whose lucky charm is a scarab). This can be done with permanent marker on leather OR canvas shoes.

Materials used to complete these pair of flats:
   Plain pair of shoes
   Artwork and template of shoe
   Soft pastel (for transfer)
   Ink pen (for transfer)
   Permanent markers (I used BIC)

Step 1: Creating Templates

I created an individual template of the shoe form by placing a piece of paper over the shoe and folding it in around the foot opening,  etc. to determine the space that will be used for artwork. Once the template form is ready the custom artwork can be transferred to it. I did this by taking a photo of the template and artwork and placing the artwork on in Photoshop - but this can also be done freehand.
Be sure to reverse your image to create a template for the matching shoe!

Step 2: Tranferring Your Image

Once the template is complete with artwork use a piece of artist's soft pastel chalk and shade in the WRONG (unprinted) side of the template (creating a homemade fashion carbon paper). Then fix your template to the shoe. This can be done with mini clothes pins (as seen in the photo) or with tape.
Once the template is in place trace around the outline of your images on the paper using a ball-point pen. After you have outlined all the images remove the template.
By following these steps you should have created a chalk outline of the artwork on your shoes.
Retrace over the chalk outline (on the shoe) with your ballpoint pen.
Brush or wipe of the chalk once your tracing is complete.

Step 3: Time to Color

Now that your images have been transferred to the shoe you can color them in!
I used permanent (BIC) markers, a silver Sharpie and a white gel pen. 

Step 4: Almost Done!

Once the artwork is complete be sure to set it by spraying the shoes with clear fixative. You can also spray them with a waterproof shoe spray once the artwork is set.

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