Van Gogh Inspired Yellow Sunflower Shoes

Ever since I was a kid, Ive always loved and been inspired by the works of Vincent Van Gogh. When I was little I used to stare at the "Sunflowers" print, my dad had put on the wall. I actually tried stealing the print from up stairs and tried to bring it into my room, but I got caught. When I was in high school kids would replicate the starry night over and over, but no one ever attempted the Sunflowers; I always wanted too, but I didn't think I could do it justice. One day I was online and I saw a multitude of people again replicating the starry night on shoes, when suddenly I remembered what I was afraid to attempt back then. I thought what if I replicated "Sunflowers" on to my boring white loafers I had bought the other day, because of a sale on my work shoes. So yesterday I sat down hatched a plan and got to work making I think the coolest shoes Ive ever seen.

Step 1: Supplies

For this project you will need the following:

A pair of white canvas loafers or sneakers.
A yellow pencil or yellow watercolor pencil.
Paint with the following colors - bright yellow, antique yellow, sunflower orange, brown, light green, dark green.
Paint brushes- round, small and thin.
A pallet or surface to put your paint on.
Painting references of Vincent Van Gogh's

Step 2: Draw Out Your Flowers

Step 1: Draw out your flowers with a yellow pencil. I used a watercolor pencil as it goes on softer and melts away into the paint unlike lead pencils. It's always a good idea to draw out where you want them so your dimensions aren't completely off when you paint your sunflowers.

Step 3: Lets Get Painting

Start by painting in the lines of the flowers with a light yellow and a darker yellow acrylic paint. Fill the center with the darker yellow for a base. Add little accents of orange through the petals for depth. Begin creating your next flower and make its center a slightly darker shade with a light brown.

Step 4: Little Details

Add green leaves in varying sizes using a light and a dark green paint. Make sure to leave some flowers with missing petals, painting leaves in their place as they would in the painting "Sunflowers". Begin defining the center of the sunflower with different hues of brown, dark yellow and greeny brown in the center.

Step 5: Accents and Impressions

Now with a small thin brush, add little accents and highlights throughout the centers of the flowers with light greens, yellows and oranges. Continue the previous process for each flower on the rest of the shoes until you’re complete.

Step 6: Clean Up

If you're clumsy like me, you may need to clean some spilled paint on the side. I recommend using a light acetone nail polish remover and a Q-tip to lightly clean up any marks.

Step 7: Optional* Painting a Border

This part is totally optional, but if you want a light yellow line around the top edge of the base just carefully take your yellow paint, and paint along the blank white line if your shoe allows.

Step 8: Optional* Sealing the Paint

For me my paint has stayed on well; in the past I used a mixture of liquitex acrylic paint and Acrylique "the paint for crafters" and it hasn't chipped, however not everyone may have the same paint and you may wish to seal your new painted shoes. I recommend using Scotchguard spray to protect and seal painted shoes and alternatively waterproof sealers or Mod Podge Matte Clear Acrylic Sealer, will do wonders.