Nina Originals

I saw some shoes at a local store that were kind of cool, but more than I wanted to spend and the designs weren't exactly what I wanted. However, it did spark an idea so I went in search of plain white canvas shoes. I found the first ones at Target and later at Walmart. My friend found hers at DSW & the slipons I got were from Old Navy. Once I obtained the canvas shoes, I went to town. I normally sketch a light pencil outline prior to adding color with Prismacolor Permanent Markers. I do the detail lines with a Sakura Micro Marker (and some other ones that I have that are no longer on the market). When my friends saw the first pair, the custom orders started flowing in and I'm having a great time doing these shoes. Later I'll show you the tote bags I did as a fund raiser for the doll artist convention I'll be attending next month.

Once my friend Lisa saw the shoes, she had to have a pair, so she commissioned me to do her a pair. Since we are attending an art doll conference this summer, I did doll faces on her shoes.

She loved them! Here are both the front & back views of her shoes.

Our friend Vicki is also attending the convention this year and wanted a pair of shoes of her own. She doesn't care for the lace ups, but found a pair of Keds slip ons that she liked. As Vicki is a master gardener, I did her shoes to reflect her interests.

The first image is at the start of the process, with one shoe detailed and the other with just the color.

One more image showing the side. Once I did the shoes for Vicki & Lisa, I loved the slip on style and also the doll faces, so I found a cheap pair of slip ons at Old Navy and did my own doll face shoes to wear at the convention.

Start of doll shoes without any of the detailing - just the basic color laid out.

Finished shoes with detailing.

Lisa had the idea that the shoes might look good just black & white. I wasn't sure, but the last pair I did was a different canvas. It wasn't working doing the pencil lines first, so I laid in the basic lines with the permanent detail markers. I figured I would do all the lines & detailing first and then add the color. Picture shows shoes in progress. Once I finished them, though, everyone seemed to love them as they were - so I'm leaving these black & white. I'll be selling this pair.