What? I know, that sounds a little strange, and it was a lot harder than I imagined when I said yes...let me back up and explain...
My friend Paolo has been taking shoemaking lessons for over a year now and has developed a true passion for the craft. He's even gone to Orvieto, Italy to meet a shoemaker and source supplies, so... a very strong passion for it, yes.
He asked me to paint on some leather for him to use when making shoes. Of course, I immediately said yes. And as I waited for the leather he was mailing to arrive, I grabbed a large piece of canvas I had and began on that. You can see it above. I broke it into four sections and did different backgrounds.
And then I went to town. I did that first section (bottom right above and more below) the way I do my responsive drawing (which I teach in my Creative Sketchbooking class on Creativebug, link on sidebar)
and then I got a little stumped. I started over-thinking what would be good on shoes, altering my instincts to fit the project, which usually isn't a good idea for my creative process- trying to change things up for what I think someone else wants usually dulls that instinct I've worked so hard to have access to over all these years of making. That said, an assignment every now and again is a good challenge for me; editing myself doesn't come naturally and sometimes less really is more.
So, when I got to the second square, I started to think about shoes. What kind of shoes? Are we talking women's or men's? Wing tips or ballet slippers? What color shoes would be useful, as the art itself would likely limit the use of the shoes, I wouldn't want the colors to as well. Dark shoes I thought, and left the background a light charcoal. And then promptly went the opposite direction and painted white flowers on top with ink. But how dense should they be for shoes? At first I thought very dense, envisioning a pair of classic Ked's tennis shoes covered in them, but then started to loosen the scatter of flowers, "tossing" less out over the remaining fabric. I wasn't sure if this would be useful or not, to have options, and I'm still not. Time and the shoemaker will tell on that one.
When I got to the third panel, I decided to try to do a toss of flowers that would look more like an old oil painting. I first painted colorful flowers all over the panel and then...
I painted outlines with ink. I can see this as an entire hush-puppie type saddle shoe, or just the center panel even. (Oh, and I broke up the back pain of bending over the canvas on the floor by painting on some small wood pieces I could hold in my hands.)
When the piece of leather arrived in the mail, I was still thinking darker shoes might be best, but I was honestly wishing Paolo was there with me, guiding me. I didn't want to ruin his material. As I worked on it with acrylics, I decided that I'd happily buy it from him and make myself a clutch out of it if it was way off the concept he had in mind when sending. I kind of liked it best at the beginning above...
But then added lots more (contradicting less is more yet again- as I said, editing isn't my strong suit). I kept folding it over the top of my foot trying to imagine it as the toe of a shoe...not sure what the heck I was doing...
As always happens, the due date arrived. Time to pick him up at the airport and give him the goods! But first a stop for breakfast on the beach (Crystal Cove Beachcomber restaurant). I thought it was funny when creating this post, how all the colors of the breakfast picture match the colors of the painted leather above. Do you see it too? The yellow of the pottery, the red of the umbrella, orange of the drinks, blue of the ocean and brown of the bacon...
With all my trying to do something "different for shoes", I was seeing through my same lenses. It gave me a good chuckle on this Saturday morning.
And now that I've handed them off, the story will unfold in another artist's hands, through his lenses. I'm very excited to see where that is and will of course share the end results here!
And I still would like to make a clutch out of that leather, lol.
And here is Paolo himself. ;) After a very full day of driving, and talking shoes, ideas, and creativity and and and... we ended up in Palm Springs, the location of his class. Where over happy hour dinner I proceeded to draw all over the leather I'd painted...per his request! Now doesn't he look like he'd make a great pair of shoes?!? Can't wait to see...
