DIY CUBISM-INSPIRED HEELS
I’ve had these white heels in storage for a bit and when I finally took them out I found they were all stained up from clothing they were packed with inside the container. Other than the pesky stains, these heels were in good condition and the frugalista in me just couldn’t bring myself to toss them out.
This is when I called on #KrysTheDIY👑 to work her magic! Though I would have preferred waving a wand to fix all the issues, I figured painting over the stains would be my best bet.
I wanted something funky and colorful to play up the 80’s style of this shoe, so I decided to go for a color-block cubsim art inspired design.
Cubism as detailed in an article by The Met Museum “was one of the most influential visual art styles of the early twentieth century.” The creation of this style has been credited to Pablo Picasso and George’s Braque with geometric forms that appeared cube-like in both of their works. However, as instincts led me to do a bit more research, I think it’s very important to note that other influences on this art form has been linked to non-Western sources including African art which Picasso first saw sometime in1907 when he visited the ethnographic museum in the Palais du Trocadéro in Paris. African masks and sculptures with their abstract aesthetic would serve as inspiration for the ever popular cubist style and you can read more about that here.
Now I’m not great at drawing and painting so I found a very simple coloring page designed for kids and used that as my template. I printed the page at 30% scale, then customised the details to my liking, then used a small blade to cut out small bits and add slits in the paper that helped guide me as I lightly traced the pattern outline onto the shoe with a pencil.
After I was done, I used the finest paintbrush I had but that wasn’t always stable enough for my wobbly hands so I used a toothpick as well to get the tiny detail. While painting, its good to keep some cotton q tips and a paper napkin on hand along with water. This way you can quickly wipe off any errors. You have to move fast because the paint dries fast.
In case you need to remove any dried paint, I’d suggest using a small craft blade to gently shave down the paint then cover over with your base color and re-paint the design details. This part is tricky so proceed with caution and a light touch.
Check out the full DIY tutorial video below.
SUPPLIES:
Shoes
Leather craft paint
Paint brushes
Toothpicks (optional for finer lines)
Painter’s tape