Recent Painting

I've not been doing regular painting lately, but I have been painting shoes! In honor of St. Urho's say, here is a pair I finished yesterday.

I used this color and was surprised at first how it acted. It's not as bright over the black, as I was expecting, since it's a very translucent color similar to the quinacridone magenta I use for "regular" painting. A little white would have made it more opaque or a little blue would have made it more purple and opaque. After being a bit annoyed at first and painting 4 layers of paint, I decided that I like the color "as is". 

By the way, I just figured out that St. Urho's Day is actually a "fake" holiday. Still, it doesn't matter to me. I can get behind any holiday where you are supposed to wear purple. 

I finished a pair of my hubby's boots at Kat's open painting studio last Friday. They were looking very worn. While that's fine, I also wanted to spiff them up.

    

This last pair was finished several weeks ago. 

I've been playing around with some ideas in both my regular acrylic paint and in watercolor, but I don't have anything to share. My guess is that I will be doing more art in the coming weeks as a way to use time during this period of self-distancing in an enjoyable way. 

What Was Old Is Now New

I recently had a birthday, but I am not talking about me. Do not dispose of your old leather shoes if you like them. I repeat. Do not dispose of your old leather shoes if you like them.

Behold, my beloved, old, worn, purple pair of Keen shoes.

What was old is now new.

These new-looking, fun, shoes, which now look vaguely like a goofy pair of bowling shoes, are thanks to Angelus leather paint and Wet Paint, where I purchased my supplies. I used their leather preparer and deglazer and paint (which is an acrylic paint - - woo hoo! - - two thin layers). Before I wear them, I will do 1-2 thin layers of acrylic finisher. After that, I can use regular waterproofing stuff. I've heard good things about the durability of this paint, but I thought I'd use an old pair of shoes for my first experiment.

If any local friends want to play with this stuff, let me know and we can make a date!