i like using loew cornell but i prefer the taklon brushes with the acrylic (plastic) handles since i tend to leave them sitting in water to keep them from drying, the wood handles tend to swell from absorbsion. and as far as how i paint, the natural hair brushes tend to snap (the actual hairs) too quickly, causing it to lose shape, cuz im rough on my brushes. taklon is fine enough to get good coverage but lasts much longer.
as far as painting midsoles, i dont really bother with the rubber soles. you can definately use a heat set latex based paint, but they wont last forever....alot of skate shoe companies use that stuff to cover up color bleeds on the soles alot cuz their quality control is less stringent, and it usually peels off after a few weeks of wear. they know that it only matters that the shoe looks good when the mom is buying the shoe for the kid. if the shoes you plan on using it for arent gonna be worn too much or at all, it will definatly work out for you. just gotta put the shoes in an oven to heat set it :\
for foam soles, its not too complicated, i dont bother with the silkscreen mediums cuz its a bit more work than i really care to do (mainly the heat setting, cuz you have to watch it in the oven to make sure its not getting too cooked). what i have been doing lately is just using the same process i do for the leather. prep the foam soles with acetone to take the paint off. you'll see the raw foam just like the leather if you were doing it on the upper. let it dry THOROUGHLY. get whatever HIGHLY FLEXIBLE paint mixture you have (add alot of textile medium, id say 1.5:1 medium to paint and add a little acetone to thin. apply thin coats letting each coat dry completely (you can speed this up with a blow dryer). i did this on the elephant print 90's i just did with the tan around the air bubble. it doesnt peel or crack. the foam is actually a good surface to paint on since it is minutely porous it holds the paint really well. the key is just getting the factory paint/coating off. if i was painting the ENTIRE sole on a pair of am's i would more likely use the silkscreen gel cuz you dont have to do as many coats to get a good smooth coverage, which would take forever doing the other method.
Containers are key! its always frustrating to recreate a color you made cuz you almost always end up having some huge puddle of paint on the palette cuz you kept adding more to get it right.
In addition to GOOP, Shoe Goo works well too, although it is a bit stiffer, so i wouldnt reccommend using it on areas with alot of movement, such as behind the toes.
To turn smooth leather into suede (for making more realistic elephant, safari prints and just suede in general)-
This doesnt work with all leathers, so make sure you test this in an inconspicuous place first. Nike and other shoe companies are increasingly using crap @#%$ bonded leather (if you dont know what this is, go to a skate shop and check out the belts they carry...look at the inside and check it out, it will look like they took leather particles and made a cardboard like material out of this. there are varying degrees of quality to this process, and you can actually get really nice feeling "leathers" from it, but its main purpose is to save money so the most common form is a semi stiff plastic coated leatherboard. most recent gr dunks and especially the recent Journeys dunks have this leather. most white leather can be used (make sure its not synthetic first!).
you can either use a dremel with a small spherical routing bit (1/16 or 1/8 in), or a xacto knife with a curved blade. use the dremel to tear off the plastic leather coating (you have to hold it at a certain angle....test it on some beaters). the other way is to take the blade, and scratch sideways with the middle of the curve on the blade. scratch a small area at a time (about 2 sq in) in one direction, when it starts to come off, start scratching in a perpendicular direction and that should get it off. you can make the nap smooth (no lines from the scratching) by using a rough bristle brush. white leather is best cuz you can dye it any other color you want cuz the suede (or nubuck sinch its not really nappy) is super light.
dying suede/nubuck- easy but messy. if its a dark nubuck/suede you need to bleach it first (same application process as i'll describe for the dye). more than likely after a couple applications you will get to a light tan or a light grey depending on the original color. now to dying. this crap can get MESSY so do this in the garage, or if you have a laundry room do it there...not in the bathroom cuz leather dyes will stain the grout and possibly your tiles.
my personal preference for dyes is Fiebling's Institutional Leather Dye...its made for prisons, hospitals and schools and is non toxic and stains like a mutha. use a brush, or a qtip. AND MAKE SURE YOU WEAR RUBBER GLOVES! i had green hands for a week. i only use a SMALL brush for the corners, but if you can master it, its better to pull back the upper panel and place a saturated q tip close to the edge and let the dye soak in and bleed under the upper layer. that way you dont have to chance getting the dye on the other panel...cuz it ISNT COMING OFF. anyways, get the whole panel colored...then do it again. the more times you do it, the deeper the dye will penetrate the leather. let it dry over a day. its gonna dry with a film that will make the leather stiff. to re-nap take a long fingernail (for nubuck dont use anything but a fingernail or a guitar pick), or a dull rounded blade and scrape the leather back to softness. it will lighten up a bit so reapply if necessary. heres the of this method:
the green panel was made by bleaching then dyeing. i dont reccomend using black liquid leather dye as it leaves a film that cant be removed by scraping. the best way ive found to dye suede black is a sharpie. YES a sharpie. but you cant draw it on. you have to roll the tip on its side and let the leather soak up the dye out of the marker. dont use this on nubuck tho....it works sometimes but it isnt very consistant and i havent found a dye that looks great for black nubuck yet.
ok im done for now.....can this be stickied already?
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