Old School Hand Painted Vans: Cassette Tapes

I finally have finished these bad boys!


This is my third pair of hand painted canvas shoes.  This is my first pair of Vans.

I used a lot of geometric patterns on the sides.

The front of the shoes say, "Love" and "Life" to remind folks that there's a lot to love about their lives.  (Be grateful for the little things!)  The hand lettering emanates from the cassette tape.


I used an old school cassette tape design.  Generation Z folks will recognize the mix tape idea from the Netflix TV show Stranger Things.

My lines were reminiscent of soundwaves.

The back says, "Side 1" and "Side 2."  Remember how we used to have to turn the tapes over?

The sides say, "Play" and "Record."


Does anyone remember how hard it was to scroll back the loose tape back into the cassette?  

I always used a pencil to wind the tape back in, but my husband reminded me that yellow Bic pens did a better job.  It's amazing what you forget as technology progresses!

See if you can find at least one mistake (there are 2) in this picture from my drawings.

There's always room to improve.

Completing this pair of canvas shoes fulfilled a couple of goals for me:  working with a high contrast and limited color palette (black, white, and red), and finally getting to paint a pair of Vans.


Here are a couple pictures of the early stages.

Do you like these patterns?  Do you have suggestions for me?  I want to paint another pair for a charity auction really soon in size 9 women's Vans.  (This is the most common size among US women.)  I am thinking of a very colorful palette for that pair.  If you have ideas for a design, please let me know.  Thanks in advance!


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