Oh man are we digging these red-figure Chucks! Probably going to die if we don’t get a pair!
We had the good fortune to stumble across these Grecian beauties while doing some classical web surfing and now we’re desperate for our very own pair of Hellenistic high tops.
It seems that these custom-painted sneakers were created for a lucky-classics professor. They depict 4 scenes from 4 different Greek vases. Immediately recognizable in these photos are images of Odysseus tied to the mast of his ship while the Sirens try to seduce him (above, left), Achilles and Ajax Playing Dice (above, right), Hercules and Cerberus (below, left) and Apollo with his Lyre (below, right).
The credit for these finely painted shoes goes to the mom of a Flickr user named jere7my, who willingly shares his mother’s technique with others who might want to create their own customized Chucks:
I just paint them with acrylic paints (any will do, I use either liquitex or a cheaper type Delta Ceramcoat available at craft stores, but for either you need to add some “textile medium” to help it stick to the fabric (Delta Ceramcoat or Josannia (sp?) makes one). Also try to remove some of the sizing out of the sneaker fabric first (scrub with a washcloth or something). Use a “Sharpie” or permanent marker for fine detail. Be careful to not paint TOO thickly or it will crack upon wearing. Also the paint should be thin enough to soak into and attach to the fabric but not so thin as to run or bleed. I often need to do a couple of coats of some colors for good coverage. Guess people could seal them with a spray finish but I haven’t tried that–Blair matte spray finish or even scotchguard should work well! Good luck!
Interested in having your own but don’t want to DIY? Email the creator of this perfect pair at linthorpe (at) rcn.com. Be warned that they come with a price tag that reflects the time and effort put into their creation — in the $200+ range for a design as complicated as that seen here!
