Elfquest shoes

Elfquest is the story of Cutter and his tribe of Wolfriders as they discover their world is much bigger than they ever imagined after a fire destroys the forest they call home.  This comic series, by Wendy and Richard Pini, began in 1978.  Elfquest: The Final quest began in 2012.  There are so many things I love about this series.  I love seeing male characters be strong, brave and completely in love with their mate(s), children, and friends.  I love seeing strong, intelligent female characters who don't wait for a man to save them.  I love that Cutter's daughter Ember is tough, hard-headed, and a born leader and her twin brother Suntop is gentle and tender and loved as much as his sister.

Oh, then there's the art.  Wendy's ability to tell a story with her drawings alone are wonderful.  I had so much fun wandering through the old edition and finding all of those little bits of background foreshadowing and humor.  

Elfquest was the reason I began to draw in earnest in middle school.  It was the spark, guided by my mother, that led me to create my first world with my friends, a planet named M'aarth.  Elfquest was where we drew all of our inspiration.  Amber and I did most of the drawing, though I think just about everyone tried their hand at emulating Wendy Pini's style.  I found some very dear friends because of that world, people who will always have a very special place in my heart.

I found a tutorial on YouTube on how to a decoupage comic book shoe, which inspired me to do an Elfquest-inspired one. This is one of my favorite projects to date and I've gotten several compliments on them.  

Supplies:

Comic Book (mine is "Elfquest Book 2", published in 1982 by Starblaze and looooooooooong out of print)

Mod Podge (I'm using the outdoor formula, but I've seen the original, fabric, and matte all recommended)

Craft knife 

Paint brush or foam brush

Cutting surface: either a cutting mat, old textbook that you don't mind destroying, or cardboard to protect your work surface

With the exception of the shoes, all of these supplies can be found at your local craft store.

Finding shoes

I got these pumps for $7.00US at a little discount shoe place in North Dallas called Shu Deal.  The most important thing is that you can walk in them and like the general style of a shoe with plenty of surface area to work on.  They can be open toed shoes, just make sure you've got plenty of surface area to work with on the straps, a minimum of an inch. 

Because I didn't cover the entire shoe with panels, the background color of the shoe is seen.  If you're doing my method, choose either a color of shoe that compliments the palette of the comic or a neutral color.  This dark olive was a perfect choice since it complimented the earthy colors in the comic.

Choosing panels and characters and text

I decided to cut out individual characters and text rather than use entire panels to cover up the shoes and then add another layer of characters on top of the existing panels.  That can create a really fun look, but I wanted to showcase the characters.  Most of these cutouts are around 2 inches high but there are some larger ones as well to help cover the shoe.  I did no measuring and eyeballed what I thought would fit on the shoe.  

3-d collage!

Separate your pieces into big, medium, small, and text.  

Take the largest cutouts you have and experiment with placement on the shoe before applying a thin layer of Mod Podge, placing the piece down and putting another layer of Mod Podge on top of the picture.  Cover as much of the shoe as possible.  Switch shoes periodically to keep an even distribution of elements.  Work on the entire shoe at once because it will also help with the eventual balance of the entire shoe.  This process goes pretty quickly once you get in the zone.

Curvy areas of the shoe like the heel and across the toe box need special attention to stay down.  Hold down the paper until it sticks in the shape you want it to.  Depending on the paper and how it's sticking, you may still have to trim some of the excess or adjust it so that it goes flat against the shoe.  

Continue covering areas of the shoe with the medium and then the smaller pieces.  I like to try to fill as much of the background color as I can so that it peeks out from place to place and I don't have a large block of color anywhere.  

Place the text last.  I used this to cover up any blocks of green that I still had and to tie the whole thing together.

Protecting all your hard work

Once happy with the shoe, paint the entire shoe with a layer of Mod Podge that's just thick enough to be white and let dry.  A sponge brush works great here. I did this about 3 times and let the shoe dry for about 8 hours before applying my next layer.  Once the final layer is on, let the shoes dry for a minimum of 24 hours.  It fully cures in 72 hours, but I didn't have a problem wearing them out after 48 hours.  

Once the shoe is fully dry, use the craft knife to clean up any edges at the bottom of the shoe or along the top edge.

Did I mention I love these shoes?  It's ELFQUEST!  On my FEET!