On April 7th, Sign Jam in Milan, Italy, had me conduct an art workshop with local college students on how to customize sneakers. I’ll walk you through it . . .
1. You’ll need newspaper, razor blade, masking tape, paper towel & warm water (in case you mess up), and my weapon of choice: Magix Color Leather Spray, although you can choose acrylic paint or whatever else works for you.
2. Spread the newspaper on the table, tape up the areas of the shoe you don’t want to be colored. Make sure there are no air pockets and that all strips are firmly adhered to the upper (otherwise the paint will go airborne and find its way).
This is the longest step, can take up to an hour, but be patient . . .
3. Once taped, hold the can and spray desired area from an angle about 10 inches away. If you get too close the paint will cake and drip. Make sure you give it an even flow. Wait 10 minutes for it to dry, then give it a second coat.
4. Wait another 10 minutes, then remove the tape slowly. Boom-baow! You should have a nice, freshly customized shoe that will look factory made. Hopefully. It can take a couple of tries to get good at it, so don’t fret if you mess up at first. Buena suerte, mi gente!
April 21st, 2008 at 10:22 am
CasUno says:
Plain out funky frESH, professor.
Ever think of dropping a book unveiling the secrets you possess about customization(s)?
April 21st, 2008 at 10:37 am
Teddy "Doowop" says:
Wow, so you literally tape up the whole shoe! Thats gotta suck if you wanna paint another part of it. My only question is – how did you get the tape so perfectly around the stripe?
April 21st, 2008 at 11:16 am
Carlito Roc says:
A book?? He just told u how to do it for free lol.
Teddy..thats what the razor blade is for.
Carlito Roc
Tck Krew
April 21st, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Teddy "Doowop" says:
ok..thats what I figured. I wouldnt trust myself with a razor blade on a pair of shoes though.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Carlito Roc says:
Gotta have faith, when u wanna set trends hommie.
Peace to Tck Krew
April 21st, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Chris says:
can you copp this spray paint at like pearl art or do you have to go to a certain store to find it?
April 21st, 2008 at 8:48 pm
Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. Kool Bob Love says:
teddy-
you can actually bring the tape to the very edge of the stripe, adn at times even tuck it under the overlay just before the stitching.
Chris-
you’ll have to ask around for Magix Color Spray, not always in stock everywhere. I’ve also found it at shoe repair stores, but not alwyas in every color. there are many to choose from.
April 21st, 2008 at 9:10 pm
blackjack says:
Bob,
As you know i painted up my kicks all the time. I use to use esquire shoe dye. Once you put that on suede it turns to leather. It came with a little brush. All you needed was a steady hand.
April 21st, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. Kool Bob Love says:
jack! that’s how you customized your self-made adidas americanas. funny, i heard about your sneakers before i mark told me about your game! haha! you were the man, still are.
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:19 am
Steve Kluback says:
Bobbito,
¿donde está su máscara? esos humos son tóxicos!
April 22nd, 2008 at 2:12 am
Sneaker Files says:
Very nice work Bobbito,
April 22nd, 2008 at 2:15 am
Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. Kool Bob Love says:
de verdad, estafan! muy toxico, necesité aire puro despues.
April 22nd, 2008 at 8:11 am
Ray Garcia says:
You should have cut the swoosh stripe off to remove the Nike logo then paint the surface so that they don’t look like Nikes anymore and instead something original.
April 22nd, 2008 at 9:44 am
Brian Shahum says:
Bobbito Garcia is truly the Godfather of kicks. James B aint got nothing on him. Uncle Jack however is the Messiah when it comes to shooting the ball though! Us kids in the sticks (rural america with populations under 1500, think opposite the Urban Jungle) used to actually phyically alter our kicks to make something new. I remember cutting my black and red Jordan VII’s up to create a pair of smooth low cut kicks. I got a razor and scissors and cut the back upper Jordan insignia off and flap and made them low tops. Kids in school had to keep asking what they were. Big hit in the sticks.
April 22nd, 2008 at 6:30 pm
daquest?on says:
wow thanx a lot bobbito.. u an inspiration for sneaker fans and street ballers from PR
April 22nd, 2008 at 6:33 pm
daquest?on says:
where can i find the spray?
April 22nd, 2008 at 6:37 pm
daquest?on says:
and does it have 2 b a leather spray or can it be like one that u use to spray paint walls?
April 22nd, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. Kool Bob Love says:
big brother ray-
don’t give out all our families customizing secrets! dag!
brian-
i definitely ODed and cut up some of my high tops too. i once washed my nike legends in ‘83 in bleach, and the leather hi top just tore off from the crease–the first nike mids, and it was a total accident! haha
daquest?on
if you’re spraying leather sneakers, use leather paint. it’ll be best and will last without cracks the longest. me saludo a la gente de nuestra isla, primo!
April 22nd, 2008 at 7:11 pm
daquest?on says:
muchas gracias
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:05 pm
jazzy art says:
Yo Bob,
That flick of you workin on the sneaker you look like one of those old Italian artisan cats, Freaks (Jacks)Americana’s were an inspiration but the best advice I can offer is to practice on some old beat up joints till the skills are correct. Back in the day it was freehand with some Esquire shoe dye and a small brush. Bubbles are the sign of a novice and should be avoided at all costs.
April 23rd, 2008 at 2:19 am
osclops says:
WOW ! hunter green, that butterz!
Im gonna have to try and do that to
my k-swiss sneakers! thanks bob!
April 23rd, 2008 at 2:20 am
osclops says:
WOW ! hunter green, thats butterz!
Im gonna have to try and do that to
my k-swiss sneakers! thanks bob!
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:32 am
Sho-Nuff says:
I remember those Nikes. Those were one of the first ones with the strap AND mesh, circa 1984 or so….
April 23rd, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. Kool Bob Love says:
osci-
k-swiss got 5 stripes, bro–you’re in for a long tedious path of taping those badboys up!
and for all those who don’t know jazzy art, he is one of the handful of people from my era who i interviewed for my book. he had a ton of joints back in the day. mad respect my brother!
April 23rd, 2008 at 2:38 pm
henry says:
what shoes are you wearing in the pics? and are those forces in the pics from last year or older?
April 23rd, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. Kool Bob Love says:
on my feet were the jordan 11 lows. in my hands were the af1 25th anniversary hi top re-issues from 2007.
April 23rd, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Teddy "Doowop" says:
Bob, is there a certain pattern to how you lay the tape down? Like vertical, horizontal, all the way around?? Or do you just place it any old way? Do you look at all these questions peeps ask as a sign of respect or do you find it annoying?
April 24th, 2008 at 12:08 am
Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. Kool Bob Love says:
teddy-
not annoying at all, bro. i’ve always appreciated that heads are interested in what i do and show love and respect. back in the late ’70s/early ’80s when i first starting customizing, no one would ask questions cuz most wouldn’t want to take the time required to create an exclusive. in this recent era, many can just go online and buy a painted or rare sneaker. times have changed. it’s become more accesible.
as for the tape, so long as it’s tight on the surface that you don’t want painted, doesn’t matter if it’s vertical, horizontal, etc. you can give it two, three layers of tape to play it safe if you’re just starting out. no one taught me. my brother ray influenced me to experiment, and it was all trial and error, with eventual success, from there. good luck bro!
April 24th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Teddy "Doowop" says:
Thanks a lot Bob, ‘preciate it
April 26th, 2008 at 2:43 am
Pink Eye says:
Professor Bob, lol Thanks for the extra tips, even a customizer like myself can always learn a few new tricks!
April 26th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. Kool Bob Love says:
E the custom queen! i’ll see you at ladon’s jump-off on thursday. cuidate
May 19th, 2008 at 3:39 am
THESNKRBOX says:
SIMPLE + CLEAN…NEED TO CONNECT AND SEE WHAT WE CAN CREATE WITH CUSTOM LASERING…FROLABORATE!!
October 21st, 2009 at 10:17 am
Aussie Aaron (unowho) says:
Sup Bobbito,
Huge fan from down under… Just wanted to ask if you know of any websites to get that Magix paint from… have searched here and can’t find any or on ebay, and the leather spray paint I have found here is not as good as I was hoping… also, prior to painting the shoes, if brand new, do you strip the original paint off at all, or any kind of cleaning? also what do you do after painting as far as a cover for the paint of any kind
thanks in advance
aaron aka unowho