Last minute panic is called a creative mood

This time around my work on a shoe is so well defined by quotes of the characters I hand painted. Here is probably the story which says it all.

Calvin: "You can't just turn on creativity like a faucet. You have to be in the right mood."
Hobbes: "What mood is that?"
Calvin: "Last-minute panic."

Yes. This is my first Calvin & Hobbes shoe and I got really tied up while completing it. It became last minute thanks to my dear sister's last minute plans to travel abroad. I got this order from one of my most loyal clients named Anu. She ordered for this in size 38. Unfortunately I had size 39 and that would have been a bit bigger.

We had to wait till my vendor sent me a size 38 shoe. We ordered and the vendor said he will dispatch it. In fact after some digging, we found a size 38 in our stock itself. And then the next night my recently married, settled in Hongkong less-of-a-sister-more-of-a-friend asked me to join her in Hongkong for some fun.

I couldn't resist the temptation and I realised I just had 36 hours to complete the shoe. With a back spasm that has been irritating me for over 4 months, and an eye on Hongkong, I started the shoe just 36 hours before my flight. And trust me my last-minute panic work came out really well.

The pressure of finishing work before I leave made me more focused. And the final product is for all to see. I told my client to collect the shoes from my husband who wasn't joining the ladies party in Hongkong. Here is to Calvin and Hobbes and their inspirational quote.

Love the life you live, live the life you love

This one quote from Bob Marley defines each and every one's life so well. I could relate to it all the time I work on these hand-painted stuff. And co-incidentally, I read about this quote only when I got an order to make Bob Marley themed pillow covers.

As a matter of fact, I had got pillow covers stitched from my mom like a good 10 months ago and I was to hand paint them. But it never happened until an order came to me from a long lost friend. This friend wanted me to paint a shoe for someone, Bob Marley themed. But unfortunately I couldn't find the shoe size, then we thought of painting a tee. That sounded cliched.

Until we thought about the pillow cover, the chance to work on a colourful and enchanting character like Bob Marley was slipping out of my hand. But she agreed to the idea and soon I started on the same. When I saw what I had to make, I was like holy s*** how will I do this. Marley has a very regal look on his face and to top that I had to make something based on Pop Art.

Finally I found some reference and what I accomplished in flat four days' time was unbelievable. This is the first time where I felt wasn't handpainting something, but was experiencing something myself. Jamaican Prime Minister Edward Seaga, who delivered the final funeral eulogy to Marley, had rightly said, "Bob Marley was never seen. He was an experience which left an indelible imprint with each encounter."

This was my encounter with him, the first ever, hopefully not the last one. And what came out of the encounter is for you all to see. I really do love the life I live, and I also do live the life I love.

Diggy, your shoes are ready

Yes, this was important to say. This is the longest I have worked on hand painting a shoe. Longest ever. It took me four months to complete the shoe. Not because I didn't know what to do but because so many things cropped up in between that this shoe took a back seat.

Thanks to the fact that the client is a great guy and has shown tremendous patience. When I started seriously on the shoe, this looked to be one of the best shoe I have handpainted for sometime. I think I use this term very loosely, but trust me this was the best shoe I have made, bestest of the best. I rate these 'Jim Morrison shoes' above Breaking Bad I made for two other clients.

I was wrong to say that Heisenberg shoe was the toughest to make, this Jim Morrison was another level altogether. Finally so after going on with it for four months, I completed the shoe last weekend only to know that Digvijay, my client and my husband's former colleague is out of town. But he was super thrilled to see what we eventually made.

Hope you all guys too love it, and basis this please don't judge my work pace. This was totally one off. Honestly in between I did so many big projects that I was feeling lazy to even pick up the paint brush which was like labour work compared to working on my Mac for the other projects I worked on.

Enjoy this till you see the new hand paint work I finished just yesterday. That's even more epic. IT IS!

Pink Floyd No. 2

I realised that I had forgotten that I also was writing a blog regularly. But trust me, last three-four months have been hectic to say the least. New office, new work, some really satisfying, some maddening, some interesting.

Of all that, last week I finished handpainting a new pair of Pink Floyd shoes for Gautam. No, not for my husband Gautam, but for a new, enthu client named Shreya who wanted to gift her husband a Christmas surprise, and coincidentally her hubby's name happens to be Gautam too.

So she ordered the shoe a good week or even more before Christmas but my vendor didn't have the size she wanted. So we had to find alternatives. One fine day, like usual, we went for shopping. This time at Forever 21 where Gautam (my husband) found these super cool white canvas pair from men's section.

He immediately took a picture of the shoe, sent it to client, got approval. All this happened while I was in trial room and had no clue what he was upto. Anyway so yes, I started work and tried my best to finish it before Christmas, but finished only on Christmas day :P

But yes, the finished product was one of my better works. The design this time was different from the previous one. This was the first time I inserted a name to make it personalised. So yes, take a look at the my recent work. And yes, this came to us via Pratik who also had got a Pink Floyd shoe a few months ago from her friend Kritika who had ordered from us. 

Lost between Corbett, Diwali and Goa

I know I haven't updated the blog for two months now, but trust me its been two months of super hectic action, so much that just a quick blog post like I am putting up today was also not easy.

Anyway like everyone knows there is a new office from where I operate, small one but cozy. But in between all that, I managed to design one coffee table book for a client based out of Chennai. Another wedding album, and then Diwali also came so have been doing nothing sometimes and everything most of the times.

Yes, that coffee table book was a long distance work, but whattay client. Sometimes your work just becomes easier when the client is prompt, precise and as excited as you are while designing the book. The book is in printing as I write this and its based on his time at Corbett National Park.

And then there is another destination wedding book which I am about to finish. So life's been tied up in between designing these books and office and my husband's constant crazy ways. Also I have to say sorry to Diggie, Gautam's former colleague, who has ordered for a customised shoe based on a Jim Morrison theme in October and I have been sitting on it for almost 2 months now.

But I will do it. Maa kasamm!! Diggie I owe you this one at a discounted rate. Though my husband says "don't worry, he also must've forgotten". But I want to finish it. I have already sketched the face on the shoes, its just a matter of filling the colours which is the tough part. 

Update soon. bye for now!

My first client get another first from me

Yuvaan I tell you is one lucky boy for me. Besides being my first client, he also happens to be one of those chocolate boys I would love to eat every day. While my first work, a photo collage for Yuvaan, was made when he was about to turn one, my second work for this cutey pie was made yesterday, on his 2nd birthday.

Life's been full of colour since I got his photo collage done, and of those, I splashed the best colours on a tiny little size 2 T Shirt. Yes, on his 2nd birthday, me and my husband thought of giving him something that he would not get his eyes off. And after spending almost every alternate day out with this Mehta Jr. we realised that he was obsessed with Chhota Meem (Read Bheem) and after his American sojourn, he started loving Mimmie Mouse (Read Mickey).

So we decided to get the two together. The question first that stood in front of us was kya banaaye? We thought of making a bedsheet, but already a hand painted bedsheet from our studio had gone into that house. He was too young to get a hand painted shoe, I mean we couldn't find the right shoe size. And anyway we made shoes for almost every second client so it had to be something different.

So then we decided to get a plain white T Shirt and I had to do my magic on it. So we went to a baby clothing store to get a plain T Shirt, saw a few things that got us excited and I started telling my poor hubby that, "Listen these kids clothes are expensive man!! But when we get a baby and because of his or her shopping, you cut down on my shopping budget, I will cut you into pieces."

But he quickly diverted my focus back to finding a T Shirt for Yuvi. We found one, liked it, took it and painted it. And yes, we got a birthday message on it too which got Bheem and Mickey saying, "Yuvaan's mom has told us not to let him date any girl till he turns 18"

Here's a quick glance at how the work on it progressed and eventually how the birthday boy looked when he got it. 

The plain vanilla Tee

Work in progress

Colours done, outlines left

All done

Papa Purav gets Yuvi boy to pose for a pic

And then the dude after wearing this Tee decides to comb his hair. Dont know for whom though!!

Emmy Awards winning character on my shoe

Finally Vinny got what he wanted for months now. Yes, Gautam's colleague Vinayak Shenoy had ordered a Breaking Bad themed shoe like 3 months back. We made one in quick time but unfortunately it didn't fit him. Then with loads of backlog, we had to keep his shoe making on the back burner.

Finally, I started work on his shoe about a week ago, and yes to make Heisenberg's face on the shoe takes that long. And last night I finished it. It was as big a challenge this time as it was last time around too. And I didn't want to make it in a rush because I personally liked this challenge of making a human face on the shoe. 

While making them, Gautam told me how Bryan Cranston, the actor who plays the character won his fourth Emmy Award for the role. When I saw him on the screen, he looked so different from what the character looked like. At the awards nite, Cranston looked pretty old and soft unlike the character where he looked menacing.

But anyway, I managed to crack the look this time too, not without Gautam messing around while I made them. But alls well that ends well. Hope Vinny loves them. And yes Vinny if you are reading this blog, I am warning you that you better wear them. I have had to work really hard to get the right look, and that too with Gautam around. 

P.S.: Coming up next; two rock band superstars. One a drummer, another a lead singer. Keep watching this space to know who they are.