Okay, let me walk you through how I put together these kicks with the Suns colors.
It started pretty simply. I was looking at my old pair of sneakers, plain white ones, kinda boring you know? And I’d been watching a lot of Suns games. That purple and orange, it just pops. So, I thought, why not try and paint these shoes? Give ’em some life, Phoenix style.
Getting Started – The Prep Work
First thing, I had to get the stuff together. Found some leather paints online, specifically the purple and orange I wanted, plus some white and black for accents, and a finisher to seal it all up. Grabbed some different sized brushes and that blue painter’s tape.
- Cleaning: The shoes weren’t filthy, but definitely needed a good scrub. Used some shoe cleaner and a brush, got all the dirt off. Gotta have a clean surface, right? Let them dry completely.
- Taping: This part took way longer than I thought. Carefully taped off the soles, the inside lining, anywhere I didn’t want paint. Really tried to get those edges sharp. It’s kinda tedious work.
Putting on the Color
Alright, the fun part. Started with the purple. I decided to do the main side panels purple. Put on a thin coat first. Looked kinda streaky, not gonna lie. Waited for it to dry, which felt like forever. Then another coat. Better. Probably did three coats of purple in total to get it looking solid and even.
Then, the orange. I wanted the toe box and the heel tab to be orange. Same deal here. Thin coats. The orange seemed to need even more layers than the purple to really cover the white underneath. Patience is key here, seriously. Rushing it just makes a mess.
Added some small details. Used a fine brush to put a thin black line around some panels, just to define them. Put a little white on the tongue logo area. These little things make a difference, makes it look less like I just slapped paint on.
Finishing Touches and The Result
Once all the paint was dry, like really dry (I left them overnight just to be sure), I took off all the tape. That’s the satisfying part, seeing the clean lines. Mostly clean, anyway. Had a tiny bit of bleed under the tape in one spot, gotta be more careful next time.
Then I applied the finisher. Brushed on a thin layer all over the painted areas. This stuff protects the paint from scuffs and water. Gave it two coats, letting it dry in between.
So, how’d they turn out? Honestly, pretty good for a first try! They definitely scream Phoenix Suns. The colors are bright, they look unique. Are they perfect? Nah. If you look close, you can see some brush strokes, that little paint bleed I mentioned. But stepping back, they look awesome. Wore them out already, actually got a compliment. It’s cool wearing something you put your own effort into, even if it’s just painting some old shoes. Took more time than I expected, especially the drying and taping, but yeah, worth it.
