Painting meeples on shoes
This blog will primarily be about board games and my gaming experiences. And the meeple is central to board-gaming.
A meeple is a small person-shaped piece used as a player’s token in many eurogames. The word is a mashup of “my people.”
So while this post isn’t officially about playing board games, I still wanted to share. My crafty friend came over to show me how to paint Toms shoes. I purchased a regular black canvas pair for the project. My goal for the shoes: giant red meeples.
What you’ll need:
- Canvas shoes
- Acrylic craft paint in color of choice and black
- Paintbrushes
- Chalk
We started by outlining the meeple shape on the shoe using chalk. This resulted in a good initial outline to fill in with paint. I squirted some paint on a paper plate, took a small brush and dipped it in red paint, and started started filling in the meeple. Then I moved on to the other shoe.
Once you finish the second shoe, the first shoe is dry enough to begin a second layer. But before you do, wipe off remnants of the chalk outline that you didn’t cover in paint, and then you can see the true outline of the shape you’re working on.
I started the second layer of paint, paying attention to making any necessary adjustments to my meeple shape. Repeat the same thing on the second shoe. And then start the third layer of paint. Since this is your last layer, make sure that corners and edges are crisp, that the shape is how you truly want it, and that the color is even throughout.
Once all layers are done, mix the red paint with some black paint to give it a darker tint. My friend then added one layer of shading to the edge of the meeple to give it some dimension. And that’s it!
While I was painting the three layers on my shoes, my friend busted out a blank canvas bag and created this tote bag for me. It was an awesome surprise!
I totally look forward to wearing these shoes and toting this bag around at BGG Con, which starts Nov. 19 in Dallas.
Game on, everyone!