Custom Grim Fandango Converse by KyozoKicks.

In a matter of months I will have been painting video game themed shoes for 2 years. It has been a more wonderful experience than I could ever have hoped for. I appreciate all the emails of encouragement and the vast amount of websites I have long admired, with helping to bring my work to a wider audience.

The 3rd pair of shoes I ever did were a purple pair of Grim Fandago Converse Hi-tops. I was actually introduced to Grim Fandango a short time before as part of the Vintage Game Club. Appreciating humor in games I unsuccessfully searched for a copy until, proving the generosity of strangers, I found the game in my mail box.

The original Grim Fandango pair of Converse were hugely popular within the realm of custom shoes, Making the front page of websites such as Kotaku, Offworld, even Double Fines own blog. I was very proud of them, but that was not to say I didn’t think I could improve on them. I try to improve and further my techniques with each pair. Recently I was given a chance to revisit my Grim Fandango Converse.

Karrim approached me about perhaps recreating the pair, the only request he had was to change the base colour of the shoe from purple to dark blue, which I was more than happy to do – purple being an aquired taste. I then got back to Karrim to see if he would be comfortable with me changing the design of the right shoe, before it only had text and I wanted the two shoes to form a single idea. I always imagined Manny sitting there, smoking in a grand hall or old library in front of a fire place. Now the right shoe has Manny framed with the quote ‘Love? Love is for the living’ in a font more inkeeping with Grim Fandango.

It was great to revisit a pair again, although I don’t think we have seen the last of Grim Fandango in my work

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