The Amazing Spiderman - 2, produced by Gopi's Studio

Just like Marvel Movies' second version of The Amazing Spiderman is out, how can my studio be far behind. Just a day before the release of Andrew Garfield starring The Amazing Spiderman - 2, I have also come up with my second hand painted Spiderman shoe. 

Though if I had not made the customary call to the client before starting work, the story would have been different. All this while I thought I had to make Chhota Bheem shoes, but luckily I made that one call to be reminded that it was Spiderman shoes. So with a new look and new pose, The Amazing Spiderman 2 from Gopi's Studio is released for all to see.

Check it out. Coming next, Pink Floyd, Family Circus and Winnie The Pooh. 

Who is Charlie? Who is Lola?

"I want a pair of Charlie and Lola shoes," said Anuraj, one of my returning clients. Earlier she had got a pair of Chhota Bheem shoes for her son and this time she wanted something similar for a friend's daughter. Such was my ignorance about this English writer and illustrator's characters that I had to actually ask the client thrice in a week who actually were Charlie and Lola.

Yes, I come from the Doordarshan era where Tom & Jerry, Pingoo, Swat Kats and to some extent Duck Tales were considered to be best cartoons. From the contemporary lot, I do know of Chhota Bheem, Dora, Doraemon, Winnie The Pooh and others, but Charlie and Lola, well. 

But anyway, after I saw their website, I was super impressed. Though they aren't the most cute looking fictional characters, but ultimately they looked good on the shoes. Brother sister pair of Charlie and Lola, with their friend Lotta and a dog named Sizzles adorn the shoes. 

I have to admit I need to brush up my fictional/cartoon characters' knowledge if I have to keep up in this space. Better late than never. Till then take a look at these shoes and yes, visit their website www.charlieandlola.com which will be a delightful experience. And yes, I also have my website live, I said it right earlier. Ohh yes, I did. 

Presenting to you'll www.gopisstudio.com

It's been over four months now after I begin a new chapter of my life. Yes I moved to a new house, with new family members but with same old Gautam. In all this time, I also happened to meet Chhota Bheem, Dora, Charlie and Lola, Heisenberg, Simpsons, Little Miss Sunshine among others. Well I brought them to life on canvas shoes.

But the newest of all this was my pet project, my own website. It got delayed for an eternity I feel. After buying the URL last June, we finally went live a few weeks ago. I didn't announce it since we were taking care of some teething issues. But now it seems all's well. Though I shall be updating it with my work and some more tweaks, but for now its live.

It's called www.gopisstudio.com. Be generous to give me feedback on the same. Compliments and criticism will be welcomed with a smiling face. Don't forget, its www.gopisstudio.com.

Little Miss Sunshine, who?

“I want a Little Miss Sunshine shoe for my 8-year old niece Tara,” said my new client Mishana. Now I was dumbfounded when she told me to design a Little Miss Sunshine themed shoe because I honestly didn’t have any clue about this Little Miss Sunshine. The name sounded sweet, but then.

All Hail King Google. But it wasn't bingo on first try. I found a movie released in 2006 by this name. I was like I can’t hand paint real life faces on shoe, it’s like climbing a hill with a 90 degree steep. But then just by adding one more keyword in the search I found this cute little, round in shape with an affable smile character called Little Miss Sunshine.

My husband who does all my research into our characters mostly told me that this adorable character is a part of Little Miss book series, the 4^th book to be precise. Ok then, so I sent the characters image to Mishana and she confirmed the same and swwwissshhh-swwooooossshh started my paint brush.

Let me admit this was probably the easiest character I have made in sometime. And I enjoyed doing it thoroughly. The yellow coloured Ms. Sunshine’s sweet smile can melt anyone’s heart. And in a matter of a few days, the shoe was up and ready. We missed our deadline by four days, but then I am lucky to have really cool clients.

Thanks Mishana for not making polite enquiries for the delay. And yes, for the record, this is my first hand painted shoe with the name of the person who will wear it on the back of it, Mishana's Little Miss Sunshine, Tara. 

I am the one who knocks

I didn't know the significance of these words before my husband's colleague, Vinayak, decided to get a shoe painted of the character who utters this dialogue. Soon, I realised that these words are like a gospel for die hard fans of American TV series 'Breaking Bad'.

Now my husband, a Breaking Bad fan himself, explained me that in one of the episodes called 'Cornered' of this immensely famous series, the protagonist Walter White explains his wife Skyler how his house and family are secured despite him moonlighting as a meth producer. He says, "I am not in danger, Skyler. I am the danger. A guy opens his door and gets shot and you think that of me? No. I am the one who knocks!"

And after we completed the shoe, Gautam got me to see that particular scene, just to get a feel of the character I got so involved in while painting it on the shoe. And yes, I realised that I had bettered myself while painting Walter White a.k.a. Heisenberg on one shoe and this famous dialogue on the other.  

To get the right shading, the wrinkles on his head, eyes that can scare off a wild beast and that face cut was nothing short of a nightmare. The final product was my third attempt on perfecting the look. Phewww!! Just creating that right facial expressions was tougher than making five pairs of Chhota Bheem shoes, no exaggeration.

Vinayak, fondly called Vinny, was super excited to see the shoe. He was stunned to see work couldn't wait to get his hands on them earlier today in the morning. While on one hand India lost the T20 World Cup finals to Sri Lanka, Vinny had a reason to smile despite that. His Breaking Bad shoe was coming to him. See what we somehow pulled off, I would say it was a daring heist. 


And if you are excited with what you are seeing, the pair is up for sale. Grab your pair before some other wannabe Heisenberg takes it home.