Reflection

Art, photo n’ words by Rich Terdoslavich (C) 2025

Sunday. Windows open, a warm autumn night. Temperatures dippin’ into the forties on Tuesday. Winter around the corner. Coming by quick at the blink of an eye. One second, sixty degree weather, the next, the crisp, cold winter air and the morning sun, brilliant sunlight that will keep you warm when you walk the streets of the city. Changing of the seasons.

Thought I would pick up where I left off with the newsletter. I wrote about a customized sneaker job I did for Korrupt Label. Korrupt Label is a fashion company that specializes in East Village 80s/90s punk fashion gear. They got good stuff to purchase. Shirts, hoodies. You can check it out at https:www.korruptlabel.com . I went to high school with one of the cofounders. The High School Of Art and Design, located in Midtown Manhattan, NYC. It was there where I learned the nuts and bolts on drawing and painting. Connected on Facebook and he saw my customized sneakers online. Impressed by it, he hired/commissioned me to customize a pair of sneakers for a photo shoot/promote/advertise their label/brand/company.

Looking back, it was a fun gig, a fun job. Getting paid to be creative, doing what you love to do. Had to dig deep with the details on the lettering, especially the edges of the letters. Sable brush, triple zero. Tighten up the edges with a tiny dab of paint on a brush, swirl gently to smooth out the rough edges of a letter. The best to use when you want to refine those painted details. Wanted to make them as tight as possible, sharpen the edges. Just my own approach, my focus. Make the job tops. Painting is challenging. Trying to avoid streakiness, make the white as flat as possible, go over with it coat after coat, so you couldn’t see the brushstrokes. A combo of flatheads and sable brushes were used. Flatheads are good for open spaces, large parts to be filled in with coats of acrylic paint. You can get obsessed with the process, so at some point, you had to come to a conclusion that you did the best you could. Put the brush down.

Once I mailed the sneakers 👟 back to Korrupt, got the word from one of the cofounders that they liked it. Felt good. Glad they did. It was always makes me happy that a client is satisfied with the work, while at the same time, never settle with your talent/abilities. Get better at your craft. Practice, practice, hone those skills. Stay restless because you want to get better at what you do.

The sneakers will be used for photo shoots/publicity/marketing campaigns. Psyched to see it when it gets done. Will keep you posted with any updates. Guess that’s about it, folks. Thanks for reading my rambles and stay tuned for more. Until then, happy holidays and all the best.