{"id":29992,"date":"2022-04-28T11:25:46","date_gmt":"2022-04-28T18:25:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=30000026318"},"modified":"2023-03-19T23:28:07","modified_gmt":"2023-03-20T06:28:07","slug":"custom-shoe-artist-paints-sneakers-so-cool-you-wont-want-to-wear-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/in-the-studio\/custom-shoe-artist-paints-sneakers-so-cool-you-wont-want-to-wear-them","title":{"rendered":"Custom sneaker artist paints shoes so cool you won&#8217;t want to wear them"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>In the Studio is a multimedia series that highlights local artists and makers, in their element, doing what they do best. To contact us, email Visuals Editor Thomas R. Cordova at <a href=\"mailto:thomas@lbpost.com\">thomas@lbpost.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"In the studio with custom sneaker designer Bryan Phillips\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/o4YGrVSyQGA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In high school, Long Beach native Bryan Phillips had aspirations of becoming a professional basketball player. But at 5-foot-1 in the 10th grade, he realized he would need to prepare for a different career path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He dove into the theater arts where he invested a lot of his time developing comedy routines with friends and working on improv.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;After high school, that became a reality that that wasn&#8217;t really something I wanted to do forever,&#8221; said Phillips, who is now an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/swellguycustoms\/\">artist and designer<\/a> who specializes in custom sneakers. &#8220;It&#8217;s a tough industry, and I just didn&#8217;t have that drive.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While out shopping for his brother&#8217;s Christmas gift in 2016, Phillips failed to find something eye-catching. So instead, he decided to buy some sneakers and make something special himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He had taken a couple of art classes in college, including graphic design, but outside of that, Phillips had only ever explored his artistic intuition through notebook doodles when he couldn&#8217;t focus in school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I wanted to see what could I do if I actually tried to learn good technique,&#8221; Phillips said. &#8220;I got really invested in it, I saw an immediate improvement in my work and so then I started doing it more as a hobby.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Inspired by Hip-Hop duo Run the Jewelz second album, Run the Jewelz 2, Phillips created an intricate pair of red Nike Air Jordan 1s with the famous bleeding mummy hands holding a chain creatively painted from the collar to the vamp of the sneaker, and suddenly, he had order requests from people asking if he could create them a pair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, the 5-foot-11, 31-year-old is the proprietor of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swellguystudio.com\/home\">Swell Guy Customs<\/a>, a Long Beach-based company that has created more than 100 custom sneakers over the last five years for artists such as Trippe Redd, Lil Tecca and Baby Goth. Some clients even send Phillips $1,000 sneakers and designer handbags so that he can add his art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/B-cmbaWp6Wd\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\" style=\" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);\"><div style=\"padding:16px;\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/B-cmbaWp6Wd\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <div style=\" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;\"> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;\"><\/div> <div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;\"> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;\"><\/div> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div style=\"padding: 19% 0;\"><\/div> <div style=\"display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;\"><svg width=\"50px\" height=\"50px\" viewBox=\"0 0 60 60\" version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" xmlns:xlink=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\"><g stroke=\"none\" stroke-width=\"1\" fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><g transform=\"translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)\" fill=\"#000000\"><g><path d=\"M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631\"><\/path><\/g><\/g><\/g><\/svg><\/div><div style=\"padding-top: 8px;\"> <div style=\" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;\">View this post on Instagram<\/div><\/div><div style=\"padding: 12.5% 0;\"><\/div> <div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;\"><div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);\"><\/div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;\"><\/div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);\"><\/div><\/div><div style=\"margin-left: 8px;\"> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;\"><\/div> <div style=\" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)\"><\/div><\/div><div style=\"margin-left: auto;\"> <div style=\" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);\"><\/div> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);\"><\/div> <div style=\" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);\"><\/div><\/div><\/div> <div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;\"> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;\"><\/div> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;\"><\/div><\/div><\/a><p style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/B-cmbaWp6Wd\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A post shared by Swell Guy Customs | Sneaker Artist and Customizer (@swellguycustoms)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote> <script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I&nbsp;have definitely seen growth in myself,&#8221; Phillips said. &#8220;I watch old videos of things that I&#8217;ve done and I could see mistakes that I&#8217;m making or things that I didn&#8217;t know, back then. And now I do know, and, and I&#8217;ve become a little more comfortable in that sense.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before blowing up in the sneaker community\u2014his following now clocks at over 11,000 on Instagram alone\u2014Phillips did not know there was a world of people out there looking to buy unique custom shoes from artists like himself. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/outlook\/cmo\/footwear\/united-states\">ever-expanding billion-dollar sneaker industry<\/a> has created a way for two mediums to coexist and breed innovation, given that these few-of-a-kind, hand-painted shoes can&#8217;t be found on the shelves of your local footlocker, Phillips said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a cool cross between art and fashion where it&#8217;s not just something you put on your wall and whoever comes to your house gets to see it,&#8221; Phillips said. &#8220;You get to take it with you everywhere, your art gets mileage.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It takes Phillips at least one week to make one pair of sneakers, which he charges clients anywhere from $300 to $500. His pieces consist of bold intricately hand-painted colors and are usually created in his room, which is overrun with comic book action figures and a poster of Michael Jordan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After accomplishing what he set out to do when he first started his sneaker company, Phillips wants to expand his craft by learning how to make shoes from scratch and painting murals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I want to have art that&#8217;s recognizably mine, and I want to build a following of people that come for my work,&#8221; Phillips said. &#8220;Not just the fact that I paint sneakers.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-the-hi-lo wp-block-embed-the-hi-lo\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/former-dark-harbor-artist-reveals-his-true-self-through-the-mastery-of-makeup\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bryan Phillips is the creator behind Swell Guy Customs, a Long Beach-based company that creates hand-painted one-of-a-kind sneakers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":293,"featured_media":72003,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32100],"tags":[175,32016],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[31611],"class_list":["post-29992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-studio","tag-in-the-studio","tag-swell-guy-customs","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/293"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29992"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72582,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29992\/revisions\/72582"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29992"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=29992"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=29992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}