If you’re bored of drawing on blank paper and other run-of-the-mill materials then DIY colouring-in-shoes by Acrylicana are your solution.

Although these ballerina flats look pretty neat as is in plain black and white colouring-in book style, they are screaming for some unique and colourful splash enhancing efforts on your behalf. Note: I suggest you refrain from destroying a funky pair of shoes and opt for Acrylicana’s colourful pre-hand-painted footwear and products if you’re not the creative type, however.

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I’ve loved and admired the work of Canadian Illustrator Isabelle Arsenault as far back as I can remember. I have such a soft spot for her charmingly old fashioned French aesthetic. Arsenault’s perfectly witty conceptual work, as well as her lovely portraits, are just amazing. It’s pleasing to find her portraits so spot on as many illustrators working in such a stylized or generalized manner often seem to feel awkward when doing likenesses. It seems children’s books is where she has been focusing her energies on of late. Having come out earlier this year, Mr. Gaugin’s Heart is an absolute must for anyone who can appreciate a beautiful illustrated children’s book.

With just a limited, two-toned palette of acrylics, A. Andrew Gonzalez renders incredibly detailed images, mainly of goddesses and sirens, that look as if they’ve been carved in relief out of marble.

‘Romantic street painting’ or ‘renaissance graffiti’? Joshua Petker spent years as a graffiti artist in California and Europe before painting portraits of ladies. But he hasn’t hung up his hoodie in favour of crustless cucumber sandwiches just yet. His work reeks of punk, with explosions of brash colours and bloody, textured details. And he often uses second-hand canvases, giving each piece a hidden history. [see also the work of Canadian artist, Dan Ryan]