Recently I have come across several recipe illustrations in Pinterest and they all look so fabulous and artistic. Since I am setting up the kitchen in our new apartment I decided to make one for myself. I thought to document the process in a step by step tutorial which will helpful for you to create a lovely colourful Recipe illustration of your favourite food or drink perfect to pep up your kitchen wall.
I opted to create a cocktail recipe illustration and my all time favourite cocktail is Mojito. Nothing says summer like a classic Mojito but trust me I can drink this refreshing cocktail any time of the year. As a known favourite of Ernest Hemingway this irresistibly fresh and punchy drink is my one-way salsa dance to the Caribbean.
SUPPLIES
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- Watercolor paper ( I used Daler Rowney A4 Aquafine cold pressed paper)
- Watercolor paint ( I used Daler Rowney Simply Watercolor )
- Brushes ( I used Escoda Kolinsky 4 , Daler Rowney Spotter Brush 4/0)
- Uniball Gel pen or Micron pen
- Palette
- Pencil
- Water ( Start with a clear glass of water)
STEPS
Before you start with the illustration, get the recipe for your favourite food / drink from the internet and keep it handy. Count the number of steps in your recipe and accordingly divide the page into sections as shown above with a pencil. I have left a space in the topmost part of the page for the heading of the recipe. Ensure to get the spacings right before you start drawing.
Now lets start with the illustration. For every step of the recipe let us create simple elements. I have marked my elements for your reference. For example, I have drawn some mint leaves, lime wedges and Rum as the principle elements and kind of repeated them over several steps.
Once you are done with the sketching of the elements , go ahead to add colors one at a time. For the lime wedges and the leaves I opted for the above three colors : Lemon yellow, Sap Green and Leaf Green as it incorporates a vibrant effect to my painting. Feel free to use any color which you consider bright enough to paint all your elements.
Here is the closer view of the lemon wedges on the glass. To create a mirror effect, I painted the area behind the glass blurry by adding more water and less paint.
Its amazing to see the elements filled with color right? It’s really true pictures speak louder than words.
Now we proceed to handlettering. First let us create the header for the recipe illustration. Please choose a waterproof pen such a Micron as we would later go over the ink with paint and prevent smudging. I wrote “ HOW TO MAKE A…” in block letters followed by “Mojito” in italics.
To write the steps of the recipe I made some straight lines using a ruler prior to writing as I want the letters to be in line with prefect slant. Feel free to use BLOCK letters if required.
To make the whole recipe illustration look more appealing, I went over the recipe steps and the header with a gentle brush stroke in lemon yellow.
Here’s the final version of my Mojito cocktail recipe illustration. So what are you waiting for!! Grab your favourite recipe and create a wonder of your own.
P.S : Try to get an easy recipe with less number of steps.
IMPLEMENTATION SUGGESTION
- There are countless ways this recipe illustration can be helpful for you:
- Hang it as a wall decor in your kitchen or beside the dining area.
- Gift it to someone who loves the particular food or drink.
- Use it as a gift card for a food lover.
I hope this tutorial has been useful for you. Do create beautiful recipe artwork and don’t forget to share with me on Instagram.
Cheers
Drishti