Getting the perfect pair of shoes for any occasion can be a tricky endeavour, but learning how to draw shoes easy adds the perfect touch of personalisation. Drawing shoes won’t be as hard as you think, and you don’t need to be an art master either. With a few easy steps and tweaks, you can draw any type of shoe in no time.
1. Choose Your Shoe Style
Get inspired by the shoes you’d like to draw. Do you have a favourite pair of old shoes in your closet? Look to that for inspiration. Or try scrolling through Pinterest to get some ideas. Decide if you would like to attempt to draw a basic shoe or something more complex.
When you have decided what type of shoe you would like to practice, use a variety of reference images to get a clearer idea of the shoe’s style. Once you have the shoe style you’d like to draw in mind, decide on the type of material used for the shoe. Leather? Suede? Mesh?
2. Sketch It Out
Once you have the reference material ready, it’s time to start sketching. Use a pencil to draw the rough shape of the shoe. Start with the basic body of the shoe and then move on to the details. If you pick a more complicated shoe, break it down into parts such as the base, sides and lacing.
No need to be intimidated. The goal here is to create a fun, wobbly sketch. Draw in all the details as close as you can to the reference material and make it as real-looking as possible. Add some extra details to the sketch to give it the extra finishing touches.
3. Grab Your Colours
Now it’s time to give life to your shoe drawing. Get ready with all of your colouring tools like, pencils, pens, markers, crayons, and paints. Have an idea in mind for the finished product. Do you want the shoe to be black with a white swoosh? Or deep blue with silver details? Or maybe an explosion of all the colours?
Start by applying the base colour to the shoe. Use the reference images to make sure you’re picking the correct colour. Feel free to be creative and experiment with various colour combinations. Add one colour at a time throughout the whole process. Once you have laid out the base colour, it’s time to add more vibrant colour and more detailed textures to the shoe.
4. Finishing Up the Shoe
Add the last few touches to your shoe drawing. Add some shadows or highlights to the upper part of the shoe to add some extra dimension to the artwork. When you are done, look over your work and evaluate if you need a few more tweaks—add a few noticeable details to make it stand out. You can also add some written details on the shoe regarding the different sizes, materials and textures.
Always remember when drawing shoes, you don’t need to be perfect—just have fun with it. Make small changes, add more details and tweak it over and over until you have something that looks the way you want it to. Did you create the perfect pair of shoes? Perfect! Now, draw some more and apply your learnings. There’s no limit to what you can create.
