Draw your own original shoes!

Among character illustrations, many people find it difficult to draw shoes.
Then that means if you can draw them well then your art quality will dramatically!
In this article, I’ll show you how to easily design shoes in small steps.

 

Steps
★Break down the shoe into several elements.
★Prepare a few patterns for each elements.

When thinking of a design from scratch, break it down first!
So, here are the parts that make up a shoe.
・Silhouette
・Exposure
・Shoe opening
・Soles
・Heel
・Shoelaces
・Lines

The way of breaking down into parts differs depending on the type of shoe, such as sneakers, boots, or high heels.
Separate the parts according to your own design and the type of shoe you are designing.

Once the parts are separated, decide on the shape one by one.
You can do this in any order, but it is recommended to start with the one with the largest area or size.

★ Silhouette

The first step is to decide on the overall shape.
The four key points here are the toe, sole, heel, and height.
Find the silhouette that fits your image by stretching and shrinking them.

 

★ Exposure

In shoe design, showing skin can express sexiness, maturity, and liveliness.
Here are some typical designs to help you get started.

 

★ Shoe opening

The design of the edge varies depending on the type of shoe.
Even an extremely voluminous design can be appealing.

 

★ Shoe Sole

Soles can also be arranged in various ways.
Try to incorporate them according to the thickness of the soles you decide.

 

★ Heel

For shoes with a high heel, try to pay attention to the design of the heel.
It is possible to create a unique character with a design no one has ever seen before.

 

★ Shoelace

Sneakers for example, can each be made unique by the design of the shoelaces.
Try out thick or thin shoelaces with different lengths, and knots.

 

★ Lines

This is not so much an individual part, but you can draw in lines or seams into the shoe fabric and sole for more completion.
You can use your own shoes or photos as a reference.

 

Finally, I designed my original shoes using the method I described here.

How does it look?
If you’ve been struggling with shoe design, please give this method a try!

(Text and pictures by Kana Umezawa)

（twitter: @hijiki39bomb）