Product Illustrations for Shoe-Town
When I left my steady job at the WSJ and started freelancing full-time, I did a few product illustrations for Shoe-Town, a chain of stores mainly selling shoes. Drawing for the field of product illustration demands a lot of attention to detail. One wants to capture the product on offer, and hopefully, enhance its appeal.These were fun to draw but challenging. I had to get the shoes right, but in those images with women’s legs involved, I had to pay particular attention to skin texture. Making them as smooth as possible was my goal.
I wasn’t too thrilled when they put a ‘stamp’ over the top of my drawing, but did not have much say about it! You can see how the detail in the legs is a focus of mine in this image. The shadow areas and background also get consideration.
This was the first ad. No stamp. My wife was the leg model for this shot. I liked the open boxes in the composition. Drawing the frame and breaking it was another feature of these drawings.
Pure Product Illustrations for Shoe-Town
A pair of shoes —- pure product illustration.
Another straightforward shot of the retailer’s offerings. A lot of ink went into the background, to highlight the handbag. The shoes get shadowing underneath to give them a surface to stand on, a context.
Product Illustrations for Shoe-Town as it Appears in an Advertisement
Here’s a look at how one of the ads appeared. They were newspaper ads, intended for print…
I hope you enjoyed this glimpse of my product illustrations. More next week!