Drawings of Food and How-To Illustrations

This time, a selection of drawings of food and how-to illustrations…

Clam Chowder

The image above combines line art and pointillism techniques. It was created as a packaging illustration.

The images in this post are all in black-and-white. The monochrome pen and ink approach is ideal for expressing ideas quickly and effectively — especially helpful when viewing info-graphics like how-to illustrations. I brought my signature drawing style to a professional level while I worked at The Wall Street Journal in the 1980’s. In those days, and for many years, the WSJ prided itself on being a black-and-white-only affair. It was classy. When I arrived at the paper, my work with the pen became a perfect compliment to the ever-increasing use of graphics and illustration within its pages.

Even the venerable New Yorker had a black-and-white only section that I contributed to. It was the “Goings On About Town” or GOAT section. There’s some ‘90’s trivia for you!

Egg-drop into Boiling Water

Many of these drawings were published in magazines, like Men’s Health, Rodale’s Prevention, etc. The image above is part of a how-to series. Here, an egg is dropped into a pot of boing water. It was a bit of a challenge rendering the boiling water!

Strawberries

This simple drawing of two strawberries became a struggle! Strawberries are quite complicated, when one thinks about it. Balancing the detail of seeds against shadows and highlights on these forms took my full-attention.

Berry Bowl

And what should we do with these strawberries? Why not toss them in a bowl… here, it would seem we’re enjoying them with reduced balsamic vinegar and a spoonful of sugar.

Sauteed Shrimp

Here is another illustration from a how-to series. We see the pan and some ingredients for making sauteed shrimp.

Still life with Pineapple

Above, a spot illustration of a few vegetables and a pineapple.

Artichokes

Finally, an illustration of one of my favorite appetizers. I like the graphic feel of this drawing. The line work conveys the impression of a woodcut print or engraving. I actually learned how to prep and serve the artichoke after making my contribution to this how-to magazine article. Bon Appetit!