Cooking is not my cup of tea. My numerous experiments in the kitchen have turned into disasters unthinkable. I figured making a recipe illustration will give me the inspiration I need. And I’ve made a tutorial on how I plan to make them in today’s post.
My mom is an excellent cook. She makes the most delicious biryani,curries and even pizza. I remember looking forward to what the menu of the day is as a child. Just writing this makes me miss her! I, on the other hand unfortunately did not get even an ounce of her skill. But this year, one of the things I want to do is bake more. And I’ve already done an orange pound cake and Nutella® cookies.So pat on my back for tackling those two single handedly!
A few weeks ago, my sister in law and I tried baking a truffle cake. I was more of an onlooker but I picked up a couple of tips from her. The cake was yummy and I made a mental note to create a recipe illustration for the same.
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Materials you’ll need to make a recipe illustration are:-
- Watercolor paper
- Watercolor paints- I used my Sennelier 24 pan set. Other cheap but good alternatives are Winsor and Newton Cotman watercolors or Sakura Koi watercolors
- Watercolor brushes- I used Silver black velvet brush round no.8 and Simply Simmons detail brush for lettering
- Uniball black gel pen or Micron pen
- Winsor and Newton black gouache
- Pencil
- Palette
Step 1: Before you begin illustrating, consider the amount of parts the recipe has. The cake I baked had three parts.
- Truffle cake
- Buttercream icing
- Chocolate ganache
Divide the drawing surface into three parts. I left a majority of the surface for the top half. This forms the space for elements of the “truffle cake”.
At the centre, draw the finished cake. Draw a banner around it for lettering the recipe name. I would suggest drawing every element in the recipe first before painting. You’ll be able to get the spacing right and you can erase if necessary. Honestly, this was my second attempt and I had to erase about three times.
After that, start painting. I wanted the banner color to be bright yet light enough for the lettering to pop. I used “Indian yellow” from the Sennelier artist watercolors.
Continue painting the elements of the recipe. Draw the outline of the banner using a black gel pen or micron pen. Be careful while using a gel pen that’s not waterproof like the one I used. If you have to go over with paint, it WILL spread.
Take your time to paint all the elements. Isn’t it fun to see everything come to life?
Step 2: Lettering the steps! Keep them as short as possible. I used black gouache and a spotter brush to do this. This gave the lettering a “handwriting”effect. I used block letters and arrows wherever required.
Step 3: Painting the bottom two halves! Similar to the steps mentioned above, I painted “chocolate ganache” and “buttercream icing” portions.
For lettering on the banner, I used black gouache and did it freehand. As an after-thought I also added banners for the three parts of the recipe in red.
Step 4: This is optional. I didn’t want the background to be plain, so I added a few dots and leaves to finish it off.
Here’s the finished recipe card illustration. Now all that you need to do is get one done of your favorite recipe and frame it! Mine’s up in my kitchen and I love it.
A few details!
What do you think?
What is your favorite recipe? Mine has to be my mom’s home-made chicken biryani with a side of coconut chutney and Raita. Let me know how you liked this recipe illustration tutorial. And don’t forget to share on Instagram with the hashtag #makeinkstruck. I would love to see!
Cheers!
Zakkiya, you are so incredibly talented. The illustration is so pretty who cares if your cake doesn’t come out perfect! You create with such a flair and whimsey! May you always be inspired to create such lovely illustrations.
Oh Mary! Thank you so much for the lovely words and for making my day. Such a sweet gesture. I’m floored! I do hope my cakes become perfect someday(a girl can dream right,Haha!).
Wow ! Amazing this looks store bought people would so buy these !!! I love them especially for all the cooking lovers in my life very impressed 🙂 Laci
Thank you Laci ! I would be beyond thrilled if people would buy something like this. So glad you stopped by! Have a lovely day.
OH my!! This is absolutely stunning. I can think of a few family recipes that would be amazing framed in this fashion! I think we all have our strengths and weaknesses, I can bake and decorate a cake like nobodies business, but my drawing and handwriting abilities are extremely lacking. lol
Thank you Chrissy. Oh yes, family recipes are something that can definitely made into illustrations. I think the best part of doing something like this is that even kids may enjoy reading/looking through. You know if I was any closer, I would have popped by there demanding a yummy cake with an illustration in my hand. Haha! Thanks for stopping by. x
This looks amazing, love every single detail!!! ♥
Pinning for now, definitely trying later, as I have a thing for watercolors lately 🙂
XO, Diana
Watercolors are so IN now! People are picking their brushes and getting creative and I love that. I hope you get to give this a go. Have a lovely day and thanks for stopping by! x
Oh my gosh, this is beautiful! I wish my art skills were better, I would definitely be trying this out. Great job!
Thank you so much Amber. Oh I’m sure you can do this. I do believe that there is an artist in everyone. Let me know how it goes. Have a lovely day!x
I’m so in love with this! It’s totally artistic and creative! This would make an awesome gift. I would love to have a few of these for my cookie in a jar products I’m launching in the spring.
Thank you Shantel. The cookie in a jar products sound really interesting. Let me know how it goes. I popped over to your website and I absolutely love it especially the header. Which font have you used there if you don’t mind me asking? Good luck with your launch and have an amazing week. 🙂
The font is called Lettuce Regular
Thanks Kindly Shantel!
Love this! I wanna go and buy some art supplies right now! I sketch cakes but on the iPad. I want to do this for real!
Yay ! I’m always rooting for hoarding on art supplies. Haha ! Let me know how it goes.I did have a look at your blog and did you make those cake drawings on the iPad? That’s really impressive! I’m not really good with digital art but I admire people who are creative. Have an amazing week.
Wow this is so awesome, you are super talented!
And you’re super kind. Thank you so much for taking the time to comment!Have a lovely weekend. x
Just beautiful!!
Thanks Randi! It’s always amazing hearing from you. x
I cannot cook too much to my Ma’s chagrin, but maybe if I do such pretty illustrations of her special recipes she’ll overlook the matter! Absolutely love this idea, Zakkiya!
Aw ! Indian moms and the pressure of cooking well. If it’s any relief, I’m horrible at it and get away with it too.Haha!
Thanks for stopping by lovely <3
This is so incredibly wonderful!! Thank you so much for taking the time to share this with your readers! I hope to do something like this (but clearly not up to your beautiful standards!) for my children with some of our favorite family recipes.
Such sweet words Evelyn. Thank you so much. I hope you do something even more beautiful than this for your lovely children. And how lovely would it be to preserve family recipes in this manner. Thanks again for stopping by 🙂 Have a beautiful day!
I love this! Thanks so much for sharing your talent!
Thank you so much much for the support Tina.
I don’t know where you were all my life! This site and everything in it is soooo beautiful! Love all your cute watercolour paintings. Keep up the prettiness! You’re an inspiration. 🙂
Thank you so much Shalaka. I’m so happy that you love it. It makes me so excited when I hear my readers say that the blog is useful.