Illustrated Recipes: Making Delicious Art
A course by Melanie ChadwickIllustrator
A course by Melanie Chadwick, Illustrator
Learn how to illustrate food by mixing digital and analog techniques to make your creations richer and tastier
You eat with your eyes first and nowhere is that more evident than in Melanie Chadwick’s illustrations. Melanie’s a British illustrator who specializes in food and maps, both of which she brings to life through the playful use of color and lines. Her clients include Cornish Seasalt, Foodimentary, Ferment Magazine, American Airlines, and Virgin Atlantic, among others.
In this course, learn how to create an illustrated food recipe using a mix of analog and digital techniques. Discover ways to create textures with ink and paint, use hand lettering to give your illustration personality, draw your shapes to life, and finally use Adobe illustrator to color and combine all your artwork to create a freshly illustrated recipe.
What will you learn in this online course?
19 lessons & 15 downloads
Cook Recipe
8 minutes, 29 seconds
Sketching 1
18 minutes, 46 seconds
Ink Drawing
10 minutes, 11 seconds
Creating textures
17 minutes, 30 seconds
Scanning Textures and Ink Drawings
16 minutes, 35 seconds
Combining Texture and Colour
13 minutes, 36 seconds
What's included in this course?
Start by finding out a little bit more about Melanie and her creative journey. She introduces herself and the work she creates and then shares with you the people, places, and projects that have inspired and influenced her in her professional career.
Start by preparing a dish that will become the inspiration for the recipe that you will illustrate.
Begin to draw your recipe with ink, creating textures with paint, and writing hand lettering. Melanie shows you how to scan them all into Photoshop and prepare them to use in Illustrator.
Once you finish drawing, Melanie shows you how to combine all the analog textures and drawings with digital techniques to create the final piece.
Finish by learning how to print your work, explore ways to share your pieces, and other ways in which you can be inspired to keep drawing food.
What is this course's project?
Create your own illustrated recipe by combining analog and digital techniques.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
Anyone who wants to experiment, students looking to add original work to their portfolio, professionals looking for new ways to combine analog techniques with their digital process using Adobe Illustrator, and those who want to further explore the software.
Requirements and materials
You’ll need basic Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop skills.
As for materials, you’ll need black ink, acrylic paint, a range of brushes and items to create textures with, tracing paper, drawing paper, a sketchbook, pencils, and pens. For the digital side, you’ll need a computer, a scanner, and the aforementioned software.
Reviews
- 2 months ago
Enjoyable, colorful and fun. Totally loved all the practices
- 10 months ago
muy inspiradora, y con una técnicas que me ha gustado mucho probar, bravo!
- lukwiePLUS10 months ago
cool
- 10 months ago
I have been searching for how to design in natural way like in nature texture! now I learn from Chadwick so much, such a good lesson for me. thank you so much❤️
- 11 months ago
Excelente curso, claro y muy inspirador
She has worked with numerous clients across a range of projects including book illustration, food packaging, restaurant menus, magazine editorials, branding projects, maps, greeting cards, postcards, and more. Her clients include Cornish Seasalt, Foodimentary, Ferment Magazine, American Airlines, and Virgin Atlantic, among others.
Content
- U1
Introduction
- Introduction
- Influences
- What Will We Do in This Course?
- U2
Get Cooking!
- Cook Recipe
- Infographic Language
- Sketching 1
- Sketching 2
- Sketching 3
- U3
Getting Inky
- Ink Drawing
- Creating textures
- Hand Lettering
- Scanning Textures and Ink Drawings
- U4
Illustration Creation
- Live Tracing
- Colour Palette
- Combining Texture and Colour
- Final Composition
- U5
Share Your Food Illustration Recipe
- Print It
- Share It
- Illustrate More Food
- FP
Final project
- Illustrated Recipes: Making Delicious Art
What to expect from a Domestika course
Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
Certificates
PLUSIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
Watch professionally produced courses
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FAQs
Yes, this course is designed for beginners and covers foundational techniques in hand lettering, food and map illustration, and sketchbook practices.
You’ll need basic art supplies like brush pens, watercolours, acrylic ink, sketchbooks, crayons, and optionally digital tools like Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.
You’ll learn hand lettering, food and map illustration workflows, sketching techniques, mixed media, color palette selection, and how to digitize and print your artwork.
No prior experience is required; the course introduces both traditional and digital techniques from scratch.
Yes, you’ll learn to design recipe illustrations and infographics, including using icons, color palettes, and visual storytelling for food-themed content.
The course includes step-by-step guidance on creating expressive hand lettering with brush pens and integrating it into your illustrated projects.
Yes, you’ll learn to scan, vectorize, and prepare your artwork for digital use and print, including exporting files for professional results.