(I was at Starbuck, and the sound didn’t come out wonderful. Feel free to level up the volume of the video to hear my comments.)
I made this video during the Footwear design workshop I gave to my colleagues.
You will see step-by-step how I draw a sneaker. You will also get an introduction to the basic vocabulary of shoe design.
- On the left, my colleague who follow my sneaker instruction step-by-step.
1- Start by Drawing a Shoe last
When I first started drawing sneakers, I had no clear method. I jumped straight into sketching the final design — and that turned out to be a huge mistake that slowed down my progress.
- I stagnated for months; it drove me crazy, having no idea how to improve efficiently.
- Out of ten sketches, eight looked awkward and off.
- The proportions were often wrong, and when Mister Proportion fails, the whole design collapses.
- Viewers can’t always pinpoint it, but their brain quietly senses something’s off — and that small doubt steals attention from your design’s beauty.
Here is my method:
Before drawing a sneaker, start by drawing a last (TIP11).
For a little reminder, the last is a 3D form of a standard foot that a shoemaker use to make a shoe.
2- You are Now Ready to Draw Sneaker Design!
Once you have your last ready, you can finally start designing your shoe. It takes a bit more preparation, but it’s worth it — you’ll probably get eight good designs out of ten instead of the other way around. In the long run, you’ll save time and avoid a few white hairs popping out your head!
Why? Because with a solid last, your brain is free to focus on creativity instead of constantly worrying about proportions. So, make sure to train yourself to draw a good last before trying to draw a beautiful shoe. Deal?
3. Apply this Principle in All Domains of Design Sketching
This principle applies to any field of design sketching:
- In fashion: Before designing clothes, you start by sketching a model’s silhouette.
- In interior architecture: Before drawing the furniture, you lay out the walls first.
- In manga: You begin with a sphere, then add the head, and then draw the eyes, nose, and lips.
- And so on…
This is exactly how beginners SHOULD start if they want to fix most of their proportion issues.
Order matters. You need to draw with a minimum of strategy. That is what I can teach in detail in my Sneaker sketching course: “Sneaker Sketch Pros”
If you’re a shoe lover and want to learn how to draw shoes—
Send me a message! I’ll create more tutorials on different shoe types, heel heights, and side views.
Let me know if you want tutorials on men’s or women’s shoes, too!
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Hey Chou . good article . but I would love a tutorial regarding different views of sketching shoes.
Alright, noted Arpit ! 🙂