How to Draw and Paint Leather Shoes ｜ How to Express Leather Texture
Leather materials commonly seen in Mary Janes (strap shoes) and similar footwear have distinctive light reflections, making them one of those elements that require careful thought in how you paint them. Simply painting the lit areas and shadowed areas won't capture the texture.
Let's break down how to draw these tricky leather shoes, step by step through the actual painting process!
Materials Used in This Example#
For this tutorial, I've prepared the base line art and flat colors in advance.
This shows only the flat colors and line art.
1. Add the Strongest Highlights#
1.1. Establish the Highlight Anchor#
Using the Add (Glow) blending mode, determine where the light reflects most strongly.
1.2. Add Light Around the Strongest Highlight#
Add a subtle glow around the light you just placed.
- Blending Mode:
Add (Glow)
1.3. Blur#
Blur the light you added in step 1.2.
2. Bounce Light Highlights from the Ground#
2.1. Add Bounce Light Highlights from the Ground#
Paint in the areas where light from the sky or room reflects off the ground and hits the shoes.
I recommend using a color around the complementary color of the shoe.
- Blending Mode:
Add (Glow)
2.2. Blur#
Blur the highlights from step 2.1.
3. Add Shadows#
3.1. Add Overall Shadows#
Add shadows to fill in the areas where highlights haven't been placed. Soften the edges.
The layer blending mode is Multiply.
3.2. Add Diffuse Reflection Light#
Add light within the shadows.
- Blending Mode:
Add (Glow)
3.3. Add Deeper Shadows#
Areas that haven't received highlights so far will have even darker shadows. Add shadows to fill in the areas without highlights.
- Blending Mode:
Multiply
3.4. Emphasize Diffuse Reflection Highlights#
Add highlights to the areas that shine more brightly within the diffuse reflection highlights you painted in step 3.2.
- Blending Mode:
Add (Glow)
4. Finishing Touches#
4.1. Add Shadows to the Bounce Light Areas#
Fine-tune by adding shadows over the bounce light highlights in areas close to the bottom of the shoe.
- Blending Mode:
Multiply
4.2. Adjust the Overall Colors#
This step is done after you've finished painting the other parts.
Since color is relative, the colors you painted first may not match up well with the surrounding areas. Shoes in particular have extreme variations in light and dark, so adjustment is crucial.
This time, as a simple method, I'm lightly layering the base color of the shoe over the entire area using Multiply mode.
Completed Example#
Notes#
The level of detail in painting shoes can be adjusted to match your art style.
By breaking down step 3 into finer increments and layering shadows and highlights from weakest to strongest, you can create more depth.
My art style is anime-style painting rather than realistic, so if I add too much detail and push it toward realism, it creates a disjointed impression. For the shoes in this piece, I've kept the fine details restrained, showing just enough three-dimensionality through subtlety.
Summary#
I believe that painting, unlike line art, often requires research more than practice.
This article is the result of breaking down techniques I'd been using intuitively into steps, then redrawing and refining them multiple times using the same process.
I hope you'll start by following these steps and adapting them to your own art style! For those who struggle with painting leather and similar materials, I hope you can develop your own painting techniques and enjoy drawing!