Alright, so lemme tell you about this dim sum illustration thing I’ve been messing around with. It all started with a serious craving, you know? Like, a proper hankering for some har gow and siu mai.
First thing I did was grab my iPad. I’m all about Procreate these days, makes life so much easier. I booted it up, created a new canvas – nothing fancy, just a standard size – and started sketching. Real rough, like stick figures almost. Just getting the shapes down, figuring out what kind of dim sum I wanted to feature.
Then came the fun part: choosing the dim sum! I went with the classics, of course. Har gow (shrimp dumplings), siu mai (pork dumplings), char siu bao (barbecue pork buns), and egg tarts. Gotta have the egg tarts! I looked up some reference photos online, just to get the details right – the folds in the har gow wrapper, the little crab roe on top of the siu mai, the golden crust of the egg tart.
Next, I started refining the sketches. I used a thinner brush, added more detail, and made sure the proportions were looking good. This is where I started thinking about color. I knew I wanted something warm and inviting, something that would make your mouth water. I decided to go for a slightly muted palette, with lots of creams, browns, and oranges. Think cozy, not cartoony.
After the sketches were done, I started laying down the base colors. I used the “color drop” tool in Procreate for the big areas, then went in with a brush to add some shading and highlights. I spent a lot of time on the har gow, trying to get that translucent look of the wrapper just right. It’s all about layering different shades of white and cream.
Then came the details, oh man, the details! This is where it got tedious, but also really satisfying. I added the little pleats in the dumpling wrappers, the sesame seeds on the char siu bao, the subtle cracks in the egg tart crust. I used a super fine brush for this, zoomed in real close. I even added a little bit of steam rising from the dim sum, using a soft, blurry brush.
Finally, I added some background. I didn’t want anything too distracting, so I just went with a simple, textured surface. I used a brush with a subtle pattern to add some visual interest, and then adjusted the color to complement the dim sum. Something that wouldn’t steal the show.
The whole thing took me a good few hours, spread over a couple of days. But I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. It definitely makes me hungry whenever I look at it. Maybe I’ll go get some dim sum now!