Wine and Dine
Kevin Watson
My grad exhibition, Wine and Dine is a concept art, research, and illustration project that personifies the history, development, and cultural context of cocktails. These illustrated posters express the internal and external worlds of my cocktail characters and educate the viewer on how to create the drinks that they were inspired from.
A special mention here for the Difford’s Guide website. Their website not only hosts my favorite online library for cocktail recipes, but also documents the history of each and every drink. Some of my original illustrations feature cocktail recipes from the Difford’s Guide: the text in the online uploads has been edited to remove the recipes measurements. You can find the full recipes by searching the drinks on the Difford’s Guide website. My full citation list is available at the bottom of this page.
Characters
Shirley Temple (CW)
Environment Concepts
Clover Club
The Clover Club is my favorite cocktail, so I made myself the reference for the character. The cocktail is associated with the early 1900’s gentlemen’s dinner club of the same name. The character’s jacket is a more high-fashion take on typical men’s wear from that era: I interpreted the cocktail’s egg-foam top (seen in the image by photographer Dan Malpass for the Difford’s Guide) as a statement jacket liner made of fur styled to resemble the flowers of a clover plant
I went back and forth on including the hat in the final design, but eventually decided against including it. The handle of his cane resembles a silver spoon, referencing the tradition of a Clover Club member receiving an inscribed silver spoon upon the birth of their child.
The first poster I designed in 2026. I wanted to take a different approach from my previous posters, this time focusing on how the characters interacted with the bar setting. The gentlemen’s Clover Club was a dinner club, so it felt appropriate to make this character a food critic. I imagine he would come to the bar to research, reflect on, and write up his reviews while enjoying the best cocktails London has to offer. In this illustration, he is studying a map of London and marking down restaurants of note.
Cosmopolitan
This cocktail rose to prominence thanks to its starring role in the TV series Sex and the City. The design adapts popular 1990’s-2000s clothing trends for a high-fashion setting. The character works as a model who tours all over the world, but always stops by to visit their good friends at the bar when they’re in London.
Her final dress design is based on a 90’s slip dress with a bold shoulder piece (representing the silhouette of a martini glass) and black lace accents with a fire motif (in reference to the flamed orange zest that traditionally garnishes the drink). Her hair is in a bun and decorated with a hair pin to look like a cranberry – the fruit that gives the drink its signature pink hue.
The final illustration sees the cosmopolitan character resting elegantly on a falling martini glass. The line drawings show a more playful side to her character, in contrast to the refined image her detailed rendition exudes.
Old Fashioned
The owner of the underground cocktail bar. His design is based on the drink that came to represent the origin of cocktails themselves, contemporarily called the “Old Fashioned” cocktail. Inspired by life of Richard Stoughton, my character first opened his bar in the early 1700s after his career as an apothecary led him to creating a well respected aromatic bitter – a key ingredient in many cocktails.
His design went through many iterations over the course of the year. It was a challenge to create an outfit for him that was less restrictive than a standard suit, but still had an air of sophistication.
The process for his design became the guide for the rest of the characters in this project: I would first research the style of clothing typical for the time period the cocktail was created, then find ways to make the clothing unique to the character by incorporating elements of the cocktail (visuals, ingredients, glass shape).
The illustration above depicts the bar owner sitting confidently on a type of glass known as an ‘old fashioned glass’. His pose and expression are meant to be lightly flirtatious, while the line drawings around him depict his jovial friendliness
Another illustration featuring this character. Here we see him serving up an Old Fashioned cocktail for the viewer. To any cocktail fans reading this, don’t worry! He stirred the drink! Shaking an Old Fashioned would be an… interesting choice.
The Bar
Photos of Mr Fogg’s from their website
My primary inspiration for the bar’s aesthetic was Mr Fogg’s Apothecary Cocktail Bar in London. I wanted the bar to embody the old fashioned cocktail character, so I incorporated elements of apothecaries found in historical documents, interior design from the 1700s, and British pub staples to create a unique setting.
Environment Explorations (Fall 2025)
First, I did some quick sketches to design the various elements of the bar, then I put them together for the hand-draw perspective scene below
This image became the reference from which I created the 3D model of the bar. All the assets were modeled by myself. My goal was to create a scene that I could use as reference to keep the scale and shape of objects accurate in all perspectives. I didn’t end up utilizing the space in its entirety, but I repurposed the objects I modeled for stand-alone scenes.
Before modeling, I created a top-down floorplan to make sure the layout would be realistically navigable
OF’s Home
The apartment the owner and bar robot share, located directly above the bar. Stylistically similar to the bar, but with a more home-y feel. All of the appliances in the owner’s home are designed off of their earliest models: he hates to waste anything, so he uses his home repair knowledge (that he gained from preserving the bar for the last 300 years) to keep everything in working order.
Shirley Temple
CW for mentions of alcoholism and cancer
This design was inspired by the life of Shirley Temple, for whom the drink is named. The character was diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age, and she began drinking heavily as a result. With the support of the bar owner, she started the road to recovery and opened up a soda shop to serve non-alcoholic beverages. While she no longer drinks, she still comes by the bar often to spend time with the owner.
There’s two main ways to make the Shirley Temple drink: one uses orange juice as the base, while the other uses ginger beer. I wanted to represent both of these versions in the character, so accenting her outfit is an orange ribbon and scarf with a ginger coloured vest and heels. Grenadine is the syrup that gives the Shirley Temple it’s dark red gradient, and it is traditionally made with pomegranate. The interior of the fruit was the inspiration for the pattern on her dress
3D reference models for Shirley and the bartender’s posters. I created the simple block person model by referencing Andrew Loomis’ proportion studies. The block model is made of individual pieces that can be moved freely to help me accurately foreshorten the figure in perspective.
In this poster, Shirley is looking back at a sea of empty glasses, standing confidently on an overturned glass with her body facing towards the empty space in front of her. The composition explores her reflecting on her struggles with alcoholism while facing towards a hopeful future
Shirley’s Soda Bar
Styled after the vintage malt shops and diners of 1950’s America. I created this environment for a layout assignment to design a background for a pan shot. The scene shows the store being cleaned right before opening for the day.
Bart, the Bartender Robot
Originally taking inspiration from various bar tools, this robot was created in-universe by the bar owner’s late husband. Over the course of his existence, the robot has studied the world around him and learned lots from his parents and the bar’s customers. His stretchy limbs, data storage, and joyful disposition help the owner keep things running smoothly behind the bar.
His first poster depiction felt too futuristic, so I looked for some different inspiration for his redesign. I found my muse in studying the mechanics of vintage beer taps.
Dry Martini(s)
James Bond is heavily associated with the vodka martini, but rather than using him as the inspiration for the character, I instead referenced Thumper – one of the bond girls from the novel that first mentioned his martini preferences, played in the movie adaptation by Trina Parks. The design incorporates elements from vodka company Smirnoff’s branding – the company credited with publishing the first print recipe of a drink titled the “Vodka Martini Cocktail”
The character’s dress is inspired by women’s fashion trends of the 1930’s. Her earring is designed to look like an olive on a metal skewer. The heels follow the eagle motif of her dress: the toes of the heels are made of black fabric to resemble an eagles claw.
Design Explorations for Gin Martini (Spring 2026)
One of my close friends loves gin, so I asked them if they’d like to be the basis of this character’s design. Gin itself has a storied history: known in England as the “Water of Fruits,” the spirt was originally distilled in the home. Over time, gin creation shifted instead to being served in gin “palaces”. Though it had existed in England for centuries prior, the spirit came to be named gin when King William III brought over the Dutch name for a similar spirit, genever. I wanted the character’s outfit to reflect gin’s legacy, striking a balance between royal and working class dress.
The character’s tattoo depicts one of the botanicals used in making gin in an American traditional tattoo style. The earrings are reminiscent of a different botanical and are created using platinum – the metal of choice in Edwardian jewelry. The character’s hat is inspired by pimento stuffed green olives that are often used to garnish martinis
My main goal with this poster was to better visualize the space of the bar. This scene depicts the friendly rivalry between the vodka and gin martini characters. Lots of time was dedicated to texturing the materials, especially the vodka martini’s dress. The iridescent sparkle of parts of the dress are inspired by the shards of ice that come from shaking a martini – James Bond’s preferred serving style.
Citations
Old Fashioned
The Drink
Difford, Simon. “Old Fashioned Cocktail (Difford’s Recipe).” Diffords Guide, Odd Firm of Sin, www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/1427/old-fashioned-cocktail-diffords-recipe. Accessed 2025.
Difford, Simon. “Old Fashioned Cocktail History.” Diffords Guide, Odd Firm of Sin, www.diffordsguide.com/g/1198/old-fashioned-cocktail/history. Accessed 2025.
Design Research
“1700’S.” Historical Menswear, WordPress, www.historicalmenswear.com/1700s/. Accessed 2025.
“Jars of “Art and Mystery”: Pharmacists and Their Tools in the 18th and 19th Centuries.” Brewminate, 13 June 2024, brewminate.com/jars-of-art-and-mystery-pharmacists-and-their-tools-in-the-18th-and-19th-centuries/. Accessed 2025.
St. Germain, Edward. “English 1700s Clothing and Fashion – with Illustrations.” AmericanRevolution.org, www.americanrevolution.org/english-18th-century-clothing/.
His Bar
“Mr Fogg’s Apothecary Cocktail Bar.” Mr Fogg’s, Inception Group, www.mr-foggs.com/mr-foggs-apothecary/. Accessed 2026.
Metcalfe, Elizabeth. “An Enchanting 17th-Century Country House with Interiors Rooted in the Past.” House & Garden, Condé Nast Britain, 18 Nov. 2024, www.houseandgarden.co.uk/gallery/robert-young-northamptonshire-house. Accessed 2025.
Morris, Thomas. “Weird and Wonderful Medicine in 17th and 18th Century England.” Historic UK, www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Weird-Wonderful-17th-18th-Century-Medicine/. Accessed 2025.
“History of Apothecaries Hall.” Apothecaries’ Hall, apothecarieshall.com/about. Accessed 2025.
Cosmopolitan
The Drink
Difford, Simon. “Cosmopolitan Cocktail (Difford’s Recipe).” Diffords Guide, Odd Firm of Sin, www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/472/cosmopolitan-cocktail-diffords-recipe. Accessed 2025.
Difford, Simon. “Cosmopolitan Cocktail History: The Origins of a Contemporary Classic.” Diffords Guide, Odd Firm of Sin, www.diffordsguide.com/g/1236/cosmopolitan-cocktail/history. Accessed 2025.
Design Research
Hays, Julia. “Pretty in Pink Turns 30! Remember These Crazy ’80s Styles?” E!, E! News, 26 Feb. 2016, www.eonline.com/news/742599/pretty-in-pink-turns-30-remember-these-crazy-80s-styles. Accessed 2025.
Igoe, Katherine J. “The Most Iconic “Sex and the City” Outfits.” Marie Claire, Future, 9 June 2025, www.marieclaire.com/fashion/sex-and-the-city-outfits/. Accessed 2025.
Yvette. “Iconic 90s and 2000s Fashion Trends You Can Still Rock Today.” Sammy D. Vintage, 17 May 2024, sammydvintage.com/vintage-style/90s/late-90s-early-2000s-fashion/. Accessed 2025.
Ramzi, Lilah. “A 1990s Fashion History Lesson: Supermodels, Grunge, and the Dawn of the Digital Age.” Vogue, 30 May 2024, www.vogue.com/article/90s-fashion-history. Accessed 2025.
Flanagan, Joe. “Your Favourite 90s Dresses – plus Some Mistakes We’d Rather Forget.” 90s Fashion World, 12 June 2019, www.90sfashion.com/dresses/. Accessed 2025.
Kirpalov, Anastasiia. “10 Surprising Facts about Fashion Rebel Rei Kawakubo.” TheCollector, 23 May 2025, www.thecollector.com/facts-fashion-rebel-rei-kawakubo/. Accessed 2025.
Shirley Temple
The Drink
Difford, Simon. “Shirley Temple.” Diffordsguide.com, Odd Firm of Sin, www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/1817/shirley-temple. Accessed 2025.
Rothman, Lily. “Inside the Shirley Temple: How Did the Mocktail Get Its Name?” Time, 11 Feb. 2014, time.com/6659/shirley-temple-drink/.
The Person
Norwood, Arlisha. “Shirley Temple.” National Women’s History Museum, 2017, www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/shirley-temple. Accessed 2025.
Fay, Rua. “The Sinister, Untold History of Shirley Temple.” Cinemasters, 10 Dec. 2022, www.cinemasters.net/post/the-sinister-untold-history-of-shirley-temple.
Brolley, Brittany. “The Untold Truth of Shirley Temple.” The List, Static Media, 26 July 2018, www.thelist.com/129652/the-untold-truth-of-shirley-temple/.
Design Research
Reddy, Karina. “1950-1959.” Fashion History Timeline, Fashion Institute of Technology, 2 June 2019, fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/1950-1959/.
Team Knix. “Breast Cancer Badasses.” Knix, 18 Oct. 2018, knix.ca/blogs/knix-blog/breast-cancer-badasses. Accessed 2025.
Her Soda Shop
Liz. “Vintage Malt Shops Images 1930s-1950s.” The Vintage Inn, WordPress, 22 May 2015, www.vintageinn.ca/2015/05/vintage-malt-shops/. Accessed 2025.
Rosie. “The Rise of the 1950s Diner Aesthetic: A Nostalgic Journey.” Vintage Lifestyle, 20 Feb. 2024, vintagelifestyle.com/the-rise-of-the-1950s-diner-aesthetic-a-nostalgic-journey/. Accessed 2025.
Clover Club
The Drink
Difford, Simon. “Clover Club.” Diffords Guide, Odd Firm of Sin, www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/2344/clover-club. Accessed 2026.
Killius, Jen. “The Clover Club: Philly’s Original Cocktail.” Drink Philly, The Drink Nation, 14 Oct. 2011, philly.thedrinknation.com/articles/read/5731-The-Clover-Club-Phillys-Original-Cocktail. Accessed 2026.
Design Research
Deacon, Mary R. The Clover Club of Philadelphia. Avil Printing Company, 1897, archive.org/details/cloverclubofphil00deac/page/n5/mode/2up. Accessed 2026.
Budhh, Aung. “Fascinating Historical Photos of Philadelphia from the Early 20th Century.” Bygonely, www.bygonely.com/old-philadelphia-historical-photos/. Accessed 2026.
Reddy, Karina. “1900-1909.” Fashion History Timeline, Fashion Institute of Technology, 31 Dec. 2019, fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/1900-1909/. Accessed 2026.
—. “1910-1919.” Fashion History Timeline, Fashion Institute of Technology, 31 May 2018, fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/1910-1919/. Accessed 2026.
Raphael Schneider, Sven. “What Men REALLY Wore in the 1900s (1900-1909).” Gentlemen’s Gazette, www.gentlemansgazette.com/what-men-wore-1900s/. Accessed 2026.
Vodka and Gin Dry Martinis
The Drink(s)
Difford, Simon. “Martini – Defined, Explained, and How to Make.” Diffords Guide, Odd Firm of Sin, www.diffordsguide.com/g/1121/martini/how-to-make-a-dry-martini. Accessed 21 Apr. 2026.
Difford, Simon “Martini Cocktail and Its Evolution.” Diffords Guide, Odd Firm of Sin, www.diffordsguide.com/g/1121/martini/martini-history. Accessed 2026.
Difford, Simon. “Vodkatini / Vodka Martini.” Diffords Guide, Odd Firm of Sin, www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/2054/vodkatini-vodka-martini. Accessed 2026.
Design Research
Reddy, Karina. “1930-1939.” Fashion History Timeline, Fashion Institute of Technology, 5 Apr. 2019, fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/1930-1939/. Accessed 2026.
“Martini & Rossi Vermouth Print Ad from Esquire Magazine, 1934, 05-May.” Mixology.pro, mixology.pro/magazine-ads/martini-rossi-vermouth-print-ad-from-esquire-magazine-1934-05-may/. Accessed 2026.
Kuroski, John. “Can You Read These Tattoo History Facts without Wanting to Get Inked?” All That’s Interesting, 8 Feb. 2017, allthatsinteresting.com/tattoo-history-facts. Accessed 2026.
“Edwardian Jewelry: 1901-1915.” Antique Jewelry University, Lang, www.langantiques.com/university/edwardian-jewelry-1901-1915/. Accessed 2026.
Sessions, Debbie. “1930s Jewelry Styles and Trends.” Vintage Dancer, 28 June 2016, vintagedancer.com/1930s/popular-jewelry-styles-1930s/. Accessed 2026.
Gin
“The Evolution of Gin in London, 1750 – 1850.” Insider London, 19 Apr. 2013, www.insiderlondon.com/blog/london-gin-craze-london-dry-gin-history/.
“How London Dry Gin Came to Be—and Why We Made It Our Own.” Sipsmith, 24 May 2018, sipsmith.com/how-london-dry-gin-came-to-be-why-we-made-it-our-own/. Accessed 2026.
