More design students and professionals are developing their projects using Google SketchUp models as 3d tools for visualizing their ideas. In recent years, clients have become accustomed to viewing SketchUp progress models and now with many design offices, the SketchUp models are serving as the only presentation format the client ever sees during design conceptualization and development.
I believe that there should always be a certain level of hand sketching and rendering during the early phases of design and that the hand drawing process can be quick and easy to create. The following exercise takes a single SketchUp model and reveals four hand drawn variations that range from simple tracing with and ink pen to sophisticated digital manipulation. The four techniques are; 1) overlay and trace drawing, 2) Overlay and trace composite scan, 3) Digital composite drawing, and 4) Digital hybrid watercolor.
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Alternaitve 1: Overlay and Trace Drawing
1.1 Basic SketchUp model. This day care room was simply modeled without a ceiling so I could reveal strong shadows with sunlight. The scene was created with minimal color, exported as a jpeg and printed on 11”x17” paper.
1.2 Overlay Line Drawing. I placed tracing paper over the print and traced the cropped center portion of the scene with a Pentel Sign pen, outlining the basic shapes and adding other elements into the drawing such as background wall art, overhead track lights and tabletop plants. I also modified the umbrella shape.
1.3 Final Color Drawing. I colored the line drawing with a few Chartpak AD markers and added some colored pencil to the furniture, clothing and walls. The visual was completed enough to show the character of the play space without over working the drawing!
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Alternative 2: Overlay and Trace Composite Scan
2.1 Colored SketchUp model. The same model was enhanced with some additional color applied to the walls and furniture. This color would eventually serve as background tone for the composite scan.
2.2 Overlay Line Drawing. I traced the image with a Pentel Sign pen similar the the previous drawing technique. Notice that I placed a second sheet of tracing paper beneath the top drawing. This “slip sheet” was necessary for fading back the background model view and color.
2.3 Final Color Composite Scan. I added marker color to the overlay drawing and colored pencil to walls, clothing and to represent a carpeted floor. Notice the yellow highlights above the umbrella and the children to represent overhead spot lighting. The final image was scanned together with the SketchUp view beneath it to generate an enhanced level of tones, shadows and color. Compare this “composite scan” with the earlier overlay and trace drawing (1.3) and notice the differences between them!
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Alternative 3: Digital Composite Drawing
3.1 Highly Developed SketchUp Model. When creating digital composite drawings, your SketchUp model must be constructed with accurate detail and composition as it all shows in the final visualization. Using the same model as the previous versions, I added plants, wall graphics (nature photographs), foreground toys and overhead track lights.
3.2 Lightened and Printed Image. I saved the scene as a jpeg and lightened the view in Adobe Photoshop. This important step of reducing the color and contrast allowed me to “add back” the color with markers and colored pencils. I printed the image on 11”x17” coated bond paper.
3.3 Colored Marker. I added color to the print with Chartpak AD markers giving the image the “hand colored” character.
3.4 Final Pencil Line Enhancement. Following the marker coloring step, I added tone to the drawing with colored pencils and traced over many of the edges with a graphite pencil. This “over drawing” using a graphite pencil further disguised the computer model and created a dominant appearance of a hand drawing - a successful composite of digital modeling with hand drawing!
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Alternaitve 4: Digital Hybrid Watercolor
4.1 Shaderlight Rendered SketchUp Model. This final alternative involved the plugin Shaderlight which gave the SketchUp model a more photorealistic appearance. The digital rendering process dropped out the edges and linework which were partially added back on a separate layer in Photoshop. This photorealistic rendering step did not take much time and produced a SketchUp view much more enhanced than the previous versions.
4.2 Lightened and Printed Image. Identical to the previous drawing alternative (3.2), I lightened the jpeg in Photoshop and printed it 11”x17” on coated bond paper.
4.3 Colored Marker. I added Chartpak AD markers to the scene and with a very hard graphite pencil, overtraced most of the objects and edges with informal, overlapping, and sometimes doubled up freehand pencil lines. Notice how the drawing had little contrast and appeared somewhat dull. This was intentional as the contrast was eventually added back in the final digital filtered process.
4.4 Digital Watercolor Filter. I scanned the original artwork at 300dpi and applied a watercolor filter to the image in Adobe Photoshop. I finally adjusted the contrast levels of the image. Notice how the watercolor filter gave the background walls a soft texture and transformed the color marker into what appeared as a painted surface!
4.5 Enlarged Digital Watercolor View. Study this cropped version of the digital watercolor and compare it with the other three alternative drawing techniques, each using variations of the same SketchUp model. Try using any or all of the alternatives on your next project. You will be surprised how easy it is and how excited your clients will be seeing your creative drawings!
Look for other interesting articles on my blog, visit my website www.drawingshortcuts.com and read my new book Drawing Shortcuts Second Edition.
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Thanks for an awesome workshop, Jim!
Posted by: dino indra | 12/15/2011 at 11:44 PM