Jim Leggitt / Drawing Shortcuts

Drawing From Imagination: New Village Center

 

A developer studied converting an existing tourist theme park into a mixed use commercial/residential Village Center and asked that I visualize what it might look like. Given a minimal fee and no initial architectural building design, I elected to illustrate one full color perspective of the “Village Main Street” and a series of ten small 5”x7” black and white character studies showing different aspects of the development and its mountain setting. Shown below is the entire set of drawings I created for the proposal. With the exception of the colored village center perspective, all other drawings were developed from my imagination without any base imagery. 

If you have a project in which there are many different possible subjects to illustrate, consider developing one or two larger colored perspectives along with a series of small visual studies. The collection of different images will present a greater picture than any one drawing could ever communicate.

Village Main Street Perspective

 

Existing Main Street Buildings              Red Pencil Mockup

 

Ink Line Drawing. The final drawing was 8.5”x14” drawn with a Staedtler Lumocolor 318 F pen on vellum. I traced the background mountain and established the 1-point perspective from an enlarged digital photograph of the site. I also traced the foreground people and changed their clothing.

 

Final Colored Perspective. I copied the ink line drawing onto heavy weight presentation bond paper using an OCE digital copier. I colored the print with Chartpak AD markers. The final image was scanned at 300dpi and incorporated into the final presentation.

 

Character Studies

Character Studies. Each of these ten sketches were drawn from imagination and visualized different areas of the development such as outdoor dining terraces, pedestrian pathways connecting residential buildings, community center, and village retail.

Additional sketches showed activities associated with the nearby mountain trail system. Each drawing was made on vellum with a Staedtler Lumocolor 318 F pen. White correction fluid was used to clean up mistakes and overlapping linework.

 

  

Look for other interesting articles on my blog, visit my website www.drawingshortcuts.com and read my new book Drawing Shortcuts Second Edition.

 

NEW! - The 2010 Blog Collection , a 116-page catalog of my best blog posts from 2010 is now available on Blurb!  http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/196374

 

Drawing a Small Public Park and Civic Center

 

I’ve participated in design charrettes where there hasn’t been time to generate 3D computer models or access sophisticated reprographic equipment. The need to create believable, accurate and quick drawings during those workshops inspired me to explore this simple but effective visualization technique.

Using a straight forward overlay and trace method, I began with digital photographs of a hand drawn site plan and produced a series of four perspectives for a downtown open space park and civic center. Here is a step-by-step summary of my process!

Civic Performance Park

 

Step 1 - Digital Photograph. I composed several views from a hand drawn site plan (black and white print) and selected the aerial view that I thought best represented the public park and its surrounding context. I printed the image and enlarged it on a standard copier to 11”x17” paper.

 

Step 2 - Redline Mockup.  I taped several sheets of tracing paper over the print to lighten the overall image and using a red pencil, illustrated all of the park elements, fences, entourage (people, cars, furniture), adjacent buildings, and landscaping. My decisions about composition, park activities and overall character were made in this very important phase of the drawing.

 

Step 3 - Ink Line Drawing. I taped a sheet of vellum over the red pencil mockup and produced the final line drawing using a Staedtler Lumocolor 318 F pen. I added some minor stipple and hatching but otherwise left the image as a basic outline drawing with the intent to add color, tone and shadows in the final coloring step. Note that I accidentally made the people too large in the red pencil mockup and even made a note to myself to make “smaller people” in the final drawing!

 

Step 4 - Colored Digital Copy. The black and white line drawing was copied onto heavy weight presentation bond paper using an OCE digital copier/printer. I added an overall base color with Chartpak AD markers and enhanced the coloring with Prismacolor pencils. The texture from the pencils softened the image and added character to the landscaping. The final 8”x12” image was scanned at 300dpi and enlarged for a client presentation.

 

Enhanced Street Landscaping

 

Drawing Mockup Phase. Using the same drawing process as the first drawing, I created several more views of the civic center and landscaping.

 

Ink Line Drawing. It was quite easy to trace over the red pencil mockup with my Staedtler pen determine what areas still needed to be delineated. I made many subtle changes and improvements to the drawing during this step.

Final Aerial Perspective. The scene includes new civic buildings, public parking areas, streetscape and intersection improvements, and new landscape concepts.

  

Look for other interesting articles on my blog, visit my website www.drawingshortcuts.com and read my new book Drawing Shortcuts Second Edition.

 

NEW! - The 2010 Blog Collection , a 116-page catalog of my best blog posts from 2010 is now available on Blurb!  http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/196374

 

Variations on How To Draw Skies

I thought it would be useful to focus on a single aspect of drawing and look at how skies are represented in various mediums and by different visualists. Study the images below (most have been cropped from their original format) and notice how each of the skies has been imagined. Traditional sky illustration methods include watercolor, colored markers and color pencils. Computer generated skies have been created by digital painting techniques, photography and Google SketchUp. 

Whatever your drawing project is, become aware of your many illustrative options when illustrating the sky. Before you begin, ask yourself is it daytime, sunset or night? Are there clouds? What is the sky color? How much detail? Does the sky have a gradation of dark to light? Does it contrast against the foreground object? Should it include birds or other objects? These and many other questions should always be on your “checklist” when developing drawings. If you like any of the techniques shown below, try it on your next drawing project.

Experimentation is always good! 

Watercolor                                           Color marker

Watercolor

Digital photoshop                                 Ink pen with color marker

SketchUp                                           Two different colored markers

Watercolor on print from original pencil drawing

Color marker - one layer                       Color marker - two layers

Color pencil on rough paper                  Several different color pencil layers

Color pencil on rough paper                  Color marker with "modeled" look

Several different color pencil layers      Digital painting

Ink line, marker and color pencil on vellum scanned over a SketchUp model

Color pencil                                        Several different color pencil layers

Hand drawing on SketchUp print           Photograph with Photoshop filter

Photograph composite                         Digital painting 

Color pencil                                        Ink line with color marker

Watercolor on print from original pencil drawing

 

Pencil on Vellum over SketchUp          Several different color pencil layers

The drawings above are a combination of my illustrations and the beautiful work of other visualists including; Michael Abbott, Seth Harry, David Klages, Kirk Fromm, James Leese, John Moon and Stanley Doctor. Many thanks to those individuals for the use of their drawings in this blog post! 

  

Look for other interesting articles on my blog, visit my website www.drawingshortcuts.com and read my new book Drawing Shortcuts Second Edition.

 

NEW! - The 2010 Blog Collection , a 116-page catalog of my best blog posts from 2010 is now available on Blurb!  http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/196374

 

DRAWING BIG! Making a 2'x5' Aerial Perspective

Part One: Google SketchUp Topographic Model

 

The complex SketchUp model and extremely large aerial perspective I created for a proposed residential project in China challenged me far more than most visualization projects I’ve ever done. I was asked to produce an aerial perspective for a residential/golf course development located on a mountain side. The steep terrain and multiple neighborhoods demanded that my drawing be sized large enough to illustrate the detail of more than 450 villas and reflect the hilly topography of the mountain setting. 

The project was so large and complicated that I split this blog post into two parts: Part One showing the SketchUp modeling process, and Part Two (April 22, 2011 Blog Post) revealing the process of illustrating the aerial perspective. The modeling of this project was made possible by the expert work from my friend, super modeler and author Daniel Tal, who spent an afternoon building the topographic model and draping both the illustrative plan and villas onto the 3D model. My process was as follows:

The Site

 

Photograph taken from the ridge overlooking the general site area.

 

Illustrative Plan. I was given this composite plan of the site which showed the proposed villa plots, surrounding 27-hole golf course, roadways and satellite image. I used this plan as the base for developing the SketchUp model.

Consultant's SketchUp Model

 

Avoid Strategic Modeling Mistakes. A consultant in China built the first Google SketchUp model of the development without first thinking through certain modeling strategies involving the creation of very large and complex models. His fundamental mistakes were 1) the individual villa prototypes were overly detailed, 2) the model topography was too exaggerated and unrealistic, and 3) the entire model was not coordinated with an AutoCAD base. I found this model to be completely worthless and started over with a new model.

New SketchUp Components

 

 

Simplified Model Components. I copied the four original villa prototypes and replicated them with simplified massing and windows. I constructed additional models for two small retail centers in the development. Note: simplify components to basic shapes and avoid unnecessary detail that will slow your computer’s processing ability.

  

My First “Throw-away” Flat Model. I imported the illustrative site plan into SketchUp and placed the villa prototypes on site, rotating each component to face onto the street. My intent was to try and establish the aerial perspective from a "flat model" without the need for a 3D topographic model. As you can see from this flat model, the terrain was not evident and the perspective was unrealistic. The next alternative was to build an accurate 3D topographic site model and “drape” the plan and villas onto it. I needed an expert’s help with that process!

3D Topographic SketchUp Model

Step 1- Contour Model. Daniel Tal imported the AutoCAD contours into a new SketchUp model and recreated the mountain terrain (shown above). He then went through a lengthy process of smoothing out the contours and saving an accurate base model which he then draped the plan and components onto the surface.

Step 2 - Drape Tool. Daniel used this SketchUp tool to place the illustrative plan directly onto the smoothed contour model. Working with poor site information, he was forced to position the plan over the model base by eye rather than with guides that could have been setup in the original AutoCAD file. It took Daniel many attempts to accurately match the plan onto the base. Note - this process requires advance knowledge of AutoCAD and SketchUp modeling!

Step 3 - Drop Ruby. With the illustrative plan safely draped onto the terrain model, Daniel then selected the entire group of 450 villas and “dropped” them onto the model surface using a Drop Ruby script. Each villa was placed onto the terrain surface but needed individual vertical adjustment to “fine tune” its location on the hill side. 

Step 4 - Google Earth View. I located the project on Google Earth and saved a series of images of the site at different elevations. The preferred view showed the site in the foreground with a lake in the distance. I matched an aerial view of the SketchUp model with the Google Earth view (this took several attempts) and finally made a composite image that merged the aerial photograph with the model view. 

Final Model View. This is the client approved aerial view that I enlarged to 24” x 60” and used as the basis for my hand drawn perspective. The delineation process and final rendering of the project will be published in a future blog post (date to be determined). Many thanks to Jeff Lakey, West Li and Hill Guan of LLGInternational for the use of their project in this publication!

  

Look for other interesting articles on my blog, visit my website www.drawingshortcuts.com and read my new book Drawing Shortcuts Second Edition.

 

NEW! - The 2010 Blog Collection , a 116-page catalog of my best blog posts from 2010 is now available on Blurb!  http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1963744

 

Creating Perspectives From Multiple Sources!

Producing a basic perspective of a three dimensional object was once a time consuming and exact hand drafting process. Now with many digital tools, we can produce accurate perspectives of our design concepts with minimal time and effort. Using digital photography, computer modeling and even physical models, we are able to visualize projects with more perspective choices and with incredible accuracy. 

The examples below briefly explain several sources for creating a perspective and then focuses on a single residential project and how I was able to arrive at the same perspective conclusion using three different techniques. I will explain each process and also identify the amount of time I spent on each. It was a fun exercise and revealed that there is no one preferred source for finding the right perspective with any given project!

Basic Perspective Methods

 

Perspective Chart                               Photographic Method

 

Projection Method                               3D Model (physical or computer)

Perspective Projection Method

In 1930 when Perspective Projection by Ernest Irving Freese was published, architectural renderings were accurately  constructed using a projection method involving building plans and elevations. I found this perspective exercise in Freese’s book and decided to explore alternative methods using his original material. The above graphics show his complex technique for developing a 2-point perspective of a small residence. There is no indication of how much time Freese spent creating his perspective using this technique.

  

Photograph of the residence that matches the view angle from Freese’s drawing. (from the book Perspective Projection)

Physical Model Method

 

I scanned a page from Freese’s book, printed several copies on bond paper, then spray mounted the house plan and elevation to lightweight cardboard. As you can see from the above photographs, the small size of the massing model enabled me to build it quickly without much detail. The most difficult aspect of constructing this physical model was the intersection of the two roof forms. I completed the 2-sided model in less than two hours and then photographed it with a digital camera replicating the same view angle and camera lens as the original 1930 perspective. The perspective match was practically identical!

 

3D Computer Model Method (SketchUp)

 

 

I imported the 1930’s house plan and elevation into Google SketchUp and built this massing model in just 60 minutes! I constructed the massing in two primary pieces and finally added the sloped front yard. I then adjusted the viewing angle and focal length to match the same perspective as the original house photograph in the book.

 

SketchUp massing model view.

Composite Drawing from a SketchUp Model

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Step 1- Detailed SketchUp Model. I added more materials and components to my SketchUp model, keeping the windows and fence from the original scanned elevation. I inserted the car, landscape components and added a roof material. I exported a high resolution jpeg of the scene after fine tuning the shadow angles.

 

Step 2 - Image Modification. I opened the jpeg in Adobe Photoshop then lightened the image and desaturated much of the color. I printed the perspective view 11”x17” on Epson Ultra Premium Matte Presentation Paper and proceeded to add color and linework to the print.

 

Step 3 - Final Illustration. I first applied very light colored Chartpak AD markers to the people, trees, ground, house and car. I then illustrated the primary objects with Prismacolor pencils. I outlined the building edges with roughly drawn pencil lines and added loose hatching to the wall and ground surfaces. I highlighted window mullions and the roof with white pencil. The entire coloring process only took 60 minutes. 

  

Look for other interesting articles on my blog, visit my website www.drawingshortcuts.com and read my new book Drawing Shortcuts Second Edition.

 

NEW! - The 2010 Blog Collection , a 116-page catalog of my best blog posts from 2010 is now available on Blurb!  http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1963744