Jim Leggitt / Drawing Shortcuts

Hand Drawing Landscapes from SketchUp Models

Building a Google SketchUp massing model and tracing over selected views is a quick and easy method for visualizing landscape concepts for projects. The three step method involves 1) printing your SketchUp scene in color on 8.5”x11” paper, 2) sketching your landscape elements on tracing paper and adding color with markers and pencils, and 3) scanning your drawing and the SketchUp print together as a composite image.

The SketchUp model view is visible in the background of the scanned image while the pen and ink linework with coloring creates the entourage and hand drawn character not possible with the 3D massing model.

Entry Flower Garden.  I added some 3D plants and transparent trees to the SketchUp model and created all of the color, illustrative character and texture in the overlay drawing.

________________________________________________________________

Reflecting Pond and Path. I illustrated this large open space park with tall grasses, lily pads and wildlife. The base SketchUp model established the perspective view and I added the story. Look carefully how I modified the building and pedestrian bridge in the background of the image.

___________________________________________________________________________

Tree Terrace. The hand drawn overlay established the plaza paving pattern and character of the trees. I also added more people, graphics and color to the building glass. Notice how the SketchUp sky creates the contrast against the white building facade.

___________________________________________________________________________

Stepped Water Feature. I created simple block shapes in the SketchUp model for the linear water feature. The colored pencil overlay rounded the waterfalls and added shadows and reflections to the water surface. I illustrated trees with more three dimensions with darker shadows beneath the canopy and yellow highlights on the upper portions.

 

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

 

Successful Drawing with Colored Pencils

I’ve used colored pencils in my drawings for over forty years and still consider them an integral tool in the visualization process. Colored pencils are sold as individual colors at larger art supply stores and are also available in sets of 12, 24, 36 and 72. I’ve been promoting Prismacolor pencils over all other brands as the waxy soft core of the pencil is easy to apply and has wonderful blending characteristics. (The rural scene above is by the talented color pencil illlustrator Peter Roper).

The problem with colored pencils is no different than with colored markers -- how do you pick the ideal colors from the 100’s of colors offered?  Easy answer. I’ve done an analysis from my stockpile of colored pencil stubs and have identified the best 36 colors for you to own. They fit in one hand and are listed below and on my website drawingshortcuts.com. 

I utilize colored pencils in three basic ways; 1) for quick thumbnail sketching, 2) for developing conceptual designs and, 3) presentation renderings. Those categories are shown below with further explanation.

________________________________________________________________

36 Ideal Prismacolor Pencil Colors

_________________________________________________________________

Thumbnail Colored Pencil Sketches

Quick Splash of Color. These rough sketches for an aquarium design were first drawn with a Pentel Sign Pen on tracing paper, then colored with a few Prismacolor pencils. The texture of the pencil was very effective in illustrating the foggy mist in the forest scene and lighting gradation in the underwater scene.

________________________________________________________________

Conceptual Design with Colored Pencils

Quickly Drawn, Rapidly Colored. This wonderful design concept drawing was first sketched in pen by architect Seth Harry, AIA then traced over in pencil and colored with Prismacolor Pencils by the talented Peter Roper. His loose hatching style and bold use of different colored pencils gives the drawing a great “in progress” look for the residential project in its early design stage.

Colored Pencil Drawing Series. This set of four images were from a set of twelve concept drawings illustrating a mixed use riverfront development. I created the series of 4”x6” images (cropped versions are shown here) using a felt tipped pen on trace, copied with a standard copier on high quality bond paper and then colored with Prismacolor pencils. I chose not to color the entire image area and left portions of each drawing intentionally white.

________________________________________________________________

Colored Pencil Presentation Renderings

Coloring Large Drawings with Pencils. I’ve found that colored pencils are very effective for coloring small drawings but can be very time consuming and laborious when coloring larger drawings. This beautiful rendering of a college student center by Kirk Fromm (above) was drawn in pen and ink, then copied and colored with Prismacolor pencils. Kirk actually saved time by recycling a color pencil sky he had created for another drawing and “spliced” it into this drawing using Photoshop! 

Blending Colored Pencils. This Swiss mountain scene was first drawn on illustration board with a fine point pen, then colored with Prismacolor pencils. I applied the pencil in thick layers that were blended with a white pencil to create an effect of mist in the distant mountains and the contrasting mix of sun and cloud cover in the foreground. Yes, I used up many pencils coloring this larger 12”x16” rendering!

 

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

 

Quick Visit to Rhode Island School of Design

I graduated from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) with an architectural degree in 1973. (Yes, that's what I looked like as a 23 year old architectural student!)

My involvement on the RISD Alumni Council has me back on campus every fall for meetings and to the annual parents weekend and art sale. For those unfamiliar with the university, RISD is simply the best art school in the country, offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in architecture, industrial design, painting, printmaking, film, fashion design, photography, sculpture, landscape architecture, graphic design, illustration, furniture design and much more. 

During my recent trip to RISD, I spent a day walking around the school and visiting several of the departments. Below are photographs of my quick trip showing various projects, details and observations. I sure had fun talking with students and seeing many of their creative projects. If you are ever in New England, make sure you visit RISD and discover the amazing talent of the students and faculty! My 40th class reuinion is coming up soon and I can't wait to reconnect with friends!

Above - Architecture and Industrial Design.

Above - Industrial Design metal and wood shops, Furniture Design.

Above - Printmaking and painting studio.

Above - Industrial Design and Architecture.

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

SketchUp Digital Watercolor for a Museum Classroom

 

Visualizing interior spaces with Google SketchUp has always been challenging because the basic 3D modeling program lacks interior lighting tools. Hooray for plugins! My friend Daniel Tal recently introduced me to a photorealistic rendering software called Shaderlight which is a fantastic light and shadow simulation plugin for SketchUp. By placing individual lights, one can determine their color, direction, intensity and degree of spread. 

My visualization for a young children’s classroom located within a natural history museum was a perfect opportunity to explore the merging of 3D modeling, traditional hand drawing, photo-realistic rendering and digital manipulation. My goal was to create another “Digital Watercolor” - a process I’ve been exploring that simulates a traditional watercolor painting, but is completely developed with alternative methods. My process is three-fold, 1) build a SketchUp model and export a photorealistic rendering, 2) hand color a print with Chartpak AD markers, and 3) Digitally alter a scanned image with a Photoshop watercolor filter.

___________________________________________________________________________

Step 1: Google SketchUp Model

First Generation SketchUp Model. The initial SketchUp model I created for the classroom was intended for client review and selection of the best viewing angle. I explored several focal length options and picked a 35mm scene to show more of the interior space without too much of a wide angle distortion. I sent a view to my client with lots of questions about how many kids, number of teachers, what were the different activities, projection screen size and image, etc. Feedback was timely and I proceeded to develop the model with more detail.

 

SketchUp Custom Components. Based on client request, I needed to include kids in dinosaur costumes, display fossils, footprints, a discovery sand box for digging up dinosaur bones, and a large size stegosaurus floor puzzle. I found images from Internet and digital photographs provided by the museum and simply created individual components that I inserted into the base model. 

Second Generation SketchUp Model. This next version of the model raised the viewing angle to see more of the floor puzzle and added trees, more children with costumes and hard hats, furniture and larger wall projections. I sent another jpeg to my client for last minute review and comment.

Third Generation SketchUp Model. The final 3D model included revised projected images, more dinosaur bones near the sand box and adjustments to people working on the floor puzzle. Based on feedback from scientists, I even modified the three palm tree trunks to match the prehistoric vegetation shown in the wall projection!

Photorealistic Rendering. With the model composition approved, I opened Shaderlight (a SketchUp plugin) and placed two dozen overhead lights into the model. I positioned some lights for general illumination and located specific spot lights to highlight the table tops and sand box. The illumination over the palm trees was created with a yellow colored spotlight to add drama and cast orange shadows onto the floor. Placing and adjusting the artificial lighting in this model was the most time consuming step of the modeling process!

Exported SketchUp Edges. The Shaderlight photo realistic rendering did not replicate the critical edges of the floor puzzle and overhead light fixtures. I exported the SketchUp model edges and layered them back into the Shaderlight view using Adobe Photoshop.

___________________________________________________________________________

Step 2: Hand Coloring a Print

 

Print and Color with Markers. I exported a high resolution 10”x17” TIFF image of the scene and lightened the image in Photoshop. It was important to fade back the color to about 75% of its original intensity so that color could be added back using color markers. I printed the image on heavy weight matte finish Epson paper and colored much of the image with Chartpak AD markers.

I also highlighted edges and people with a white Prismacolor pencil to add more of a “hand drawn” character to the image. Another subtle touch was to overdraw some of the people and objects with a very light graphite pencil. The final colored print still looked intensionally faded, which was still necessary prior to the final watercolor filtering.

________________________________________________________________

Step 3: Watercolor Filter

Photoshop Watercolor Filter. I scanned the hand colored image at 300dpi and applied a watercolor filter using Adobe Photoshop. I increased the contrast to the filtered image which deepened the blacks and highlighted the whites. The watercolor filter gave all of the marks made from the Chartpak AD markers a modeled appearance with slightly darker edges to the color - a typical characteristic of watercolor paint.

The final image had the appearance of an actual watercolor painting and was quite liked by my client. The secret to creating a successful digital watercolor is with the amount of marker you apply to the lightened print. Don’t be afraid to dab the marker beyond the linework as the “imperfection” of the marker creates the spontaneous appearance of paint and brush marks. 

 

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

 

Traditional Hand Drawing From Photographs

 

The use of digital photography in design visualization is as important as using 3D modeling. Photographs quickly establish context, scale, perspective and more. When I am composing a rendering for a design project, I will often visit the site and take numerous photos from different vantage points - constantly framing the subject area while thinking how I can turn the image into a drawing. 

This pair of renderings were made for a proposed street celebration in front of a ballpark. In preparation, I walked the site and photographed the large urban space from both street level and overlooking the space at the second level of a building. The following steps reveal my simple and effective drawing process.

 __________________________________________________________________________

Aerial Perspective

Step 1. Digital Photograph. In order to capture the large celebration, I climbed up an exterior fire escape stair and photographed the space from above. I printed the digital photo at 11”x17” black and white for tracing.

Step 2. Red Pencil Mockup. I taped a sheet of tracing paper over the photo and blocked out all of the primary elements of the drawing including performance stage, retail tents, signage and lots of people. Working in red pencil was easy to see the new information layered over the black and white photo and make quick changes as I developed the visual subjects.

Step 3. Ink Line Drawing. Once I was satisfied with the mockup, I taped a sheet of mylar over the sketch and illustrated the final rendering with a Staedtler Lumocolor F pen. I then made a 11”x17” digital copy on presentation bond paper for the final coloring step.

Step 4. Evening Scene in Color. Knowing the party was at night, I colored the drawing with dark blues and purple Chartpak AD markers. The lighting and fireworks were highlighted with yellow and orange colors. Much of the image was enhanced with Prismacolor pencils to add texture and deeper colors.

___________________________________________________________________________

Street Level Perspective

Notice how high up this photograph was taken off the ground. In order to see more of the street scene, I stood on top of a newspaper vending machine (you can also try standing on the roof of your car or on a step ladder) and photographed the street. The photo was printed 11”x17” and developed into a second rendering of the street celebration.  I made sure to included the ballpark in the distance in order to establish the context and relate the image to the previous aerial perspective.

Close up Detail. Unlike the aerial perspective, this street level view allowed me to illustrate much more detail in people, food vendor tents, signage of actual sponsors and overhead decorations. My drawing style and coloring was similar to the other drawing. Both images were scanned and used for promoting the party. What fun!

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