Colorado Real Estate Journal - September 2, 2015
Throughout any design process, it is always a challenge for architects, planners and developers to find effective visual tools for communicating their design ideas to community leaders, property owners and especially citizens. Illustrative site plan graphics offer only a fraction of critical information for people to truly understand development concepts. Photorealistic renderings and detailed computer model views can be very time-consuming and expensive to produce, and if used too early in a design process can scare people into thinking the design is too far developed for their input and feedback. Our challenge is how to create appropriate visual products at specific milestones throughout the design process in order to gain positive public feedback, generate momentum for the project and ultimately get it built. Throughout my 40 years as an architect, educator and author, I’ve discovered how to merge hand drawing with digital tools in different combinations throughout the design process that are quick to generate, user-friendly and highly effective for communicating ideas to different audiences. Three basic digital tools I always use are photography, SketchUp computer models and Adobe graphic software. I integrate hand drawings at different levels of detail ranging from quick thumbnail sketches to sophisticated hybrid renderings that blend together hand illustration with 3-D computer views. Several methods I use for combining traditional drawing methods with digital imaging include: 1) overlay and trace technique; 2) scan composite technique; 3) print composite technique; 4) digital hybrid technique; and 5) digital watercolor technique. Let’s focus on some actual downtown projects and explore the visualization techniques I used in each project. Overlay and trace technique, Brighton. This visualization project involved taking digital photographs throughout the downtown and developing sketches showing how the streetscape might look with expanding outdoor restaurant seating into existing parallel parking spaces with temporary platforms. I printed the photograph on 8½-by-11 paper, taped tracing paper over the image and hand drew the final illustration with pen and ink. Color was added with markers and colored pencils. This drawing was quick to create and my limited budget allowed me to generate more than 12 sketches of different downtown sites. The eye-level “before-and-after” visualization was very effective for communicating creative ideas with the downtown merchants. Scan composite technique, Boulder. Visualizing a three-block-long streetscape project on Pearl Street demanded an aerial perspective in order to see the entire project area in a single drawing. I downloaded an aerial view directly from Google Earth, printed it on 11 by 17 paper and created the sketch showing new infill buildings and streetscape improvements. I then scanned the hand drawing along with the original print and the resulting composite image highlighted the project area with the adjacent city blocks showing much lighter due to the thickness of the tracing paper overlay. This technique was effective in establishing a visual hierarchy between the project and its contextual surroundings. Print composite technique, San Bernardino, California. This visualization method combined hand drawing and computer modeling. I constructed the mixed-use residential project using the SketchUp 3-D modeling program. My architectural model was populated with trees, cars and people but had little character and color – a typical condition of computer models. I exported an aerial perspective focused on the central courtyard, printed the jpeg 11-by-17 in color and then drew directly onto the print with pen and ink. I added color with markers and colored pencils. This is an effective method of combining modeling with hand drawing reflects the accuracy of a SketchUp model with the authenticity of a hand drawing and casual character it represents. Digital hybrid technique, Glenwood Springs. This hybrid drawing method integrated three visual tools: digital photography, SketchUp modeling and hand drawing. Beginning with a photograph of the existing commercial street scene, I constructed a SketchUp model showing sidewalk improvements and populated it with people, furniture and landscape elements. I then combined the SketchUp view with the photograph, printed the composite image and sketched directly onto the print with pen and ink, colored markers and pencils. The value of this hybrid approach is to incorporate site photography, 3-D modeling and casual hand illustration to communicate the design concept in a believable and casual image. Most of these hybrid images are created during the design process and intended as an “in-progress” representation of a creative direction. Digital watercolor technique, Gold Hill, Nevada. Traditional watercolor paintings created by professional artists can be very expensive and time-consuming. I developed a unique visualization method and comes close to reflecting the beauty of painted artwork and uses the same tools as my other techniques (SketchUp modeling, hand drawing and digital graphic software.) The process is quite simple and the results are impressive. I began by constructing a 3-D SketchUp model of the visitors center scene and after selecting an eye-level perspective view, I printed a very light image on 11-by-17 paper and colored it with markers, dabbing the marker in such a way to recreate a painted appearance. I scanned the original artwork and applied a watercolor filter using Adobe Photoshop. The resulting digital painting has an authentic painted appearance and texture of a true watercolor!