Interior Design Studies

Interior Design Studies

How Small changes make a big difference

from sddrawings.com

In this next part of Renderings & drawings, Sherrod Drawings continues to find fast and accurate renderings to be an integral part of architecture. Today, I am going to look continue to look at the Great House interiors.  In my previous post, we look at exterior renderings for the same building.

The life like renderings below should capture the design and true feel of the built structure. Some of the aspects we are going for when rendering is to capture the scale of the building. In the first "photograph", I wanted to show how large the opening to the dining hall was.  To do this, using people (in this case, a very beautiful client in a blue dress has come for dinner; possibly meeting a date?)  She is obviously flanked by the columns giving the viewer a feel for the height in the structure.

Studio Sky Design, Sherrod Artistry

I did very much the same thing in this second photograph.  Using people as our scale (we all have a very good sense for how large something is when we put a person next to it).  Let's check out another pretty lady in front of the screen door on the left.  She is obviously not three foot tall, so we immediately get the feeling that this door is very tall.  The couple at the bar also show just how high the beams are above their heads.    SO people as scale is a fantastic way to show the size of something and give the "feel" of what we're looking for.

Studio Sky Design, Sherrod Artistry

The 2 Great House renderings above represented about 30 hours of work.  It is 100% digitally composed in a combination of Sketchup with finishing touches in Photoshop. I've drawn upon 30+ years of real life watercolor and painting experience to help with all of these renderings.  What's different when trying to render a scene completely realistic versus an abstract water color (as can be viewed in my last post) is that we have to remember a lot of different invisible variables. Because the two mediums require different expertise.  If you want to learn, you have to do. Pickup a paint brush or download Sketchup's free version and just draw.

Thinking about the different variables between a realistic drawing and a watercolor, using today's example, if we draw the scene too perfect, it will obviously be seen as a fake by our mind's eye, because it is trying to be realistic.  To compensate, I've worked on a few different aspects. Check out the vase in the foreground in the second photograph.  It's slightly off center, giving a feeling of "real life happens".  People come in, move things and someone else has to come back up and put it back, or we get to see a vase that is not perfectly centered.  I also really liked how some of the people in the right hand side of the photo were cut off behind the column.  That's real life. You can't see everything at all times. People move and talk and turn their back to you.  I really wish the lady on the left would face us though, she's absolutely striking, reminding me of a dear old friend back in a tiny little town back in Alabama.

Some of the items I'd like to explore in future renderings: If we look back at the vase, I actually created a vase inside of a vase (using a free Sketchup object as a base).  The outer vase is clear glass while the inner glass, I applied an opaque colored finish.  I'd like to play with the mirrors in the same way.  If you look at your bathroom mirror, you can see the depth of the glass before the light hits the reflective material behind it.  I wonder if that would make a difference, however slight in these renderings.

Some of the other fun items I've played with was colored lighting at the bar. In several instances, the colored lighting from the bar bounces back and shows some reflection in the slightly reflective wood surfaces through out the photos.  I do not think the intensity of the lighting is very realistic on a door or the coffee table.  So I believe another change would be to modify this to a much more defused reflected color, though what do I know compared to rendering engines.  This may actually help the mind to see that there's something else going on, things are not perfect and will help to tie the scene together as being more realistic because it is imperfect; as well as using the same color thought the photo.  So I'll leave it for now.  In my mind's eye, I also expect to see more reflection in the floor from exterior lighting though the french doors. So all of that being said, I could continue to pick this piece apart and never truly be done with it.  So at the end of the day and when "Pencil's up" is called, I think it's good enough.

The lesson I am sharing is that not everything in life is as we "see" them.  Consider a palm tree (if you're lucky enough to live in a tropical climate).  My palms outside are not made of brown trunks with a green canopy.  The trunks are actually grey.  If you look closely at what we THINK something looks like and what something ACTUALLY looks like, you'll finally be find your artist's eye.  I didn't officially go to school for any of this (rendering computer generated scenes like this wasn't even a possibility back in high school, the best we had was Doom). So, keep your eyes open, actually see what is in front of you, can you really see the tree, or are you making it all up as to what you see? i.e... a brown trunk and green leaves.

The end product of any CAD system and drawing mechanisms (which ever you choose to use) should be a beautiful useful end product.  I'm pretty happy with this one.  Pencils up.

-Michael Sherrod

Water Color Renderings

Watercolor in Architecture

Reviewing an old style in a new way

from sddrawings.com

In this next part of Renderings & drawings, Sherrod Drawings continues to find fast and accurate renderings to be an integral part of architecture. Today, I am going to look at the Great House water color recently completed.

Watercolor renderings give a wonderfully romantic and beautiful view of Architectural design.  It allows the viewer to imagine the scene with a light hearted view, as opposed to a strict and harsh judgmental eye. Take a quick look at my past post with a night scene & dusk rendering. Where the building itself is fairly well composed, I can find several key elements that really stir my ire... for instance; the trees in the back and foreground leave much to be desired.  This is from fast drawing and limited resources of hi-quality digital photographs).

Since the digital rendering is so much more life like, it's easier to judge the picture and find faults, it's the minds natural way of working. "Hey", says the brain, "this is close... but I don't want you to be fooled, you know this isn't real and here's why... (dot dot dot)".  So we can appreciate the time put into a drawing, unless it's absolutely perfect, our brains are going to find a way to show us how it is not a real scene. A watercolor rendering (and this one is digital) gives the viewer permission to use their own imagination and "feel" the house as opposed to critiquing it; because the picture is so abstract (not abstract enough that you can not tell what something is) though abstract enough to not trigger the brain into complaining.  Then we are allowed to appreciate and find other emotions associated with the drawing.

Studio Sky Design, Milan Velimirovic Technical, Sherrod Artistry

The Great House rendering above represented about 8 hours of off the clock experimentation in this new style.  It is 100% digitally composed in a combination of Sketchup and Photoshop. I've drawn upon 30+ years of real life watercolor and painting experience.  One of the big things I had to think about, was how do objects actually look and what colors do they give off.  Purple hues on the shadows and blue greens in the distance.  I wanted the clouds to just barely be viewable so as not to be a focal point, though composed in a way, that they work with all the other elements to direct the viewers eye and point to the Great House.

Other elements I've taken from water coloring for years, is the bead around the palms and tree line. In this instance, the bead is prob. a little heavy, though that was on purpose.  I could actually watercolor this scene and have a real one, though time is a huge factor.  From drawing the actual house to sketching in the foliage, it's 8 hours versus 40+.  The question is, is a digital watercolor "good enough"?

The end product of any CAD system and drawing mechanisms (which ever you choose to use) should be a beautiful useful end product.

-Michael Sherrod

Art in Architecture

Art in Architecture

Why drawing systems matter and what that means to all of us

Like so many of my associates, I have always felt that in Architecture, the labor of craftsmen should stem from a well thought through design. The design process itself should come from a carefully thought through plan and executed as a work of art.  So the entire process of getting something built can be a beautiful form, from start to finish.  Otherwise, what is the purpose of just throwing something out there as technical garbage to be built from.  If Designers & Architects expect something beautiful to come from their drawings, shouldn't beauty be built into their plans and design?  Is it really enough to just have a technical drawing in hopes to have a structure built?

Maybe I'm over romanticizing the idea that blueprints and construction drawings have always been a thing of beauty.  If I look at Jefferson's designs and blueprints, using the University of Virginia's design (as seen above); I could very well imagine this piece framed in my office. That is my intent and purpose during design, the entire process should be a worthwhile endeavor.

So, in order to follow through and produce a set of plans; I don't think it's enough to simply have ideas and not implement them.  They need to be put into action.  For years I've been adding fills to technical drawings to give them the appearance of the material they represent (learned under Architect Mouzon), I've since began to add shadows and color to roofing for my 2D drawings.

Take a look at the following house:

The Top picture is more representative of conventional technical drawings. Flat & Bland.

This bottom picture shows shadows & a fill applied to the following: The Ground, Windows & Roof, each more closely representing the material they are graphically representing, such as glass & shingle roofing.

Shadows come last, it's not an exact science, most "Art" isn't.  It's there to convey an idea and give a feeling.

There are further ways to graphically show material such as glass. Industry standards dictate a series of diagonal lines.  Though what is standard in Construction Drawings becomes too muddled to try and show everything exactly as standards dictate, giving the drawing a feeling of "busyness"  Combat this solid or greyed fills, such as seen in the windows above

For future projects, I am experimenting in another direction, leaving behind the world of 2D elevations and implementing 3D rendering from Sketchup PRO, and will begin using it for Construction Drawings.

Basically, my idea is to not even bother drawing flat 2D CAD elevations or building sections, since those are really there to tell a story. I'll draw it in all in sketch up, export it to DWG or DXF and do a take off for floor plans and Wall Sections.

It's not as robust as Revit, but it seems to be working out well. I'm still developing the ideas to implement them; clients love it, Contractor's seem in different.

I wanted to share all of this, because as a community, I think we can knock heads and build a more beautiful world. I also think Art should be brought back to the entire process of Architecture, which begins when you put pen to paper or hear the chimes of the MAC fire up.

Sddrawings.com

A letter to a High School Artist

from: Sddrawings.com

Kudos on the painting. For some reason your picture looks "washed out". Like the colors aren't very rich. I'm going to assume it's the way you took the picture of the painting. Use natural sunlight if possible to photograph your work. Or, when you get to the point of being serious about it, almost ALL print shops have a large flat bed scanner now. They normally charge a few bucks to create a PDF of your work.

As far as "African Sunset" goes, I really like the leaves in the tree and the birds, you did a superb job on recreating those. So you're coming along, the biggest thing is to never stop painting. There's that old adage, it takes 10,000 hours to master something. You're young and have lots of spare time, use that time to paint instead of going out to party. Spend a few nights a week in and work on your craft.

Now If I Google "African Sunset", I see some striking pictures (see [http://muliebrousmartha.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/work-4058962-3-flat550x550075f-african-sunset.jpg](linky)Notice how the sun is actually almost white and the colors fade and blend very richly? Don't paint what you THINK you see, paint what you actually see.

Don't be afraid of painting things you see around you either. I take photos of places I travel to and come back home to paint from those photos. Try it, it'll make your work that much more meaningful to you and other people. I don't know where you are, but I can't see it, because I don't think you're in Alabama. SO I would like to see other places and people's perspectives, think "local", think "home grown".

When you take photos to paint later, remember your best times will be morning and afternoon. This is when the sun is rising or setting and gives a lot of great contrast, rich colors and nice deep shadows. Often times I have to plan exactly where I want to be when the sun is setting that day. I see a scene and think "I need to be back here at 4PM to get ready to capture that scene again".

One of the best things I've done for my art was to pick up a photography book. Because what you are doing is in essence is to capture that scene like a photograph, it's just a different medium.

Another pro-tip, never use black. Use it to mix in with other colors, but never use straight up black. There are lots of reasons, google it. You'll learn more by researching it, than for me to tell you why. Also, don't be afraid to use straight up white. Another pro tip, don't worry about canvas, they are expensive and in my opinion, not that great. I prefer wood. I'll find some scrap plywood, cut it tot he size I want, prime it, let it dry, prime it again (kiltz water based for acrylic & kiltz oil based for oil paints).

I'm proud of you as a young person for following your desire. I always wanted to become a classical artist, though I knew I couldn't feed my family by it, so I went into Architecture which was a nice marriage of the arts and money making. If you look at the paintings we herald as a culture (think Van Gogh, Mucha) those are all people who made painting a priority. They were people just like you & You could be that person too. It's all in your drive.