Architectural Sketching/Rendering Techniques BAC Architectural Sketching/Rendering Techniques

The Nature of COLOR Color is a visual reaction to a light source. An illusion of the senses. The “True color” of an object can only be seen accurately by sunlight or its equivalent, since sunlight contains all colors of the spectrum. Black is not a color, it’s the absence of color.

…color Primary Colors -Subtractive mix (pigments) - The color wheel can be constructed our of three basic colors or hues: Red, Blue, and Yellow. The sum of primaries= black Primary Colors -Additive mix- The color wheel can be constructed out of three basic colors: Cyan, Magenta, and light yellow. The sum of primaries= White

…color Secondary colors: the result of the addition of two primary colors Complementary color: The opposite color in the color wheel has the property of balancing the first Hue: The definition of the color. Example: blue, red, orange. Value: The scale of darkness Chroma or tint: The saturation of the color

Value Grayscale Value has visual “weight”

Value Grayscale Value has visual “weight”

Art Elements Line –do not define lines = Line –do not define lines Space –Empty space counts as visual weight Color –limit palette Volume –equal weight Background Mid-ground Empty space Isolation creates focus of Attention =visual weight Angled chair in foreground creates depth

Depth Foreground Mid-ground Background

Composition All images are essentially arrangement of lights and darks, or linear arrangements You cannot avoid making your subject a tonal statement or a linear statement Or both Line is contour Tone is form, space and the third dimension

Formal Composition

Informal Composition

Informal Composition Applied

A Rendering Put to the test

Watercolor Techniques Wet on wet – essential for skies- wet paper, wet brush Dry brush – Do not pre-wet paper, only dip color in brush

Image reference –wet on wet

Image Reference -Dry Brush

Combined Wet and Dry

Skies and trees Use a sponge with dissolved pigment to wet a sky, lift some areas with a tissue for clouds effect Suggest bark of the tree, do now draw it, the least definition and more suggestion, the best. Apply green strokes to suggest trees by pressuring and lifting bamboo brush off he paper. Always combine different hues of green and yellow for leaves

Acrylic Paint With Artist Knife Use of spatula and acrylic paint

Charcoal

Ink Rendering

3 Renderings One Theme pen & ink charcoal pen & ink with watercolor

Freehand Photoshop Image Rendering

To remember A bad sketch can be improved with color An excellent sketch can be DESTROYED with color Do not “finish” your work Limit your palette Use the white of the paper Cast shadows are darker than object shadows Do not use black, use ultramarine blue Start with the lighter color and work your way to darker hues Work from background to foreground Mountains are always blue (its an atmosphere effect)

The 12 rules of watercolor rendering Select point of interest Select mood (warm or cool) depending on time of the day Choose a limited palette (no more than 6 colors, ideally 4 or 5) Find your light source (where is the light coming from?) Background mid-ground and foreground in that order Apply a base color, the lightest chroma of your main hue (leave white highlights unpainted) Apply darker chroma to designated spaces (do not abuse it, keep it transparent) Do details effects (suggest a little, do not paint an entire brick wall, suggest a few bricks only) Balance it out with trees and people. Scale creates perspective & dimensional reference A watercolor should take minutes to complete, (it dries fast), work at 45 degree angle for fluid control It’s a reference, not a masterpiece, its documentative, not anatomical. Capture the gist of the scene! PRACTICE

Materials for watercolors (essentials) 140lb Hot or cold press watercolor paper (cold press is more grainy –more textured) Bamboo brushes (they can produce any width of line by applying pressure on paper) Small Large Very fine (for details) Square brush for sky or wide areas Use animal hair brushes, they hold more liquid. Never leave a brush inside water (it widens the brush like a fan) Spray bottle (to work wet-on-wet) Salt for sand effect Napkins tissue Natural sponge (for clouds) Masking tape Tooth brush (to spatter on trees and/or create sand effect or rocks, also can be used to suggest brick, or other grainy materials

Charcoal Work Charcoal is a media that captures the quality of light Types or charcoal: Vine stick or compressed: vine for gesture drawing soft compressed for volume studies Apply a layer of tone and work your way to light Apply darker tone in deep shadowed areas

Artist Knife and Acrylic Paint Work Use a small spatula for detail A large spatula for larger areas Be sure to have enough paint in the edge Use the edge for lines

Ink Work Crosshatching Technique Bamboo Brush Technique Technical pen Bamboo Brush Technique Brush, ink stick and grinder Scribbling technique Technical pen or fine brush

Book references The Watercolourists Guide to Painting Buildings -Richard Taylor (This book is the best of its kind, architecture illustrations with an “unfinished” touch that emphasizes suggesting rather than detailing) Architectural Drawing Course –Mo Zell (This book is a good reference for different rendering techniques both free-hand and computer based)