1. Architectural Sketching/Rendering Techniques
BAC
Architectural Sketching/Rendering
Techniques

2. 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.

3. …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

4. …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

5. Value
Grayscale
Value has visual “weight”

6. Value
Grayscale
Value has visual “weight”

7. 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

8. Depth
Foreground
Mid-ground
Background

9. 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

10. Formal Composition

11. Informal Composition

12. Informal Composition Applied

13. A Rendering Put to the test

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

15. Image reference –wet on wet

16. Image Reference -Dry Brush

17. Combined Wet and Dry

18. 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

19. Acrylic Paint With Artist Knife
Use of spatula and acrylic paint

20. Charcoal

21. Ink Rendering

22. 3 Renderings One Theme
pen & ink
charcoal
pen & ink with watercolor

23. Freehand Photoshop
Image
Rendering

24. 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)

25. 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

26. 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

27. 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

28. 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

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

30. 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)