Rendering practice and Photoshop tutorials

As mentioned in my last post I wanted to explore how I would render the trees in my plan.  I tried several different medias including water colours, marker pens, coloured pencils, chalks, oil pastels and more. I then scanned these into my laptop and placed them into photoshop where I experimented with filters, the rubber tool and opacity levels.

This tree has been made by using water colours, then adding a filter. The lighter areas of the tree have been made by turning the opacity of the rubber (not the layer) to around 12% and slowly clicking the areas I wanted lighter as by using a lower opacity it allowed me to build up the lightness I wanted.

I applied this same technique for the second set of trees but instead of using water colours I used coloured pencils, although I think I may have to a add a bit more tone to these.

After this I wanted to explore different ways I could show more texture in my plan and found a really good website that gives tutorials on how to add texture in Photoshop. The first tutorial was about creating a concrete like texture which I was thinking about using for the paths in my design and the second taught me how to make stone textures, I thought this may come in useful as my design includes stone and rocks however I don’t know how I can use this yet but still interesting to learn.

1:200 crit

Just a quick recap on how my 1:200 crit went.  I think the crit went quite well overall with a lot of good feedback.  

Plan

We were asked to bring in both are 1:500 and 1:200 plans, mainly to see how our plans and ideas for the site have changed. The main change I have made to my site is the change in level for the cycle path as originally in the 1:500 I had it at the same level but I felt that the cycle path should be kept separate so that cyclist have a certain area and won’t interfere with other users.  To reinforce it being separate from the main pedestrian part of the promenade I decided to change the level of it, as a result this led to steps being added and along with that planted steps. Other changes were including rock boulders for seating to provide an informal area that could also be climbed, which would appeal to my chosen concept of playful. I also decided to have some of the mounds completely planted to add further interest and colour from the planting.

Feed Back

The main focus on the feedback

·         Rendering needed to be slightly lighter

·         Needs to include section lines and direction of view

·         Annotation

·         Shadows on mounds to show there three dimensional aspect and also to keep them from fading into the back ground

·         Include trees and the shadows

On this plan I have looked at shadows on the mounds and it really does make the mounds stand out and show there three dimensional aspect. Currently on this plan the trees are missing as im still working on the best way for me to render them but I’ll post the new plan when I have chosen how I want to render them along with the trials.

Sections

The four sections I drew for this crit were two at 1:100 both going from the road to the beach front as showing context is really important in all aspects of our drawings. The other two were at 1:50 and showed areas that showed more design detail. For the sections I wanted to try section elevations i think they work well and served as a good first attempt.

Feed Back

The main focus on the feedback

·         Needs a heavier ground line

·         Annotation too heavy

·         Add the level information

·         Condense length of labels

·         Make backgrounds lighter

·         Add more people

·         Smaller scale bar

Sequential Sketches

For the sequential sketches I wanted to use a mix of hand rendering and computer rending using Photoshop.  I wanted my sketches to be colourful and fun and to show a lot of people using the site and the different ways the site can be enjoyed so that the playful concept is reinforced throughout.

Feed Back

The main focus on the feedback

·   Sketches show lots of character but need to be spatially descriptive

·         Too big need to be smaller so all eight fit on a page

·         Possibly look at lightening the sky

·         Keep the edges crisp

·         Visuals work if reduced but the text is all over the place

·         Use the opacity tool more

·         Show the sequence of the sketches on the a plan

Overall I think this particular crit has been one of the most important for me as I feel that I have now developed a style that I like, however it still needs to be refined.