Tree render?

Thought I would experiment with my pens for the next quick skills task. I had another go at rendering a tree to try and evolve my skills and techniques.

I tried layering colours in different directions and found going vertically looked the best. I preferred the initial sketch to the final outcome though.

Second image render

For our second Photoshop rendering excercise we had to create our own images. We were given a plan which we had to recreate in a 3D modeling program. 3 perspective views were needed as well as an axonermetric and an isonometric. I traced the views using a black pen making sure to close the lines then scanned them into photoshop.

I went down the realistic route and used a photo of the sky, hedges, people and grass. The trees were inputted using a render filter on Photoshop. The issue with this is that the images are available to everyone so the pictures could look similar and unoriginal. I think I will experiment with different sketch styles and try to develop my own style more after doing this. This exercise has enabled me to practice with creating shadows which means I am now able to spend less time on them as I know what i'm doing.

The grass and the sky in the image could be a little lighter to focus the picture more to the center. Adding more people will also help add to the perspective more giving a better idea of size. The views are also very similar so could be zoomed out a little to show more of the space.

Assumptions and a good brief

So we were asked to draw a rectangle and in it me must put a house, terrace, pool and orchard. I then proceeded to draw all of these things in my rectangle without thinking too much. Afterwards we were asked a few questions which we realised we had just assumed. Which way was north? Well I had assumed up but it wasn't specified. What was the scale of the area? I just made it up to fit the idea I had. What type of pool was it? I had drawn a swimming pool without even thinking.

This made me realise the importance of asking the right questions, collecting the right information and getting a good brief. Otherwise we could all end up assuming anything and get a design completely wrong.

First image render

Our first Photoshop image rendering task consisted of playing with bucket fill and the ponitilize filter. We were given two base plans and had to create a new layer for each colour (ground, trees, building). Once we had coloured a section, cut and pasted it in place to create the new layer we used the pointilize filter to give it a grainy effect.

The colours didn't need to be accurate as you can convey a design using any colour. However the colours I used were very dark and saturated so could be lighter.

This task was fairly easy but It took a while to fill every space on the drawing and then make it a new layer. I reduced the time a little by using a circular brush to colour the trees instead of filling them with the bucket tool. I then reduced the opacity.

Tree ideas

I realised the other day that my rendering is pretty rubbish so I have decided to research different techniques and experiment with them in my sketchbook. I started off with various plans of trees and added a few perspective views in between.

So I started by drawing a few circles in pencil with a compass to use as bases. I then went over with a black pen.

Now my first thoughts about these sketches were that I definitely need more practice but they were a good starting point. At this point I also realised you only need a couple of trees you are good at in a particular style and then just resize them as and when. I found that the simpler the design the better which also made them easier to colour.

Chaumont competition

So our first project for the year was a garden competition. We were split into 4 groups with 2 garden designers, 2 landscape architects and a part timer. The competition is based in Chaumont, France at the gardens there and the theme this year was extraordinary gardens.

We picked out some words from the brief and started down the collectors route. The idea about a flower press was batted about and in the end we went with it. First it started out as pressing being the method of collecting so we looked into old flower collectors and followed an older Victorian route. Large cabinets displaying rare and extraordinary plants were an idea followed by cabinets holding presses for the public to actually use. We realised ideally it wasn't possible to have presses for the public as it was costly and needed supervision. The cabinets were not exciting enough. I played with a few ideas of enlarging the press and using it as something else.

The first idea I had was to use the press as a walkway with a giant printed/tiled flower on the base. The next was a slide to interest the visiting children. Finally the last sketch idea was make a seat out of the press.

Underneath was an idea to enlarge a Wardian case for children to
enter and have an original case inside for them to
view with seating around the edge.

Eventually we decided against these and went with a more obsessive compulsive idea. By deconstructing the flower press we created rows of planting organised by colour. The plants were to sit in shelving units with perspex sheets enclosing them like the sheets of a press. At the center of the shelves would be a large bolt which some of the shelves would use to spin around creating an ever changing garden.

Above is my finished planting plan. I took on the planting plan as I saw it as an opportunity to further my plant knowledge and push myself. My plant knowledge is fairly poor considering everything I have learnt in my first two years so I really want to work to change that this year.

Using the swatch tool

 So this exercise was to help us explore the use of swatches. I made a black line trace of the paper model I used in the first Photoshop exercise to fill with the desired swatch. I also decided to use the colour swatches I had already scanned in.

I started by opening the colour image and choosing a colour. Next I used the marquee tool to select that area and created my swatch. By using the bucket fill tool I was able to fill the drawing with my swatch. By using different layers I was also able to change the opacity and brightness of different areas.

From this I realised that some areas are not compatible with becoming swatches as they are not smooth and the repetition can be seen which detracts from the image. In the future I will practice making more swatches and perfecting them so they are seamless.

Colours scanned and printed

Just a quick exercise to test the scanners and printers.

A lot of the time hand drawn/rendered work needs to be scanned in for computer editing or so it can be replicated (So you don't give away the original). However different scanners, copiers and printers recognise and print colours differently. This is why it is handy to have a record of the results of the machines you have access to.

Now I don't have a printer so I have used the library printers. I created two sheets of coloured swatches one on paper and one on trace. I then scanned the pictures in and got this result:

                   Paper scan                                                                                          Trace scan

Now the paper scanned pretty well and the colours matched almost perfectly however when printed from the scan the colours were less vibrant and a little washed out. Some of the lighter ones actually became quite pixelated as well. The straight copy came out better and wasn't pixelated. However I noticed that the brighter colours came out darker and the lighter colours came out, well, lighter.

The trace was pretty similar results wise. The straight copy produced better colours most similar to the original while the scan and copy produced pixleated swatches. Both of these prints gave out lighter and more washed out colors though.

A forgotten blog....

So I have slacked a little with posting since the last post...I will split up the next few posts to make it easier to read rather than one long post.

I will start with our first Photoshop work of the year. We were given two words then using a sheet of A3 cartridge paper we had to make a model in 5 minutes. A total of four models were created each and our favourite was chosen to photograph.

We were to explore size by showing the model at 3 different sizes and perspectives. I started by going small and decided on the model being a piece of art on a desk. This was the easiest one as it was a case of just resizing the image of the model.

I  decided I wanted the model to be the size of a person in the next image so I chose a gallery background where the display wall was fairly big. I actually added people to this one too so I could further enforce the scale. This took a little more time as the shadows of the model in the photo I took didn't match the picture so I had to remove them and add my own.

In the last image I went large and made the model a park installation that people could interact with. I had to change the shadows of the model in this image too so that took a little extra time. Again I added in some people to give a better idea of scale.

1st, 2nd, 3rd

So this is actually my second post but it is the first post of my third and final year of university. From now on I will be posting every week about the year ahead including work I create, trips taken, designers I look into and much more.

Now I am not very good at making a big deal of my work or showing it off unless I love it (which isn't often). I know this isn't great as a garden designer/artist or in fact any job so I hope this blog will help me gain some confidence for the years ahead. I will start this off by posting what I consider to be my best piece of visual work from last year and writing a reflective statement to go with it.

This is my planting strategy for a garden based on the Fibonacci sequence:

After looking through all my work I realised that I don't actually like most of it. I am pleased with the ideas but not the presentation or rendering. I have made note of that and hopefully I can improve during the year and maybe compare my work at the end of this year to last years.

This piece is colourful and I like it as it separates each zone separately with a different colour making it easy to see on the key. The photos are clear to see with occasional buzz words but overall I feel I could have written a little more to explain the page. Rather than align all the photos the same they are spaced artistically so your eyes are drawn around the page.