SketchUp vs. Hand Drawing? Learn Both!

Designers are becoming more familiar with the benefits of visualizing with Google SketchUp models and many are losing sight of hand drawing as an important tool in the design communication process. I’m an advocate of LEARNING BOTH HAND DRAWING AND 3D COMPUTER MODELING - with an understanding about when to use each option for any given project. The visual exercise below shows a pair of sketches that I recently created for an urban design project request for qualifications. Our team photographed different buildings in the site area and I then generated some quick “overlay and trace” sketches showing a before-and-after view of how the buildings could be redeveloped. I printed the digital photos on letter sized paper, traced over them in red pencil and completed the pen and ink line work and marker color in about 30 minutes each.

THEN, out of curiosity, I took the same photograph and built a SketchUp model (I stopped after about 30 minutes of modeling) of the new building using Photo Match. The results were very similar between my hand drawing (pure guessing on the perspective) and the SketchUp model. Which is a better approach?

Neither!  It all depends on who your audience is, time, level of design accuracy and where you are in the process. AS A DESIGNER - IT'S YOUR DECISION!

Original Digital Photograph. 

Hand Drawing - traced over a print of the photo, drawn with a Pentel Sign Pen on trace and colored with Chartpak AD markers. Total time: 30 minutes.

Google Sketchup Model - created using Photo Match as a comparison to the perspective I created in the hand drawing. There is a slight difference in the window pattern but otherwise is quite close to the sketch.  It took 30 minutes to build the SketchUp model to this rough level of detail, which could easily be traced and integrated into a hand drawing. 

Original Digital Photograph.

Hand Drawing - traced over a print of the photo, drawn with a Pentel Sign Pen on trace and colored with Chartpak AD markers. Total time: 30 minutes.

If you would like to see more examples of creating SketchUp models and Overlay and Trace drawings, look for other related articles on my blog, visit my website www.drawingshortcuts.com and read my new book Drawing Shortcuts Second Edition.