Sketchbook
08/27/2010
Featured Architect and Artist: Karin Pitman
My friend and architect Karin Pitman, chair of the New Mexico Watercolor Society's Paint Out Committee recently organized a watercolor workshop at the historic Los Poblanos Farm in Albuquerque, NM. Choosing the Farm Shop building as a subject because of the architectural style, Karin did a basic ink sketch of the building and applied watercolor to document scenes in the method she had practiced in architecture. Later she showed her watercolor to the gentleman working in the shop who was visibly excited about it, saying "That's great, I should talk to my boss about having that made into cards to sell at our store." Following up with additional sketch/paintings of the various farm facilities, her creative excursion led to the Farm Shop agreeing to buy 100 sets of cards!
Karin researched how to print, package and label the cards, and in a fun way has discovered an alternate business to her architectural practice. Pitman plans to packaged her eight watercolors in sets of 5x7 blank cards sold for approximately $25/set. The originals were created on 140# watercolor paper with a permanent ink marker. Printing 250 sets is more economical and Karin plans to explore alternate sales avenues for the remainder of the cards on her soon-to-be-created website and to her family, friends and colleagues.
This was the first sketch/watercolor that Karen created the day of the paint out. It is ink with an archival Faber Castell S marker on 5.5 x 8.5 Canson 140# paper (Montvai Aquarelle/Acuarela) 
This was another sketch she did on location during a later visit. The sketch was drawn on location. Watercolor was added in her studio from reference photos. 
This drawing represented the character of the farm one sees from the entry drive. It was done from a photograph taken during a followup visit to the farm. Although it wasn't a recommended subject, the Farm Shop manager was delighted when Karin showed him the completed painting.
This painting was create from one of many reference photographs Karin took of the Farm Shop and tractor. Visitors and children typically have their picture taken with the tractor, so a painting of the scene was recommended by the Farm Shop manager, especially in context with the building architecture.
Although Karin really liked the this older abandoned building at the farm, this was initially one of her least favorite scenes. To improve the composition, Karin photographed some of the farm animals and added a chicken to the foreground!
This watercolor was of the Activity Center, designed by architect John Gaw Meem in the classic New Mexican Territorial style. The framing of the building entry by the garden elements in the foreground helped to convey the garden setting of the building while adding depth to the drawing.
Although Karin typically sketches directly with marker, she chose to block out the perspective in light pencil (eventually erased) before adding the ink lines. This courtyard area is on the inside of the Activity Center.
This final image was created from a number of photographs. The Farm Shop manager had requested a drawing of the lotus pond and of San Ysidro the patron saint of the farmers (the wood figure in the background). He also wanted to see the large pink-tipped lotus flowers, which weren't visible in this particular view of the pond. The statue was hard to see behind foliage and new construction so Karin modified all of the elements to create a better composition compared to the original photos.If you would like to see more examples of how to create Watercolors, look for other related articles on my blog, visit my website www.drawingshortcuts.com and read my new book Drawing Shortcuts Second Edition.
07/17/2010
Drawing Pens and Their Characteristics
I’ve been asked many times about which pens are the best to draw with and I always have the same answer - draw with whatever pen feels good to you and fits with the type of drawing you are producing. Drawing in a sketchbook might require a finer point pen that glides quickly on paper, or sketching a quick concept on trace paper would dictate a broad tipped pen with a more gestural quality. Your choice of pen depends on the material you are drawing on, whether or not you are adding color marker to the original pen drawing, timing, level of detail and much more. Here are a few simple tips that may help you understand more about the pens I use and ones I recommend not using.
The pens shown above are both permanent and non-permanent pens. Permanent ink pens (1, 2) have an alcohol based ink formula and the non-permanent ink pens (3, 4, 5, 6) have a water based ink formula.
1. Sharpie Ultra Fine Point (permanent ink pen) - is found in office supply stores but NOT a good pen to use because of a slight bluish tint of the ink, unusual chemical smell and tendency to not be archival over time (I don’t use this pen for any drawing).
2. Staedtler Lumocolor 318 (permanent ink pen) - is a great pen for drawing on mylar, quick drying, ultra black ink and lightfast. I love working with the ‘F’ or ‘S’ pen types.
3. Pentel Sign Pen (water based ink pen) - is my favorite all around broad tipped sketching and concept development pen. Broad felt tip, ultra black ink, fat body easy to hold.
4. Pilot Fineliner Pen (water based ink pen) - is my favorite all around fine point drawing pen. Fine felt tip, ultra black ink, refills quickly while drawing at fast speeds.
5. Pilot Razor Point Pen (water based ink pen) - isn’t my choice for all around sketching due to a slightly blue tint to the ink and slow refilling characteristics when quickly sketching.
6. Pilot Precise V7 Rolling Ball Pen (water based ink pen) - available everywhere and a great sketching pen on bond paper. Does not perform well on trace as it dries slowly and can smudge.
Pen comparison on trace. These four quick sketches were drawn with pens outlined above. Note that the Pentel Sign Pen has a much fatter line width. The three others have an equal line width and character. There was minor smudging from the Pilot Rolling Ball pen due to its slow drying time.
Water based ink lines and spilled coffee don’t mix well!
Don’t mix Chartpak AD markers with permanent ink pens! This test clearly illustrates that when you color directly onto original linework with alcohol based markers, your lines must be drawn with a water based pen (drawing on the left). The drawing on the right, created with a permanent ink pen (alcohol based ink), shows how the chemicals in the marker melts and smudges the original linework.
I encourage experimenting with various pen products and on different materials. If you would like to learn more about drawing with pens, visit my website www.drawingshortcuts.com and pick up my new book Drawing Shortcuts Second Edition.
07/10/2010
How to Draw People
Many architects and designers are terrified to draw people. You have probably seen numerous renderings of buildings with minimal entourage and not a person in sight. The reason is that many designers have a perception that if the figures aren’t illustrated perfectly, they shouldn’t be in the drawing at all. Here are three simple tips for drawing people and putting the needed character, humanity and scale into drawings.
Draw Small People. As a rule, size all of the people in your drawings no taller than 1.5 inches. Many background people can be half that height and quickly drawn as simple animated shapes. Detail is minimal, faces are probably not illustrated and clothing is kept simple.
Trace From Other Sources. If you cannot draw a figure from imagination, trace it from a photograph, recycle a figure from a previous drawing or incorporate a computer generated figure. I have a collection of figures from SketchUp that I commonly use to trace from. Take digital photos of people in a shopping mall or a retail street and begin your own collection of people images to trace from.
Populate Your Drawing. Don’t be afraid to add groups of people to your drawing. As a rule, I tend to populate my drawings with no less than ten people. I will double that count for drawings of street scenes with shopping activities. Now take a second look at all of the above drawings and imagine what they would look like if all of the people were removed from them - quite a different scene!
If you would like to learn more about how to draw people, visit my website www.drawingshortcuts.com and pick up my new book Drawing Shortcuts Second Edition.
06/29/2010
Mixed Media Drawing: Pen Lines + Pencil Tones
Most of my drawings are created either with pencil linework or with pen and ink. I have on occasion combined the two into drawings with great results. Why merge pen and pencil? Pen linework can convey precision and detail but limited tonal quality. Pencil offers a great range of tonal variation but may not have crisp line characteristics. By combining the linework from a pen and the soft hatching from a pencil, the result is an interesting hybrid drawing. Below are examples of some very detailed drawings using this mixed media approach.
North African Theme. This image included a series of vignettes showing graphic details and patterns as inspiration for an interior design project.
Architectural Detail. This comical drawing shows detailed residential designs for an imaginary themed neighborhood. Which house would you like to live in?
Renovation Project. The pen linework captured all of the facade detail while the pencil tone created the mood. I added color pencil to emphasize the remodel potential of the building.
Multiple Sports Activities. This very detailed look into an imaginary indoor sports facility was drawn with a technical pen and a soft graphite pencil to add the tone.
To learn more about drawing with pens and pencils, visit Jim’s website www.drawingshortcuts.com and pick up his new book Drawing Shortcuts Second Edition.
NEW Summer Drawing Workshop! Jim and Daniel Tal are offering a 3-day SketchUp + Drawing Workshop July 22-24, 2010 in Denver. Click here for details about this continuing education opportunity!
06/22/2010
Best Sketchbook Drawings: Terry Brown, FAIA
I spent some time with my talented architect friend Terry Brown, FAIA last week at the AIA National Convention in Miami. He has filled many sketchbooks with pen and ink drawings created during his professional and personal travels. Several of Terry’s sketchbook drawings are featured in my latest book. I took a few “over the shoulder” photos of him while we were waiting for a lecture to begin and wanted to share some of his fabulous images with you. I especially love the sketch he made of Mesa Verde!
Visit Jim’s website www.drawingshortcuts.com and pick up his new book Drawing Shortcuts Second Edition.
NEW Summer Drawing Workshop! Jim and Daniel Tal are offering a 3-day SketchUp + Drawing Workshop July 22-24, 2010 in Denver. Click here for details about this continuing education opportunity!
