Snapped a picture of a Tibouchina urvilleana on a neighborhood walk and then decided to sketch it. I love the look of the dark river rock and the fallen purple petals.
Visualizing with SketchUp
Still thinking about visualizing. I do like 3D scenes in SketchUp. It’s nice to have a but of that realistic texturing and the rendered shadows are super nice as well. In my own hand drawings I tend to not put those dramatic shadows in because I worry about ruining the drawing. :D
I think one of my annoyances with SketchUp is just have to do with finding the right plant objects to use. If a picture looks fairly realistic the plants need to be pretty darn close the actual plant being spec’ed in the plan otherwise homeowners get confused. With a hand-drawing you can just be like, “oh yeah, this is an artistic rendition”.
Again, these are not my design they are from the wonderful Susan at Garden Alchemy.
Oh, yeah, I also created that metal hoop sculpture you see in the photos in SketchUp and you can find it in the 3D Warehouse and use it if you want to!
Visualizing Designs
I’m imagining that everyone has their own work flow for creating client visuals. I love 3D and, in fact, have a degree in 3D Animation and Computer Modeling (or something along those lines… it’s been a long time). Making 3D renderings look good is fairly time consuming and I often don’t love the final product. The time consuming part is what is important here though, I’m not sure your small to mid sized residential projects will want to pay for that time. The GOAL of these visuals is to help the client imagine their space and maybe it doesn’t have to super elaborate and 100% perfect and I need to remember that.
Right now I am using SketchUp. It’s good enough but I do still love that hand-drawn look. Lately I have been rendering a line drawing in SketchUp and then coloring over it. Here is an uncolored example.
Firepit with shrubs
Same view but with different plants and chairs.
And a color example. The color on this scan came out a tad weird but you can see how I go about making a test drawing and trying out markers.
I print out several and then us AD Markers to color. I do love to color!
My current process:
Create basic SketchUp model and use one of the sketch filters. Create several views and print them out.
Draw in the plants - sometimes I draw directly on to the print out and sometimes I do a more elaborate dance with tracing paper, rescanning, color adjusting in Photoshop but honestly that takes way longer.
Choose a coloring medium - I have been using AD Markers lately but sometimes I use colored pencils. I would love to do watercolor. One of the joys of watercolor is how fast and blendable they are. I have not really worked out HOW to do this yet though. I don’t think my printer will work even wth the flimsiest watercolor paper. I could trace the drawing on but haven’t tried that yet. Something to work on, I guess!
Then scan, color correct, and done!
I don’t have my own clients yet but I get to color other peoples designs and I freaking love it.
The above landscape designs are by Susan of Garden Alchemy.
Color Blobs
If I’m not feeling inspired to draw/paint anything in particular I like to just play around with color. Sometimes I even just paint circles of single colors. It helps that my paint of choice, Daniel Smith watercolors, has such amazing vibrant pigments. A mistake I see people make is buying student grade watercolors. ALWAYS buy artist grade. I don’t care if they are more expensive! Even if you can only buy your warm and cool primaries artist grade is the way to go.
The SF Wave Organ
My sister and I jaunted over to SF to visit the Wave Organ in January, sketchbooks and coffees in hand. How had I never been here? All the years I was living in SF and specifically exploring everything I could and I somehow never ended up here. Anyway, I went now and it was a beautiful winter day with the sun shining. It was so nice to just sit and draw in my sketchbook listening to the waves and people and sea gulls.
Sun shining on an open sketchbook with a pen and green pencil. There is a pen drawing of the wave organ in the sketchbook
The sculpture was delightfully like an ancient ruin. I do love a good ruin. A real ruin not to miss is the Sutro Baths. I go there all the time and I should post some pics of that landscape.
This wave organ is a sound sculpture made from reused items including stones from an old cemetery. I love that and it makes for some very interesting sculptural stone work. The actual organ pipes are PVC and concrete. I think it sounds kind of like rubber bands!
Panorama picture with a woman with purple hair pointing a camera , the Golden Gate Bridge in teh background, the smooth waters of the San Francisco Bay and then some palm trees and a sea wall on the right.
Trees for Children's Play Environments
So plant ID classes can be very challenging. I’ve got some brain differences, including mild dyslexia, and memorizing a ton of plant names AND how to spell them is almost prohibitively impossible.
I’ve managed to soldier through life and all previous plant ID classes fairly well until taking Tree ID last semester. My LAST plant ID class required for me to graduate. I swear this one upset me so much because some large percentage of the grade was going to be on SPELLING. Spelling!!?
One of the grand things about life today is that there is the internet (a series of tubes) and spell check. Dyslexic people every where rejoice! Anyway. I have a Fine Art degree! Don’t ask me to spell!
For my final project for that class I had to get away from things I am bad at that make me feel terrible and like I am failing in 3rd grade again and get back to things I am good at, like illustration. I decided that illustrating a bunch of beautiful trees would sooth my fevered soul.
And, to make it more complicated (hello ADD), I thought it would be cool to turn those illustrations in to a book. Of course, I did not complete the project. I completed enough for the class but not quite enough to finish the actual book. I used Blurb to layout and print the book even though it wasn’t finished. I can finish it another time, right?!
Here are a few of the illustrations. I drew the whole tree and then a detail.
The Blurb software is called BookSmart and it’s … just okay. The final printed book is a little paperback and is so cute!
Here is the cover and some layouts
Little Free Libraries
Little Free Libraries are small personally managed 'take a book or leave a book' libraries. They are usually adorable. You can look at their Flickr gallery to see some examples of the awesomeness that people create.If you want to have your library registered and affiliated with the site you need to pay a small fee. They send you an official plaque and list your library on their map so people can find you.I would like to make mine with a green roof! I am not a builder type though and have no tools. I have a couple of friends who are and I plan on commissioning them to make this for me.
Here is my final concept:
Soft ideas, soft lines; hard ideas, hard lines
Design concepts - The Six Courtyard Houses
The Six Courtyard Houses were designed by Ibarra Rosano Design Architects in Arizona.This archdaily.com article has images and plan views. I'm not familiar with the climate in Arizona. I must say that I wouldn't want to live in the landscape pictured for these houses. It's a bit.. stark and exposed.What was the thought process for it? "I would like there to be a big central platform viewable from every window in the house. Plus, three plants." heeheee. I kid! Or do I?I'm more of a Secret Garden' kinda gal. But I want to learn more about this starker more modern/contemporary style. This Pintrest Board has tons of great examples.Various design concept sketches.I need to pick one to develop further. 1, 6 or 2?
Color and Pattern Studies
Progressive School Natural Playscape - Stage One
This is a great project off to a great start. Stage One has been completed with much community help and the kids have been having a blast exploring it.This is an under used area at a progressive private school (grades K-8). K and 1st grade teachers have requested this area be transformed in to Create with Nature and natural playscape area.After meetings with the teachers and Landscape Committee I came up with a fun plan that can be completed in various stages as budget become available
Teacher Requests- Largish circle of stumps (in combo w/ plants) to enclose the Create With Nature Zone- Create ‘Storage Library’ for loose parts and tools - organized baskets of materials- Ability to take over that whole space - involves moving nursery area- Moving the mulch pile over- Barriers to keep kids out of parking area and out from under delicate oaks- Incorporation of other play elements -- Water, Playhouse, Interesting plants, PathwaysZones- Create with Nature Zone - Enclosed by plants and stumps, inside are some movable stumps and some larger immovable stumps to build on- Loose Parts Library - Includes wicker baskets, wine crates or other containers with well organized loose parts- Mulch Mountain - Large persistent pile of mulch to be replaced as it breaks down or is used elsewhere- River Bed - Includes child friendly hand pump to access water, water flows into basins or sluice and down into dry river bed w/ bridge for crossing- Pathways - Mulch pathways, include two clear entrances, pavers under oaks through plantings, pavers for a curvy path leading to living willow tunnel- Barriers - Natural fencing (willow or branches) along parking area, low mosaic seating wall at south edge, under oak plantings- Playhouse - Small 3 sided playhouse made from natural materials - willow or branchesStage 1 - Oct 6th - Main goal is to build Create with Nature Zone and Library of loose parts.Stump circle - Arrange and dig stumps as we have into largish area surrounding treeLibrary - Low, kid accessible shelves for storing baskets of loose partsLoose parts - Tree cookies, tree blocks, smooth river stones, twigs, pinecones, bamboo pieces, interesting seed pods, any interesting plant materialTools - Small brooms, rakes, trowels[metaslider id=746]Next Stages:Stage 2: move mulch pile, create fencing along parking area, build willow/branch playhouseStage 3: plantings and pathwaysStage 4: incorporate water, boulders, watercourse and bridgeStage 5: K and 1st students create mosaic tiles, organize community mosaic buildAlso viewable on my Projects page!
Sketchbook - Fancy arbor
Cutleaf Geranium - weed - sketch
Sketching - From On High
A few sketches of the Bay and Oakland from vantage point in the hills.
Sketching - Wood
