28 search results for " James Richards "

To be a successful landscape architect, one has to possess multiple qualities. The way to success is always pursued by three basic factors – the ideas we have, the persistence to realize them, and the way we present (or sell) them. Those three things go hand in hand. It’s not enough just to have good ideas. Almost every person has good ideas. But the difference between the good professional and the average one, is that the good landscape architect has the full package. He has ideas, knows how to present them, and is persistent. In this article, we will focus on the third part of the design process – how we illustrate our design concepts and why is the way we do it so crucial? If a designer generates original ideas but doesn’t display them in an attractive way, he will be wasting efforts, time, and money. If another designer doesn’t have marvelous ideas, just decent ones but is able to create a mind-blowing illustration of them, which one, you think, will gain more? After clarifying the significance of designers’ presentation skills, let’s discuss the two most popular graphic techniques for Landscape architects.

Hand Drawing versus Computer Rendering

Hand Drawing Although the majority of designers nowadays prefer computer rendering, hand drawing is still very much alive and kicking. It remains the most fluent and unhindered way to transmit what is in designer’s imagination to the physical world.

Pros: 1. Closest to your initial idea Sketches and hand drawings are the fastest medium through which you can deliver your concepts on a sheet of paper. As creative personalities, landscape architects know that inspiration doesn’t always give a notion when it arrives. That’s why, if you don’t have the intention of becoming Michelangelo, you should at least try to sketch – to feature your primary ideas. This is how you will stay closest to what only your imagination can create. 2. Gives you freedom and creativity Perhaps everyone will agree that your hand is the tool which gives you limitless freedom when drawing. There’s no computer that will let you do exactly the same sketch like the one done by your hand. Sketching also allows you to prepare numerous versions of your concept very fast, and then to decide which one to develop. Thus, you train and improve your creativity. 3. Develops your analytical skills To visualize your design plans, a great attention to detail should be considered. Shapes, materials, vegetation… A landscape architect should study profoundly the nature of each object in a scene. How those objects interact, reflect light, cast shadows – all those things must be observed and analyzed by the designer. Drawing teaches you both – to observe and to think. Cons: Besides all the advantages of sketching, there are certain offsets going along. 1. Paper can be damaged easily You should be extremely precise while drawing on paper. Erasing a mistake from a sheet is much harder than clicking the undo button. Paper can also be unintentionally stained or moistened. 2. Only one original of your work As an artist, you spend hours and efforts to create your perfect visualization. Although you get paid for your work, you give away your only original, which isn’t a pleasant feeling at all. The Golden Mean Before exploring how the other way of visualizing works, let’s take a look at one medial method – using a graphics tablet. This instrument of illustration can be defined as a combination of hand drawing and computer rendering, as it creates hand-drawn images, in a way similar to a person who draws images with pencil and paper. Still, the computer facilitates the process and the final result differs a lot from authentic hand drawing. Computer Rendering Now that we reached the subject on computer rendering, it’s time to mark the pros and cons of it. Pros: 1. Saves your time for a number of reasons This is the greatest advantage of all the computer programs you use. Although it takes time to study how to use certain software, the time you waste while studying it will be compensated later in your daily work. You won’t waste time calculating measurement, you won’t have to analyze how to draw a scene because the computer will do that for you. Furthermore, while your computer is rendering, you are free to start another project or spend that time in another useful way. 2. Better accuracy No matter how precise you are when drawing, a computer will always win the battle with the human hand. Designers who draw by hand are often tempted to “measure by eye”, which leads to mistakes and bad final results. 3. More opportunities When you draw, you can hardly escape from your style. Although this could be a plus for your reputation, sometimes it may tip the balance in the wrong direction and make your works look all the same. The plethora of 2D and 3D graphic programs offers a plenty of filters and effects, which allow you to try and apply various styles to your projects. Related Articles: 

• Digital Drawing for Landscape Architecture, second edition | Book Review
• Top 10 YouTube Tutorials for Technical Drawing
• Freehand Drawing & Discovery by James Richards | Book Review

Cons: Like hand drawing, computer rendering has its shortcoming too. 1. Licensed versions require resources The greatest disadvantage of computer programs is that licensed versions have their price. Although there are free demo versions, they often process slowly and lack a part of the tools and libraries, which licensed programs have. 2. Misleading clients Subconsciously or not, designers tend to carry away with the effects they use in visualizations. Too much exaggeration could result in misunderstandings with clients, who expect that the realization will look just like the scene you showed.

Hand Drawing or Computer Rendering? Hand drawing and computer rendering are both important. A landscape architect should know how to use a pencil, as well as he should move with the times and keep up with the current technologies. Ultimately, there’s no matter which method you decide to choose. Just make sure you give prominence to the one that gives you more pleasure and master it until you know you are the best at it.

Recommended Reading:

• Drawing and Designing with Confidence: A Step-by-Step Guide by Mike W. Lin
• Landscape Perspective Drawing by Nicholas T. Dines

Article by Velislava Valcheva

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This week’s Sketchy Saturday top 10. This week’s Sketchy Saturday top 10 is as electrifying as ever. However with such a diverse range, one does have to question – “How do we put the various styles up against each other and choose a top 10? It’s not easy, mind you, but let’s start by looking at the name “Sketchy Saturday“, the key word is “Sketchy” and preference will always be given to work with a high sketchlike presence and raw style as opposed to the more refined rendered types. However with such a diversity of style and no control over who enters on what week, keeping a level of consistency in the judging process is a challenge in itself, and sometimes the sketchy entries are swamped by the more refined styles. This week we achieved a good balance between the raw sketches and the more artistic entries. Enjoy this week’s Sketchy Saturday top 10! 10. by Anastasia B. Uli, University of Florida, Urban Designer at Florida Community Design Center, Gainesville, FL

“I love to draw, paint and sketch, especially combining the reality and imagination. I call it Realistic-Comical. This drawing ” The Stitch at Animal Kingdom, Orlando, FL” was done in less than 45 minutes. I always set the time limit to practice my sketching ability. The sketch was made using ink and pencil (Color) technique on canvas canson paper”. 9. by Andi Papastefani, Boston, MA, USA. student (graduate candidate) of Landscape Institute of the Boston Architectural College “This sketch is part of a proposal for a Front Garden for a new small villa (Villa XLT) to the owner and to her architect. This Front Garden is designed in cottage style, aiming to create a joyful entrance to this small contemporary villa. Villa XLT is designed by Skender Luarasi, architect and it is built in Tirana, Albania near Dajti mountain. In the design of this front garden Mediterranean shrubs are used, along with small trees and grasses. The introduction of a water feature near the donkey steps makes the entrance to the villa more pleasant. The drawing technique for this presentation is color pencils and watercolor”. 8. by Vanessa Marques de Souza, BH- MG – Brazil Architecture, Interior Architecture, Landscape and Urban Planning Student “Motivation/reason for making the sketch: ( I made those sketches for my LA studio at KSU). Style in which the sketch is made: ( All are freehand drawings). Location: ( Leadership Building, Kansas State University – campus Manhattan). The material used: ( graffiti and Ink)”. 7. by Jack Tremblay, Landscape Architect, USA “It’s been a while since I drew this. It was for the school or the architect, not sure. Either way it was used for sales promotion. It was straight technical pen on mylar”. 6. by Camille Briez Chauvey “Concerning This Sketch: It’s an atmospheric sketch to illustrate the Garden of ‘hotel De Sambucy’ In Millau – France. Which, I used ink (rotring ) And Graph’it markers for the shadows”. 5. by  Dinu Marian Alexandru , student University of Arhitecture and Urbanism Ion Mincu Bucharest , Romania “This is an exercise in inner perspective, made in two complementary colors and marked by the presence of Mr. Mies van der Rohe: D”. 4. by Peter Bonette “This represents a new entry portal to an existing amenity space or courtyard. The drawing is on trace using a marker and colored pencil”. Drawing Related Articles: 

• Freehand Drawing & Discovery by James Richards | Book Review
• Digital Drawing for Landscape Architecture, second edition | Book Review
• Top 10 YouTube Tutorials for Technical Drawing

3. by Eirini Mouka, master’s degree student of Landscape Architecture, at Neapolis University of Pafos, Cyprus. “I am a Landscape Architect from Greece and now I’m doing my master’s study in the Neapolis University of Pafos, in Cyprus. This sketch was made for a school project, in order to learn how to observe and note the elements of famous historical gardens. Firstly I drew it with pencil and then with a pen. It shows some site views from “Patio de Los Naranjos”, a great historical court in Cordoba, Spain”. 2. by Karl Bergot, an Interior designer specialized in high end residences for Middle east “This is the first proposal for the guest house of a quite huge villa in Dubai. The techniques are hand sketch perspective and then after scanning inlays of photoshop to improve ambient in drawing”. 1. by Pablo Saiz del Rio, Architecture student, Spain “I believe in drawing as a way of performing what each one is capable of imagining. Although photography helps in showing a more generic vision, through each stroke of the pencil it is showing the true intention of the architect, your own expression”. – That’s this week’s Sketchy Saturday Top 10, congratulations to all of you who featured, you have come out on top of a very talented bunch of people. Check out the Sketchy Saturday official Facebook album and see literally 1,000′s of incredible sketches! Follow all the winning entries on our dedicated Sketchy Saturday Pinterest page. If you want to take part send your entries to us at office@landarchs.com Recommended reading:

• Sketching from the Imagination: An Insight into Creative Drawing by 3DTotal
• Architectural Drawing Course by Mo Zell

Article by Scott D. Renwick Return to Homepage

This week’s Sketchy Saturday top 10. Welcome to this week’s exciting edition of Sketchy Saturday. This week’s sketches may have been the toughest in our Sketchy Saturday history to judge the top 10. There is a fine line between what is excellent work and what is suitable for Sketchy Saturday. With Sketchy Saturday we always stretch the definition of the word sketch and display some questionable entries, but we’re always searching for a high raw element to the work and a direct relevance to landscape architecture. Enjoy this week’s Sketchy Saturday top 10! 10. by Luna Refaie , (Architect) , Jordan  

“Our earth is getting covered with buildings , Every small empty space is being built without consideration for the outdoor spaces. We became imprisoned in our houses, We started mentioning the parks, plazas and outdoor spaces as a memory in history. Our planet is crying for missing water features and the green color penetrating our cities and neighborhoods.” Utopia is the name which I would like to give for this sketch. This Utopia is located in The Middle east. – Material used : Watercolours on Fabriano Size A3.” 9. by Sahra Stolz, Master of Architecture, University of Melbourne , Melbourne, Australia “This was sketched in my A5 Moleskine in watercolour and fountain pen from the driver’s seat of my car on a warm afternoon. Minnie St, Brunswick is in the state of Victoria (Australia) where corner stores are known as milk bars. Not long after I made this sketch, this, the last milk bar in the neighbourhood, closed its doors forever, victim to to the hegemony of the chain supermarket.” 8. by Ronak Roshan Gilvaei, Architect B.A., Rasht, Iran “This video is included as part of my teaching of sketching with marker at Art & Culture’s House in Rasht , Iran. This style helps you to have a better presentation and show the wooden material. This style is called Marker and I have also used pen and color pencil in it.” 7. by Devin S. Kimmel, ASLA, Assoc. AIA, Principal at Kimmel Studio, llc “This sketch is of a proposed entry view to a new house and garden we are designing. The house is to be shingle style with a 3 car garage, greenhouse, pool house and pier house. The gardens will have formal and informal spaces, a swimming pool, vegetable garden, orchard, wetland re-vegetation, and general garden spaces. This view angle was chosen to show the relationship of the house, garage, and greenhouse to the fenced entry court garden. The drawing is ink on vellum.” 6. by Elina Richert, 3rd year student, Nürtingen, Germany “The reason and motivation was a nice trip to verbania in Italy with my landscape architecture class. We were in the great park by the villa toronto and I decide to draw the landscape around me. This is a landscape painting and I paint it with a lead pencil ( 2B , HB, 4B)”. 5. by Morozova Lada,  landscape architect from Moscow, Russia. “Usually I make small colorful pencil drawings to explain my ideas to the customers. It’s more obvious and you can explain how this place will be looking like.” 4. by Jacek Gonera, landscape architecture student at Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences (Poland) “The reason for making this work is that I’ve been asked to make drawings with colour inspired by photos from holidays in Greece. I’ve spent quite long time doing this but it brought me so much joy and let me get some more experience with using watercolour technique. Painting is made in colour. It is based on the photo I received. It is my own interpretation (impression) of what I’ve seen. Location of presented painting is Greece. Technique is aquarelle (watercolour) and black ink fine liner. Paper size is A4.” Related Articles:

• Freehand Drawing & Discovery by James Richards | Book Review
• How to Suck at Hand Drawings and Still be a Good Landscape Architect
• Interested But Not Confident? – Know How to be Good at Hand Drawings

3. by Tino Beck, self-employed artist, Germany

“I took photos from a historic but badly damaged building – formerly a well known resting place within a lovely forest. On my inkjet I printed them in sepia and by adding a white-to-transparent shading. To introduce the intended reorganizations of the architect I completed the white half directly on the print (grained paper A3 landscape) by including the architects ideas as tender colored hand-painting, using available alignments.” 2. by Jerome K Benhur, 5th year student, Architecture, MEASI Academy of Architecture, Chennai, Tamil-Nadu, India “The Sketch is of Anna University Admin building (Chennai,Tamil-Nadu, India), a campus of 220 years of history. I have seen the campus lots of times before, but this time, I felt the campus grand. I understood what a properly designed landscape could do to a campus. I wanted to record my feeling in the form a sketch. This sketch is done using black pen ( stabilo point88 0.4 ).” 1. by Gustavo Garrido, Landscape Architect “This sketch done to illustrate a landscape project for a small park . Free hand sketch style. Located in the City of Santana de Parnaíba, close to São Paulo, Brazil. I used pen and color markers over sketch paper.” – That’s this week’s Sketchy Saturday Top 10, congratulations to all of you who featured, you have come out on top of a very talented bunch of people. Check out the Sketchy Saturday official Facebook album and see literally 1,000′s of incredible sketches! Follow all the winning entries on our dedicated Sketchy Saturday Pinterest page. If you want to take part send your entries into us at office@landarchs.com Recommended reading:

• Sketching from the Imagination: An Insight into Creative Drawing by 3DTotal
• Architectural Drawing Course by Mo Zell

Article written by Scott D. Renwick Return to Homepage

It’s an exciting time to be a designer or developer, and a growing number of new touch-screen tools to make the work more fun are being released every day. It’s like being a kid in a candy store! Given the rapid pace of technological change, individuals with careers deeply immersed in the visualization of design concepts increasingly have the freedom and necessary tools to explore all the new possibilities that tablets, software, and apps have to offer. Which is why we’re asking the question “Is Drawing Dead?” what will become of the hand skills that have formed the basis of our profession, with everything and everybody geared to towards fast and accurate results. Digital Graphics Pros: 1) Accuracy Needless to say, software programs can translate practical measurements to high visual accuracy without having to fuss with the time-consuming act of measuring with a ruler! 2) New Technology-New Possibilities These days, new software such as AutoCAD WS enables you to view, edit, and share AutoCAD drawings with anyone, anywhere using your mobile device. Tablets are also becoming increasingly popular. For example, Wacom’s drawing tablets try to mimic the experience of drawing on paper. Some students say this kind of mimicry allows their ideas and drawings to be more “visionable”.

3) Forget Paper! No more fumbling with awkward paper plans and laptops; the onslaught of so many planning and drawing apps and tools expedites the process of creating perfect structures. Cons: 1) New Technology is Seductive We can easily become bedazzled by what a program can do and forget to insert our own individuality. This is a trap for producing robotic, similar designs. 2) Lack of Spontaneity Every program requires us to learn the technical “how-to” processes before being able to execute our ideas visually. This can be a time-consuming and frustrating process. So, where does hand graphics fit in this process? The ability to express yourself as a designer using a pen on paper is an essential emotion of thought — from your brain to the paper. The key word that I’m hanging on is process; that hand drawing is an essential expression of the design process. Hand Graphics: Pros: 1) Control As you use your hand, you gain great control over your own movements, which in turn benefits your vision. Creativity becomes a process that is not inhibited by the boundaries of software programmers but by your own self-expression. 2) Preserving the Human Touch A great drawing has many layers that go beyond technical skill and captures the unique touch of the designer. That in itself is special and should not be lost as we advance toward a more technological age. 3) Increase in Observational Skills What is the depth of the object? How is it standing, moving? What kinds of details are there? What you observe as you draw and the thoughts that conjure from the process can make you appreciate the life within your designs and help you see the relationships between different features in the physical environment. Cons: 1) Unpredictability Let’s face it — your hand is not a mechanically trained tool. Your drawings may not always turn out the way you envisioned in your head. You have to be prepared to go with the flow; this unpredictability can be an exciting thing. However, your unpredicted outcome requires flexible adaptation. 2)     No Undo Button There’s no undo button if you mess up, especially when drawing in other mediums besides pencil. This might become problematic in larger, important drawings. Hand Graphics vs. Digital? I find that a balance and understanding of both is necessary to be a competent designer in our fields of practice. Ultimately, where we work, what our company culture is, how we execute, are all factors that will determine how we create and what is appropriate for our space. Drawing isn’t dead. It’s evolving. There are certainly differences in how you interact with a watercolor brush or a charcoal pencil or a computer. All I’m saying is those differences are essentially negligible when looking at what designers do for a living. So, if you are a young designer who aspires to be a principal designer someday, I strongly recommend that you develop your sketching ability at the same time you’re playing around with computer visualization. Both of those skills should be fully integrated, with a strong conceptualization and three-dimensional visualization ability. For a great book on hand drawing check out our review of Freehand Drawing & Discovery by James Richards Article written by Win Phyo

LABash 2017 is already just around the corner, with less than 2 months left! If you needed any convincing and haven’t gotten your registration yet, keep on reading!

1. You will learn things outside of your regular curriculum.

Get messy in a soils workshop, learn about how travel can change your career, explore how the largest estuary in the nation affects the work of a landscape architect, and learn how employers view millennials in the workplace. This is just a sampling of the topics that will be covered at LABash 2017. Even better, you get to build your own schedule! Attend only the sessions that sound interesting to you – you’ll have a lot to choose from!

Session from LABash 2015 at San Luis Obispo.

2. You will discover a new place.

College Park is within the DC Metropolitan area. Throughout the 3 days, you’ll be just a Metro/Uber ride away from some of the most monumental sights in the nation. See where MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech took place, be steps from the President’s front lawn, take a stroll along the National Mall, and explore world renowned museums at your leisure (and mostly for free!). Our Closing Ceremony is just a short walk from the Washington Monument and the White House. Keep an eye out for our Tour openings – they’ll put you in the heart of DC during sketch crawls, riverfront explorations, and art tours – and all just in time to see the world-famous Cherry Blossoms bloom!

Sketch of the Capitol by James Richards. Join his DC Sketch Crawl at LABash 2017!

3. You will make memories and long-lasting relationships with people from all over the continent.

This is your chance to meet the most enthusiastic members of our generation of future landscape architects, urban planners, plant scientists, or architects! You’ll dine together, learn together, explore together, and maybe even take goofy photos together at the Land8 Happy Hour (like this one).

4. You can earn LA CES credit.

That’s right, licensed people. This conference doesn’t just benefit students. We are aiming to offer at least 4 credited sessions for you. Just follow us on Instagram to stay tuned for our announcement when we reach this goal!

5. You will make valuable professional connections.

Attending LABash can give you the edge you need in jump-starting your career. You’ll get to know dozens of professionals in the field who can help you with internship/job opportunities, give you valuable career advice, and be a contact for the future. Don’t forget to bring your resume and portfolio! Our career/informational expo will be open throughout the 3 days, opening dozens of valuable connections for you.

Expo at LABash 2015.

6. The Land8 Happy Hour!

The Land8 Happy Hour: LABash-Style sponsored by ANOVA is returning again this year! On Friday night, you’ll enjoy a night of dancing, an open bar, and fun at a local favorite, Terrapin’s Turf. 

Follow LABash 2017:

Website | Facebook | Instagram 

We take a look at the question “Is Drawing a Natural Talent?” and help to understand what lies beyond the artist and their abilities. When it comes to drawing as a form of art, there are many facts and suggestions dealing with the power of this form of communication and also many books and tutorials, where every day we can see examples of excellent drawings and drawing techniques. Whether they are done with pencils, pen, ink, fiber-tip pens, chalk, charcoal, crayons, pastels, digital drawing or a combination of all these techniques, we look at them with much enthusiasm and admiration. Some of the drawings look so real that we can not even tell whether they are pictures or drawings. For those who are not sure how to overcome the overwhelming choices between all these drawing techniques and wonder whether can drawing be learned, we asked one question: Is drawing a natural talent? Are we are somehow predisposed to be great artists or architects from early childhood or must we work on ourselves to improve our drawing skills?

Every Artist Was First an Amateur

If we look back at the best artists of all time, we will find something in common; they were all people who learned drawing and practiced and practiced every day. From Leonardo da Vinci to Picasso and others, they all loved to draw

and spent a lot of time drawing. Some of them didn’t ̍t even like to go to school, preferring to dedicate more time to their drawings! They had talent, but without continual practice, today they would not be remembered as great artists. Leonardo da Vinci spent 12 years painting the Mona Lisa’s lips in order to lead his painting to perfection! Wow, this fact certainly speaks about the power of persistence in making extraordinary drawings.

Learning How to Draw

Everyone can draw, it’s true, but the question is; what really is the boundary between a “beautiful” drawing and a masterpiece? Can one masterpiece be explained and set with some standard of drawing? Many people think that the great artists were all born with supernatural talent. Yes, in relation to others, they maybe had some skills, like an eye for details, an innate sense of composition, an attenuated perception of objects being drawn, the ability to make good representational decisions, and the deft motor skills required for mark-making, but even they had to advance their talent with much practice and accumulation of knowledge. WATCH: Start Drawing: PART 1 – Outlines, Edges, Shading

Keep Calm And Draw

Every beginning is hard, but it should not be a problem if you really want to learn how to draw. When you know how much time you need for drawing, the main reason that inspires you, your own sources of creativity, and how to develop your intuitive impulses for drawing, you can start creating your own unique drawings.

The most important thing is that you know exactly why you draw. Before starting, you will need to be sure that you are dedicated to your drawing, to choose a technique and a subject or a landscape to draw. The beauty of a drawing will be revealed gradually, with every single line. You can watch tutorials, read books or find an ideal; someone whose work you consider great. You can also find inspiration in many of the great sketches in our Sketchy Saturday compilation. The many methods of instruction for drawing attest to the fact that drawing surely can be learned. Some great books for teaching how to draw are: “Freehand Drawing & Discovery” by James Richards, “Drawing for Landscape Architecture” by Edward Hutchison, “Drawing the Landscape” by Chip Sullivan and many more. If you think you need help with drawing, you can even enroll in a course or learn from one of many great video tutorials. This article can also help you: How to Draw Like an Artist, With These 7 YouTube Tutorials.

” Talent is good, practice is better, passion is best “

At what point you can call yourself an artist? When you make your drawings simple. When you make them with love. When you make them with passion. You don’t need to be the best of the best to produce great drawings. Over time, the results of practice will start to show and you will be able to enjoy your drawings. In his excellent book “Drawing the Landscape“, Chip Sullivan says: “I love to draw! I love to draw almost more than anything else in the world. It brings me solace, excitement, and the thrill of experimentation. When I am feeling low, drawing can make me happy. With a single piece of paper and a mark-making tool, I can create whole new worlds. Drawing allows you to design environments capable of

transporting the viewer. Learning to draw is a gift that brings a lifetime of creative excitement. Drawing is a form of personal freedom. The space around you becomes your possession. Once you have the ability to draw, it can’t be taken away from you, for drawing is the ultimate weapon of visual expression. It is also an inexpensive tool, accessible to everyone.” I think this is exactly the right way to describe the love for drawing and Chip’s words can inspire you to draw, whether you are an amateur or a pro. Drawing is a creative way of living and some studies even say that there are many benefits of drawing for our health. It teaches us to see things with more value, to study them and then shape them according to our sensibilities. So what’s stopping you from making your own drawing stories? Take your piece of paper and all the necessary accessories and start shaping your piece of art with your hands. Like everything else in life, drawing can be learned. To succeed, the only thing you need is motivation. Go to comments

Recommended Reading:

• Drawing and Designing with Confidence: A Step-by-Step Guide by Mike W. Lin
• Landscape Perspective Drawing by Nicholas T. Dines

Article by Amela Djurakovac Return to Homepage Featured image from Sketchy Saturday. By Tino Beck, self-employed artist, Germany.

This week’s Sketchy Saturday top 10. Here we go with 10 enthusiastic, talented Sketch-Stars that have submitted their handy work to the office for this week’s Sketchy Saturday. In this week’s top 10 we see a range of styles, and levels of creativity which show that risk-taking is involved in getting your message across. Each sketch is as unique as a fingerprint and is almost like the artist’s signature. This is work that not only embodies their skills and creativity, but their experience, passion and thought process. To appreciate a creative piece of work is to open a doorway to understanding the person who created it. A gift that inspires us and connects us to one another. Enjoy this week’s Sketchy Saturday top 10! 10. by Anastasia B. Uli, Master of Sustainable Design UF student, Gainesville FL

“Lilo and Stitch have fun in Disney World” – The idea was to practice my hand sketch ability especially to perform an environment, connection between a (public) space and the people. – Location: Main Street Disney World, Orlando, FL. I love Disney, and Stitch is my favorite character.  TECHNIQUE /Media: Canvas Canson paper, A3 size. Style : Cartoon + Realistic Canvas Drawing – 1. The background building: pencil sketch – 1-point perspective – 2. Acrylic + watercolor (pastel color) – 3. Pencil color for detailing – 4. Ink for shading”. 9. by Mustafa Hadla, architect, from Syria, living and working in Jeddah Ksa “This drawing is for the Farsi Mosque in Jeddah KSA designed by the Miami-based master architect: Abdul Wahid Wakeel it was drawn in freehand with regular pen and then painted with Adobe Photoshop, you can find more about it here: https://archnet.org/sites/577“. 8. by Tarsis Aires, in the last year of the Architecture and Urbanism College (UEMA) in São Luís – MA, Brazil ” I have a group of friends that come out to draw a few times in a month (outdoors) and this drawing is the result of one of these tours. This is the Desterro Church Square, built by slaves in the 17th century, in our city. That day it rained and you can see rain spots on watercolor, which I liked a lot”. 7. by Oana Chiriac, landscape architect, Belgium   “This time the sketches are made for showing the ambiance of the proposition for a small project garden that I had to make for a course in my master program.” 6. by Isa Eren AKBIYIK – Landscape Architect – Nota Design Landscape Architecture Office Owner – Antalya/Turkey “I drew for “Konyaalti Coastal Recreational Ideas Competition” Autoshow exhibition area, this is only a small part of the 8 kilometer coast, 2 point perspective with 0.05 – 0.1 – 0.3 – 0.5 drawing pen on A3 size paper. Marker pen and PS used for brightness and contrast levels. Location – KonyaaltiAntalya/Turkey”. 5. by Ginara Cristina, Architecture student, Bucharest, Romania “This one-point perspective was an assignment, for which I experimented with diluted black, blue and red ink in an attempt to depict the interior ambiance.” 4. by Peter Bonette, Landscape Architect NJ, PA, OH, MD, KY and VA. “This is a concept sketch for a home in South Jersey. It is a new house and it needed some details and a front walk. Wing wall for the house and more walls at the front steps. Near the front, door steps are seated walls for people to chat. The drawing is on trace paper using a marker and colored pencil”. LAN Essential Reading List:

• Freehand Drawing & Discovery by James Richards 
• Drawing for Landscape Architecture by Edward Hutchison
• Digital Drawing for Landscape Architecture, second edition

3. by Marika Cieciura, landscape architecture student at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, on the exchange program at South Dakota State University

“The aim of the project was to design a Memorial Garden in Brookings, South Dakota, where we based our design on the quote “When someone you love becomes a memory, that memory becomes a treasure”. We decided to create a feel of that treasure in the garden by using the right kind of plants, such as Betula platyphylla ‘Fargo’ (Dakota Pinnacle Birch) giving us a beautiful colour in the fall resembling gold and Acer platanoides ‘Crimson King’ (Crimson King Maple) with a purple foliage suggesting rubies, as well as the mix of pink and purple wildflowers – the treasure of the prairies. The goal was to celebrate the moments we had with the lost ones instead of surrendering to the sorrow. – Sketches are made with the use of an F and 2H pencil and the addition of ergo soft Staedtler colored pencils. – Team: Annaliese Hoffman, Slade Mutchelknaus, Marika Cieciura.” 2. by Maria Chughtai studying in 3rd year of bachelors in Architecture from LCWU Lahore Pakistan  “I did this sketch as an assignment of Visual Communication in my 1st year of bachelor’s. This drawing features the Tomb of Bibi Jawindie which is located in Uch Sharif, Punjab, Pakistan. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I drew the sketch with pencil first over A2 sized Canson sheet then rendered it with black felt tip pens (size 0.2, 0,4 and 0.6mm)”. 1. by Jack Tremblay, Amesbury, ma, USA, Landscape architect for 28 years “It’s a park in Newburyport mass. It was a note card done in the late 80’s to supplement my LA career. Pen and ink, printed on card stock. The original ink paper was called ‘opulux‘ hard to get. It has changed over the years, which makes it special.” – That’s this week’s Sketchy Saturday Top 10, congratulations to all of you who featured, you have come out on top of a very talented bunch of people. Check out the Sketchy Saturday official Facebook album and see literally 1,000′s of incredible sketches! Follow all the winning entries on our dedicated Sketchy Saturday Pinterest page. If you want to take part send your entries to us at office@landarchs.com Recommended reading:

• Sketching from the Imagination: An Insight into Creative Drawing by 3DTotal
• Architectural Drawing Course by Mo Zell

Article by Scott D. Renwick Return to Homepage

As a follow up to commonly asked questions about the drawing equipment I use in my landscape sketches, I’ve rounded up a list of some of my commonly used tools. These days, many art supplies are quite expensive. Luckily, however, I don’t use many expensive tools. For beginners, I strongly suggest starting with simple tools because they are easy to use and more affordable. In addition, starting out with the bare bone tools makes it easier to see how line quality can then be improved with higher quality equipment. 

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RELATED STORY: Interview with Urban Sketcher Chunling Wu

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I usually use color pencils/watercolor color pencils for design rendering and watercolor for urban sketching. I encourage you to try different media and mixed media because doing so can help you find your personal preferences and unique style.

INK

I use Platinum carbon ink (bottle ink black 60cc) imported from Japan. I prefer waterproof ink such as this one because I like to add watercolor after using the ink to create a black outline. As a high quality product, this carbon ink is consistently black and never clogs up. Impermanent ink such as this is also good for times when you want to add ink at the end of the drawing process. For instance, I sometimes to choose to spread the ink out overtop a sketchy watercolor drawing to create shading or other special effects.

PENS

In most sketches, I use the Hero 1077 bent nib fountain pen (1077 also has straight nib model). This is a great pen with a good price (less than 10 dollars); you may want to change the converter, though. A bent nib allows me produce rich dynamic lines and allows me to create different textures and special effects by holding the pen in different angles and controlling the pressure.  The other pen I often use is the Namiki fountain pen.  Its nib was modified a little bit for more flexibility; however, it may not be the best choice for people who like to press down hard on pens. If you have that tendency, the Lamy Safari fountain pen is a better consideration.

I use the Uni Pin Pigment waterproof pens for design and urban sketching (0.3 and 0.5). I like to use these pens to create a clean and crisp style.  Other brands listed include: the Faber-Castell Pitt artist pen (B), a brush-like pen that can be used to color large black areas such as people’s hair, clothes or windows; the Staedtler Permanent Lumocolor (F) and Sharpie permanent Marker (Ultrafine point), which are also good choices for most sketches since they produce nice spread-out effects on certain kinds of sketch paper; and General Black gel pens or ball pens, which I use a lot for drawing. In the first year of master’s study, I bought a box of gel pens for most of my communications assignments.

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RELATED ALBUM: Chunling Wu’s MLA Portfolio

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INK PEN CLEANING

KOH-I-NOOR Rapido-Eze Clearning  Solution. This is a great product for cleaning your fountain pen in case you bought wrong ink that’s clogged your pen.

WATERCOLOR BRUSHES

For most of my sketches, I use the Yasutomo Niji Water Brush.  The reason I like this brand is because the brush material is more elastic and not too soft.  I’ll use Chinese brushes made from weasel’s hair for the background wash. Personally, I prefer round animal hair brushes because animal hair can absorb water easily. Synthetic hair is also a good choice for students who cannot afford expensive animal hair brushes. I recently bought large round and flat brushes (synthetic versions of squirrel, 10 and 12 size) from Princeton Neptune. I also use Nylon brushes, however, I wouldn’t recommend flat watercolor Nylon brushes for beginners.  To properly choose the types of brushes that best fit your drawing style however, you need to try them yourself. The type of brush you’ll use also depends on how you color your drawings.

WATERCOLOR

sI have two sets of watercolors. The first is the Koi Water Color Pocket Field Sketch Box. Generally these colors are enough for sketching and a really great choice for beginners. My favorite watercolor sets, however, are Daniel Smith. I also have different empty pans that I can fill from watercolor tubes so I can create a palette of my favorite colors. The color palette I’ve shown above is from James Richards’ book Freehand Drawing & Discovery P146: Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Cadmium Red, Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Yellow, Prussian Blue, French Ultramarine, Cerulean Blue, Hooker’s Green, Raw Umber and Payne’s Gray.  Naples Yellow is a great one for buildings and stonework; Richards has since added that color to this list.

COLORED PENCILS

I primarily use Prismacolor Colored Pencils. I’ll usually mix them with my other watercolor pencils (below). The color palette above is from James Richards’ book Freehand Drawing & Discovery P29: Light Peach, Cream, Lavender, Aquamarine, True Blue, White, Grass Green, Dark Green, Yellow Ochre, Apple Green, Spring Green, Oliver Green, Warm Gray 70%, Burnt Ochre, Terre Cotta, Carmine Red and Black.

WATERCOLOR PENCILS

Just like with my watercolor palettes, I use two different brands of watercolor pencils. After experimenting with different brands, I’ve decided that Swiss-made Caran D’ache is my favorite. I like to use them as regular color pencils in design renderings. Their wax content is low enough that I can overlap the colors. They give a nice watercolor-like tone and create nice strokes.

SKETCHBOOK AND PAPER

I usually use the Moleskine Art Plus Watercolor Album, A4, Black, Hard Cover (12 x 8.5) (Professional Folio Series). This sketchbook allows me to do a little bit of a watercolor wash and provides enough room for a customized design.

I don’t have a preference on a brand of watercolor paper. I usually choose watercolor paper based on its thickness and paper texture. Currently, I’m using Strathmore Windpower Watercolor cold press and acid free watercolor paper. It’s 9”X12” with 140lb. This type of paper has a light texture and it’s pretty smooth for pen and watercolor. For a rougher version, you can try the Bee Paper Aquabee, 11”X15” with 140lb. Although it is not easy to show details on “bumpy” paper, drawing on rougher paper creates a great loose feeling to your art.

Landscape architecture is a multidisciplinary field of study where if you are not provided with some basic guidelines, you might find yourself confused and frustrated. Working long hours on a computer can be fruitful, but you can sometimes get bogged down. Here are some tips to make life as a landscape architecture student a little bit easier! 1. Don’t forget this button combination: Ctrl + S Make it a ritual to save your work when finishing an element from a drawing, or hit Ctrl + S at set intervals, such as every 10 minutes. This habit will pay off many times over. A great life hack is to put a sticky note on the side of your computer with the reminder “Don’t forget Ctrl + S”. 2. Don’t depend only on the Internet for inspiration and references. 

There are great landscape architecture books that will open your eyes to things you didn’t even know exist. For example, designing a meadow – enough with the predictable, luscious green carpet in each garden; try something new. Books also offer another level of credibility for what you are learning, allowing you to cross-reference among different resources. Besides, it is great fun to go to the nearest library and choose from the dozens of books related to the field. See all our recommend book reviews! 3. Don’t forget to print your designs as a draft It is very convenient to work on a computer that has dozens of programs, but when it comes to corrections the best way is the old fashioned drawing on the paper. Print out your computer aided work on A4 or A3 sheets in black and white to check them. It can give you a better view of the entire project. 4. Don’t forget to get your hands dirty! Stay closer to nature: Observe it, explore it. Create your first designs in your own garden. Be a hands-on designer, not a designer who can only relate to computer programs. 5. Don’t draw on a black screen in AutoCAD. First, because doing so is very outdated and second, because you can see right away the effect of the colors you have chosen and if they work well or not, helping you to avoid editing later after the full drawing is finished. See also our 10 AtuoCAD hacks for beginners! 6. Don’t ignore opportunities to take part in student competitions. You can find a high concentration of innovative and exciting ideas in student competitions, and it is a great way to make new friends who have the same interests as you. You can compare yourself with others and learn what you need to work harder on and what you are really good at. 7. Don’t think for a second you’re on or ahead of schedule! If somethings important and you can do it now, DO IT NOW! You may think you’re on schedule, you may even think your ahead of schedule and you can afford to slow it down and watch re-runs of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. However if there is one thing that will bite you in the ass time and time again it’s a false sense of security. Especially where time is concerned. The unpredictable can and will happen, you’ve experienced it, you know it so why not account for it! See also 5 Common Habits of Successful Landscape Architecture Students Knowing what NOT to do may be just as important as knowing what to do. Often progress isn’t hindered because of a lack of ambition or motivation, but by not being aware of simple common mistakes that we not only make but we’re in the habit of making on a repetitive basis. Our biggest obstacle to success is that we don’t allow ourselves to be successful; stop getting in your own way! Hopefully these steps have triggered a change in your habits and allow you to progress and excel with your education. Article written by Slavyana Popcheva