Architectural Illustration: Drawing the Unbuilt World
The great purpose of architectural illustration is to attempt to explain to the public that which does not yet exist. The architect has done his work, the plans are drawn to scale, the materials are chosen, all the details have been designed. However, the future building remains an enigma. What will it really look like after it is constructed? How tall will it be next to the other buildings we know? What about style–is it outrageous, or will it fit quietly into its context? All of these questions are answered by the architectural illustrator through his renderings. The role of this artist is to take the plans and all supporting descriptive information about the architect’s design, and forge it into a product that the public can understand. The illustrator must show the unbuilt and future design in a real-world context and in a natural perspective, as if the viewer were able to see into the future.
To the experienced professional illustrator, there is no greater ill than deception. It is anathema to good work, and is to be avoided at all cost. Renderings are to be governed by the same rules that govern the buildings they represent. The sunlight on the materials, the placement of the trees and landscaping, the cars and people that surround–all of these are real concerns to be dealt with honestly by a professional illustrator. They cannot be ignored, avoided, or shown disingenuously. In fact it is a disservice to treat them so. Dealing with some of these concerns can be a challenge, but the challenge must always be met truthfully, and the solutions must be found using real-world logic and reason.
To put it in layman’s terms, what good is a perspective rendering that shows the future building better than it will actually be? The whole purpose of the illustrator’s work is to communicate clearly and accurately the future building, as designed by the architect–to be true to the design. The illustrator’s work can be playful, suggestive, even flattering at times–in fact the best renderings always have these qualities. But a good artist’s rendering never abandons the true nature of its subject. It never exaggerates purely for dramatic effect, leaving the actual building to disappoint when construction is completed.
Recent Comments