I’ve been doing some different things lately in illustrations….I think at times one needs to respond to changes in the industry–and changes to what is asked of you as a consultant….So in the spirit of collaboration and in response to a request from a very good client, I have now done a series of images which are not entirely drawn by hand….Rendering of Mill Valley, California ProjectThey are photo montages, wherein the conceptualized building design is drawn by me in perspective–then merged digitally with a photograph of the existing site and context….using Photoshop….The end result is kind of interesting–and I think it works well for this purpose, which at this point is to give the neighboring residents options and to get some feedback from those living nearby….The architect, Rick Williams of VMWP Architects in San Francisco, conceived of two different design schemes to meet the requirements put forth by his client, an affordable housing company….The site is very challenging in that there is a very steep slope to it….it’s basically a triangular site that drops precipitously from one edge to the other….The silver lining is that the existing residential neighborhood is located above the high side of the site, so if the new building is limited to two or three stories, the neighbor will only see a little bit of the new building….some roof, some building, but not much, really….Some clever placement and massing by the architect results in a much less impactful project….And since the design is in its initial stages, these photo montages serve very well to convey these conceptual ideas for a building without too much fanfare or detail–just a concept….giving the public options and input….If you have a development project that could benefit from this type of presentation, you should think about this approach–because it strikes that difficult balance between what an existing neighborhood wants, and what the developer wants to build !Rendering of Mill Valley, California ProjectRendering of Mill Valley, California ProjectRendering of Mill Valley, California ProjectRendering of Mill Valley, California ProjectRendering of Mill Valley, California Project