While taking digital studio techniques I learned/used photoshop. I'm very glad I took this course before Studio Seminar. I'm also curious and exited to see what changes I can do to marker renderings that I already have.
Rendering with Photoshop:
Although it's good to render with marker and learn different techniques, it's much easier to render with photoshop. I would usually have to print out a drawing from AutoCad, trace it onto marker paper, then spend hours upon hours rendering. And if i messed up I started the process over again. :( With Photoshop you have the opportunity to erase, undo, create your own blob bush, double the layers, and even get the perfect color that your wanting (and if it's not right the first time you can change the levels!). Photoshop makes it faster and easier, and there are so many different techniques you can experiment with.
Floor Plans:
I would usually have to draw a floor plan and spend hours rendering and trying to duplicate the materials I selected. Now I can actually scan in the materials, making it easier to tell where the fabric goes, especially for future clients.
Material Boards:
The old process would be to cut out a square in your material, then cut out another square in foam board. You would take the material and wrap it around the foam board and glue it, after that your would then place and glue all your materials on the board....hoping that the glue would keep them held. Now I can just take the already scanned materials from the floor plan and create a new document, place the materials where I like and just add drop shadows. It also give you an advantage of giving more detailed information about the materials, it's easier to store away, and it's a great way to show it off in a portfolio :)
For examples you can look at older post. Since all of my projects are on boards I now have the skills and new techniques to make touch ups before creating my portfolio. :)

Materials Board

So here is the finished sample board. I just put a quick title block on it. For the labels I decided to put just numbers, making it easier to read the text and to view the materials.

Start of Materials Board

Here I think I've decided on a layout, I placed them from big to small (floor material to furniture and upholstery) I still need to add drop shadows. any comments or advice on the layout?

Floor Plan

This is the original floor plan that I brought in from autocad. The red selected area is what I created using my own materials. I scanned them in and used the pattern stamp tool for most of the flooring and some furniture, others I just filled with a pattern if they were small enough. For the carpet tile a grid was made and then I selected them individually filling them in with color. I also used the bas relief filter for the wood flooring. Finally I added some gradient and used the blob brush to add shadows like I normally would with marker renderings.

For my next project I'm going to create my own floor plan using materials that I have already scanned in. The floor plan that I am using was created in autocad that I will bring into photoshop.

Also I will be using the same materials to create a realistic sample board

Here, I took a autocad drawing and traced a smaller area. Then I added color and used the technique I learned with my previous study. I think I'll like it a lot better when I finish the whole perspective, right now my lines look sloppy and incomplete and I'll like to add some more color in the finished version.

Below , I went in and worked with the shelf a little more. The texture is now smooth and I think it makes easier to understand.

Study #2

Here is a second study. I wanted to capture the effect of the back chair, it almost seems ghost like. Learning this technique was very helpful because there are always instances where I would like to crop something out because it blocks the view and this is the perfect way to do so. Also the rest of the rendering allowed me to experiment with a really loose gestural quality. The color could have been darker but that's not really what i was focusing on.


Here I have doubled the layers as suggested and I think it works well :)

Finished Juice Bar

Here is the final...I probably took too long but I like the way it turned out. I'm starting to get the hang of all the layers and why it's important to keep them all separate. :)

Start of Juice Bar

This is a rendering I've done for a older project from Interior Design. I drew it in AutoCad, then I brought it into Photoshop and traced it. From there I used the gaussian blur to thicken the lines, but I can already tell from just uploading it to here I am going to have to mess with the line quality some more. I'm not completely finished, as you can tell, but I was just wondering if you had any tips or helpful advice you could give me before I finish. Thanks :)

Here is the original CAD drawing that I used. You have options on how view the object and here I chose conceptul, its just easier to define the lines compared to a 3D wire frame.

Marker Study 2

For my next study I would like to crop a smaller portion and focus on detail and the fluidness of the marker. I'm still drawn to the loose marker strokes and the build up of color, which I will also try to replicate.

Render Study 1

Here I have two studies that I cropped out from the Sushi Bar (found below). Both of the originals are on the left. I scanned in two quick sketches that I drew of the original. From there I just played around with creating my own brushes and trying to replicate the technique of markers. I learned the effects of opacity and the advantages of using a layer mask.

This was my first study. I believe is shows a good example of the techniques of marker. As for matching the original?? it could use some work. I tried a few different ways to capture the grain in the photo but I think it could use more color saturation in areas.

This study turned out better than the first. There could have been more darker and lighter areas but overall I'm content.