Part Two. Hybrid Digital Drawing

Chapter 5. Wacom tablet & Painter – User interface

Session Objectives

Upon completing this session, students will be able to:

  • (CO 1) Be aware of various types of perspectives using hybrid techniques
  • (CO 2) Be introduced Wacom tablet technology
  • (CO 3) Be introduced “Painter Essentials” and similar applications in the industry
  • (CO 4) Understand the basic interface of “Painter Essentials”

 

 Lecture Contents

(CO1) Be aware of various types of perspectives using hybrid techniques

Architectural illustration styles

There is no doubt that digital culture has changed the way that projects have been designed and represented, according to Perry Kulper, author of “The Labor of Architectural Drawing,” the result is a “shift from what architecture looks like to how it behaves—a movement from the configuration and image dominance to parametric and performance logics.”

However, despite their waning appearance in the business-as-usual side of architecture, drawing and illustration are still inescapable components of the practice that filter into multiple stages of the process (Garkavenko, A, 2021, December 9).

ASAI (American Society of Architectural Illustrators)

It presents collection of awarded perspective drawings from ASAI.
Image credit: ASAI.

Founded in 1986 in the United States, the ASAI is comprised of professional illustrators, architects, designers, teachers, students, corporations, and anyone engaged in the serious pursuit of architectural illustration. The central purpose of ASAI remains the improvement of architectural drawing worldwide.

DCA (Design Communication Association)

It exhibits three winning projects from DCA.
Image credit: DCA.

The Design Communication Association (DCA) is an international professional society composed of graphics/design teachers from schools of architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, graphic design, and product design.

For more resources for architectural illustrations, check out the illustration tag on the Archdaily website.

Working Processes

Use a photo as a base for the drawing

Example 1

It shows a black and white line pen drawing illustrates a Korean traditional architecture.
This architectural perspective image is the final illustration based on a photo that the author took. This image depicts the Korean traditional architecture (Gwanghwamun-a front gate of the Joseon Dynasty’s palace) without distorting the vanishing point.

Example 1 Process

It shows the four sequential images to present the process of the black and white line drawing.
These four images in a row show the working process of the Gwanghwamun. The first image shows the photo base with the lines that I traced. The second image shows turning off the photo layer and adding more details and some colors. The third image show some graphic experimental to show the details. I added a paper texture layer as a background and change the darkness of the paper texture only on the architecture part. The last image shows turning off the paper texture image and adding more details with thin lines and dots.

 

Example 2

It is a digital illustration to show two trucks' graffities on the outside of a wall.
This illustration is also an example of a photo-based digital drawing. This image shows two truck graffiti on the outside of a wall that I took a picture of from Brooklyn, New York.

 

Example 2 Process

It shows the four sequential images to present the process of the digital illustration above.
These process images show how I draw this digital illustration. The first image shows the original photo that I took. The second photo shows the outlines of the photo that I traced. It shows the original image in the back layer. The third image shows how I add colors and the truck graffiti on the outside wall. The last image is the final result of this work.
Use a 3D (rough) rendered image as a base for the drawing

Example 1

It exhibits a black and white line drawing to show the courtyard of a house located in Los Angles.
This interior perspective view presents the courtyard of the future of the Stahl house project that I worked on in 2015. The site locates in Los Angles. This image was based on a computer-generated 3D rendering. Because this is a hypothetical project, I needed a based image to visualize the project. With 3D rendering, the illustration looks more realistic, but the line drawing expresses a more fantasy feeling.

Example 1 Process

It shows the three sequential images to present the process of the black and white line drawing.
These three images show the process of the work above. The first image is the computer-generated 3D rendering. I used 3Ds Max and Vray for the rendering. The second image shows the outlines of the illustration based on the rendering. The last image is the final result of the work. I added all of the detail lines and remove some unnecessary objects and added some that I missed in the modeling process.

 

Example 2

It shows a exterior perspective rendering that illustrates three buildings.
This digital rendering was a commissioned work. A client asked me to draw the three buildings in a perspective rendering. The client provided the three-building separately. Then I photoshopped the three buildings into one view and changed the buildings vanishing points to look more harmonized, and added the sky. With the client’s approval, I draw the image and connect the image more naturally. And also I matched the color.

Example 2 Process

It shows the six sequential images to present the process of the color perspective view above.
These six images explain the process of the perspective rendering image above. The first image on the left top shows the three-building images that the client provided. The second image shows the location where the client wants to add the three buildings. The third image shows the photoshopped image that the client approved. The fourth image shows the outline of the three buildings and surroundings. The fifth image shows the background cloud added. The last image is the final rendering with the buildings and surrounding color. 

 

Use a sketch or a hand-drawn image as a base for the drawing

Example 1

It shows a hybrid perspective view with traditional watercolor and adobe photoshop.
This last image is an example of a hybrid perspective. I draw the Iowa State University building as a course project. With the professor’s recommendation, I added some images on Adobe Photoshop like human figures and plants and daylighting which are usually difficult to express on watercolor drawings.

(CO2) Be introduced Wacom tablet technology

Wacom Co. Ltd is a Japanese company that specialized in Graphic Tablets and related products since 1983.

Wacom provides 5 product lines:

  1. Pen computers
  2. Pen displays
  3. Pen tablets
  4. Smartpads
  5. Stylus
It shows the five Wacom product lines and applications.
image credit: Wacom

Wacom Intuos Tablet Features

  • Customizable ExpressKeys: Four keys on the upper corners of the Intuos allow you to set frequently used functions or keystrokes, or simulate button clicks or modifier keys.
  • Touch toggle switch: This allows you to enable or disable touch.
  • USB connector: Connects your Intuos to your computer. See the Quick Start Guide that came with your Intuos for instructions on connecting it to your computer.
  • Power LED: Lights when the Intuos is connected to an active USB port.
  • Status LED: Lights when you touch the active area, or use the pen or ExpressKeys™.
  • Active area: The portion of the Intuos surface that detects pen and touch input. The boundaries of the active area are shown by four small dots on the corners of the tablet.
It presents the key features of the Wacom tablet and their locations.
image credit: Wacom.

Wacom Intuos Pan Features

  • Natural feel with 4096 Pen pressure sensitivity.
  • +/- 0.25mm digital tolerance in accuracy.
  • No battery required pen.
  • 7mm reading height.
    It shows four Wacom pen features.
    image credit: Wacom

Wacom Tablet Properties

Open your Control Panel

Select Wacom Tablet Properties
It shows Wacom Tablet Properties in the Control panel.

Test pressure and settings
It shows the Wacom Tablet Properties panel to change the Pen settings.

ExpressKeys setting
It shows the Wacom Tablet Properties panel to change the Tablet settings.

8 Productivity Tips for your Wacom tablet

Optional read and watch this blog post for Productivity Tips for your Wacom tablet.

(CO3) Be introduced “Painter Essentials” and similar applications in the industry

Corel Painter is a raster-based digital art application created to simulate as accurately as possible the appearance and behavior of traditional media associated with drawing, painting, and printmaking. It is intended to be used in real-time by professional digital artists as a functional creative tool.

The application offers a wide range of traditional artists’ materials and tools. With the aid of a graphics tablet or computer mouse, the user is able to reproduce the effect of physical painting and drawing media such as watercolor, oil, chalk, charcoal, and color pencil. There are also a few non-traditional items, such as the Image Hose, pattern pens, F/X, Distortion, and Artist tools for allowing artists to apply less conventional elements to an image.

Painter Essentials 7

Painter Essentials product website link

It shows the key features of Painter Essentials 7.
image credit: Corel Painter Essentials 7
Painter 2021

Painter 2021 product website link

It shows the key features of Painter 2021.
image credit: Corel Painter 2021
Similar applications

Autodesk Sketchbook website – Sketch

It shows the brushes of Sketchbook.
image credit: Sketchbook

Adobe Photoshop – Sketch, photo edit, rendering retouch

It shows the screen captured image of Adobe Photoshop website.
image credit: Adobe Photoshop

Affinity Photo – Sketch, photo edit, rendering retouch

It shows the key features of Affinity photo.
image credit: Affinity photo

(CO4) Understand the basic interface of “Painter Essentials.”

Welcome page

It shows the welcome page of Painter 7.

  • Documents – New, Open, Recent Documents
  • Layout – User Interface
  • Tutorials
  • Instagram
  • Tech supports

Create a new document

  • [STEP 1] Click [File] > Click [New] or, Press [CTRL + N]
  • [STEP 2] Select [New Document]
  • [STEP 3] Add Filename, adjust Resolution, and add with size with the right unit, change the color of the background, and paper texture.

Save the file

Press [CTRL + S]

Workspace

It indicates the user interface of the application and their names.

Preferences

It shows the preferences of the application to change the settings.

 References

Adobe Photoshop. (n.d.). Official Adobe Photoshop. Retrieved December 22, 2021, from https://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop.html

Affinity photo. (n.d.). Affinity photo – professional image editing software. Retrieved December 22, 2021, from https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/photo/

ASAI. (n.d.). Architecture in perspective 34. Retrieved December 22, 2021, from https://www.asai.org/architecture-in-perspective-34/

Corel Painter Essentials 7. (n.d.). Painter Essentials 8: Get your free trial, Retrieved December 22, 2021, from https://www.painterartist.com/en/product/painter-essentials/

Corel Painter 2021. (n.d.). Painter 2022: Download your free trial. Retrieved December 22, 2021, from https://www.painterartist.com/en/product/painter/?topNav=en#features

DCA. (2019, May 31). 2018_DCA_Exhibition. Issuu. Retrieved December 22, 2021, from https://issuu.com/sorensson/docs/2018_dca_drawing_exhibition_catalog_210de63b4a1198

Garkavenko, A. (2021, December 9). 9 architectural illustration styles that prove drawing isn’t dead – architizer journal. Journal. Retrieved December 22, 2021, from https://architizer.com/blog/inspiration/collections/architectural-illustration/

Park, P. (2019, February 9). 8 productivity tips for your Wacom Tablet. Wacom Americas’ Blog. Retrieved December 22, 2021, from https://community.wacom.com/us/8-productivity-tips-for-your-wacom-tablet/

Sketchbook. (n.d.). For everyone who loves to draw. Retrieved December 22, 2021, from https://www.sketchbook.com/

Wacom. (n.d.). Wacom Global. Retrieved December 22, 2021, from https://www.wacom.com/en-us

Wacom. (n.d.). Wacom Intuos Features. Retrieved December 22, 2021, from https://101.wacom.com/UserHelp/en/Features_Intuos.htm

Wacom. (n.d.). Wacom Intuos. Retrieved December 22, 2021, from  https://www.wacom.com/en-us/products/pen-tablets/wacom-intuos

License

Icon for the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Tutorials of Visual Graphic Communication Programs for Interior Design 2 Copyright © 2022 by Yongyeon Cho is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.