Author Archives: Housingresearch.solutions

Unknown's avatar

About Housingresearch.solutions

Researcher into the Commodified Housing Market (by annoyance), Landscape Architect (by profession), Bricklayer (by trade) and Dyslexic (by accident of birth).

Images of seduction?

Posted on by
Reply
Opener

So the brochure we all have to put some text and images in a limited space.
Therefore trying to create an eye catching effect, plus some kind of narrative.

Header image
The err…shot as Robert would say. Had this image for a while, love Banksy.   
Had to a bit of work to do as the girl and balloon were facing the wrong way. Lighten wall shadow, darken footpath shadow. Drawing blended on the wall with a couple of layers to get the colour effect. Grass (a bit naff, time etc). Light, light and light to get that grundge and dreamy contrast.
Overall pleased, more work on the grass and the image was cropped for the brochure as more of a letterbox view which works better.

Original

Update, letterbox view, grass

Secondary images
Three images each with a different message and mood.

Dock side 
A mix of three images, two beautiful women (with freckles, is it warm in here), its the eyes….
A bold sunset and a hand drawn image, rendered/PShopped by yours truly.
The idea was to join people and not necassarlly men to the dock side as its also a public place. Viewing the river and looking at the working dockside from the upper deck 
A normal British day.
I wanted to show that the river side walk is a part of the greenway system of NW, thus used in an ordinary way, caught in a shower, the rest of the narrative is for the viewer to decide, being chased or owner? Long flowering meadow grass, resin bonded on bitmac, so easy for curves etc. Practical more than decorative. Let the planting do the work.

A chilly visit to the Aquarium
Footbridge designed with desire lines in mind, so its function over form (a modernist at heart). So whats the story? You decide.

Hand or Computer?

Posted on by
Reply

That is the Question


So a complete re-think on the design in general, got a bit lost in the detail…. 


No change there then.


So after the crit (some really good work from the rest of the group!!)


A comment was made may be i should do more hand drawn stuff.


So started a couple of sketches out of (my head), showed Robert, who reminded me that employers like computer stuff…so back to rendering in P/S etc




Looking down on the dock


Looking down from the upper public platform to the working dock. Industry is part of the landscape and part of the context of North Woolwich


Ink pen, coloured pencils, a bit of PS for shadow.

Photoshop 

Containers, ship texture etc. Though other textures and materials were hard to find from this angle. Seems to work ok.

Ship in dock from the River

Sky and Shadow P/S, the rest as above.
Photoshop etc.

Pleased with the reflection, grudge style on the ship, etc. A lot of improvement possible, but must get on…..



Zeroed In

Posted on by
Reply

Don’t do small


Well after some debate (and some chat with Paul) decided not to try and cram my MP on A1. Due to the fact that the next scale down from 1;2500 is 1;5000 it just was lost on A1. So A0 it is.


Lots of explaining to do to justify the drawing, which can only be done with sequential’s and flow digrams. No point writing an essay when the 1000 word rule works with a picture (plus spelling and grammar mistakes are not so obvious).


Added a high street for destination and node.


No slogan or log yet..


bed zzzzzzzzzzzzz 










Masterplan

Posted on by
5

Almost There


Like all struggling with the beast, that is master planning. I keep thinking about the quote from James Corner that master planning can sometimes lead to an alienation of the site, as in reality the site will be used and seen from a human eye line perspective. So I have constantly tried to visualise each area, creating visual references along routes, nodes, Fused Grid theory etc. So it may look a bit jumbled  (ie not that pretty) from a plan view (and to be honest only Gulls and Crows will have that pleasure), but hopefully the journeys through the greenways to destinations, whether as a visitor or resident, will act as an encouragement to leave the Car at home ( along with the fused Grid idea of the Car route is less convenient than walking).


Visuals


Once annotated, I get on with the many (eye level) visuals that will be needed to explain the flow, beauty and hope that I would like to bring to North Woolwich.



Not entirely finished, annotation and composition etc.



Construction Drawings 
Spot Heights
Tree Planting Scheme (but not schedule)
Drainage on Elevated sections
Hard works and Index

Hockney and the BIGGER picture

Posted on by
3
Why is he so bloody good?

http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibitions/hockney/



Watching a Culture show special on David Hockney, really made me understand the concept of ‘looking and seeing’, personally always done it, thought about it etc, but he put it so so well in the Chinese quote ‘you paint with your hands, eyes and heart’ miss any one of those three and you will miss the soul of the picture.
A case of ‘What is Landscape’…interpretation of the individual viewer, a lonely place as Hockney quoted.
I fully understand this and yet with 6 billion of us on the planet there is bound to similarities of view, I get Hockney even though I am not even in the same country as him (metaphorically speaking, explanation later).
Its not just pretty pictures or clever impressions of place, its soul, love, absorption of place. Ok from his perspective and yet its so easy to pick that up, beyond atmosphere, creating place and memory even though we have probably never been to the spot he is painting.
Not just I want to be there, but I want to open my eyes to the point were i glimpse the picture that is vivid in his mind.
Also his idea of 8 (up to 16) cameras taking film but all slightly out of time. Moving through space and season, just so bloody brilliant. The fact that its all a bit out of time and view on 16 screens means that you scan the space as you would in reality, not looking at the centre of a big screen as the camera man see’s it.

Inspiration

I draw and sketch like most, but always wanting to get across something more than just realism, wanting to engage, draw in the viewer. As previously stated I think that to truly understand impressionism we have to go through the ‘realism stage’ to understand its soulless nature.
Assumption.
How we see ourselves and how others see us can be quite a revelation,  sometimes good other times bad. Remembering that every one see’s the world through their own distorted lens. So most of the time its best to ‘Carry on reguardless’ otherwise one would go mad trying to please all, but occasionally a comment comes across with no agenda that will surprise you and make you reevaluate who you thought you were.
The strategy is to have no reputation, thus no reputation to lose. Just do the best you can under what ever circumstances come your way, succeed or fail. Obviously learn from battle scars as well as laurels.
So questioned (and stated ‘that you are obviously an artist’) as to were did I train was a pleasant surprise as obviously never saw myself in that light, and herein lies the problem (not a big one mind you) if others see you in a different light to how you see yourself then that provides a new challenge as to how to move forward. A real evaluation sometimes is needed. Though I personally don’t see myself as an artist, but maybe on the journey with the aspiration to get down on canvas/screen the mood atmosphere that so interests me. 
A really good friend of mine said that when you radically change your profession/lifestyle you have to talk a different language, ie the new language of your your chosen path.
Its just how to see the world, a world of proportion, colour, shadow, light and atmosphere leading to ‘place, presence, beauty and hope’ or not depending on what drives you.