Hand/PC rendering of trees and shrubs practice

Hand/PC rendering of trees and shrubs practice

Please see below a selection of pieces I have produced whilst practising my plan trees and woody shrubbery symbols and rendering techniques.

This was produced in AutoCAD - exported and the shadows were added in Photoshop post completion.

Singularly they look great. When used en masse its difficult to differentiate each tree and they can look messy. Great for providing effect and presence, especially on a planting heavy plan with accent plants/ tree avenues etc.

The below image was hand created with different width pens. It took far too long and looks messy and muddled. Too much going on. 

The below image was me trying to create more basic shapes. After I decided that my trees in the hand rendered image were too complicated I wanted to create a simple selection in autocad and Photoshop. a selection that I can now use as many times as suits and will not clutter a drawing. 

 A selection of simple trees. Here I've tried using different rendering techniques. This includes sharpening a pencil onto paper and rubbing filings into the page. overall I was pleased and uploaded them into Photoshop to touch them up and cut them out to re-use.

Below is a final image I drew of a bush. I tried to make the above images more complicated and 3D. It works well but was time consuming and I don't think it suits my style on plans. 

New Skills merging with everyday with project management

New Skills merging with everyday with project management

I am slowly finding that I have a more diverse palate and appetite for learning new skills and utilising them to become more involved at work. 

For instance the below design for a project would have previously been outsourced but now I am able to utilise my honed skill-set to help me get more involved on a base level. 

This hasn't proven to aid my profit margins but it does give me a bigger sense of pride and investment in a project. It also enables me to really steer the company to produce larger and more detailed gardens. In addition to the AutoCAD and Photoshop work I have been completing I have also been completing more and more hand sketch concepts on site which proves to be much quicker and universally beneficial for myself and the clients. 

AutoCAD documents produced and honed by me:

Here are some sketches and hand drawings for  some bespoke railings we are installing in a property in Eltham. I researched the property's period (Victorian) and tried to represent the heritage of the house whilst designing a new and interesting railing for its perimiter. In the end the first image was chosen as a design and we dropped the gate. Its now just iron panels caulked into sandstone capping on a yellow London brick wall. Photo to follow when the project is completed (estimated completion date 20th January) 

Design in everyday work and life.

Design in everyday work and life.

The more time I spend at University working on what makes good design, the more I subconsciously deliberate over objects and scenarios.

I good example of this is the recent collaboration my company and Canterbury Cathedral's blacksmith have been working on. A centre piece for a small tiered Kentish garden. Its based on a Digitalis flower and is mild steel that's been sandblasted, zinc coated and painted.

Its working on these smaller projects when I really begin to micromanage my thinking and work on what is aesthetically correct. Not be chance but by design.


Please see images below.

Chaumont Final Presentation

Chaumont Final Presentation Update;

Last week we finally completed  our group presentation.

The key things that were changed last minute included our change of mind on what wood was going to be used as shuttering for the pathway and as walling within the garden. The pricing structure also changed to bring the cost of the project down. 

Please see below the 6 A3 sheets we presented to the auditors for Chaumont. Main reason for posting is to keep a log of work completed with a view to having a timeline for self reflection and referral at later dates.