James Akers
Can You *Really* Design In Procreate?? | ...

Can architects and designers *really* design in Procreate, or is it just a glorified digital sketchbook? In today's tutorial for architects, designers and students, I demonstrate the "super powers" of Procreate that make it the ideal choice to imagine your design, develop it in scale, then hand it off for further development in Rhino or Sketchup. What makes Procreate such a powerful design tool is that it combines the best of both worlds…

Can You *Really* Design In Procreate?? | Procreate for Designers
James Akers
From My Perspective

Good things really do happen when you expect them the least.

For years I’ve been on the lookout for good ways to explain the advantages of designing and rendering by hand with Procreate, versus traditional designing and rendering by hand with pencil on paper. I haven't found the exact right words yet, but I keep looking.

Then this morning I woke up and saw on Twitter that the cartoonist Gary Larson was starting to cartoon again. He retired from drawing "The Dark Side" about 10 years ago, but according to this announcement he was starting to draw again-- for fun. Not the deadline-based, cartooning with which he entertained the world for 15 years, but drawing for his own amusement. Naturally my interest was peeked! But then it got better.

From My Perspective
Procreate app technique
James Akers
Gestural Concept Sketching Techniques for Use ...

In today's masterclass, I show you how quick gestures with Procreate brushes can be all you need to create compelling concept design renderings full of life and energy

Gestural Concept Sketching Techniques for Use with Procreate Over Sketchup
Procreate app technique, Sketches
James Akers
Procreate, Architecture & Design: Sketching ...

In today's masterclass, I show you how designing with sketches can give your ideas the time and attention they need to grow, bringing your client into the creative process, as opposed to shutting them out with the false promise of half-baked photorealistic concept designs.

Procreate, Architecture & Design: Sketching as an Essential Step Before Digital Photorealism
Procreate app technique, Sketches
James Akers
Procreate, Architecture & Design: Sketching ...

In today's masterclass, I show you how Procreate can help you develop the details of your design, while simultaneously creating sketches that make your design real and "human" to your client.

Procreate, Architecture & Design: Sketching As Part of the Design and Presentation Process

3-D interactive apartment models

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Fast, Low-Cost Architectural Sketches Help Realtors and Prospective Buyers Study Design Options Before Buying

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As an architect who specializes in early-stage concept design, architectural sketching and rapid visualization, I get to serve as one-stop shop for realtors, developers and prospective homeowners wanting to study their options before committing to buying an important property, or before engaging a "high profile" architect who, given the pressures of running a large practice, might just assign the exercise to a couple of talented in-house designers anyway.

In the collaboration posted here, I worked with a Boston developer to sketch (in a fraction of the time required by a larger firm) the look and feel of a 120-unit, future-looking condo project in a prosperous Boston suburb. 

 

Early study based on SketchUp massing study: the Idea of pre-fab, stackable units enters inWe used a combination of traditional and digital architectural rendering techniques to explore her options, culminating in the simple black-and-white digital renderings at the end. Unfortunately, the banking meltdown of 2008 nipped the project in the bud, but...

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House Portraits: The Realtors Secret Weapon for Closing Deals and Creating Happy Referrals For Life

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Everyone knows that house portraits in watercolor, pen and ink or pencil make striking and memorable gifts. Think of the people you know who have either commissioned or received house portraits. Chances are they hold pride of place in their picture galleries, and they've probably been inspired to print them on holiday cards and stationery as well.

House Portrait of Guest House, Easthampton, NY (w/ Clark Smith)

What is less well known is that house portraits in watercolor, pen and ink or pencil have measurable value when it comes to selling your home. They capture your home in its best light, grabbing attention over the repetitive photographs that fill the storefront window at the realtor's office, or blur together in the the real estate section of the paper. 

Vignette: Main House, Easthampton, NY (w/ Clark Smith)

The modest cost of a high quality house portrait--or its cousins: the architectural rendering of an apartment, or the interactive 3-d model of a NYC loft built in Sketchup--is a drop in the bucket compared to the

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Part II: When Architectural Renderers Are Also Architects, Architecture Clients Study Options More Cost-Efficiently

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In Part One below, we saw the beginning of an architectural idea: stackable, pre-fab units that come together in a way that animates building and neighborhood. The series of images below follows the thread of that design through to the final black-and-white digital renderings.

Bitt, you may be asking yourself why an architect who does traditional pencil and watercolor architectural rendering would present final images of his own design in a black-and-white digital style-especially given that architect's thoughts on the shortcomings of digital rendering. In this case we were looking for a dispassionate style which combined the strengths of digital modeling (real-time navigation as we pitched the project to the Planning Board) with the charms of the pencil sketch.

Anyone else find ways to combine digital rendering and traditional rendering tools to save time and money in the architectural rendering process? Stew? Chip? Dale? Mark? Tom? Bill? Vic? Leave your comments, lads. As always, click on images to enjoy detail.

Curious how iPad Drawing and Procreate can work for you?

Attend our free Procreate Weekend Workshop to see all the ways digital drawing can make you a better designer, and help you rediscover the benefits of drawing by hand in the Digital Age.