Some years back while living in Pasadena, I became familiar with the multitude of wonderful homes in the area and among them The Gamble House, by the Brothers Greene.  At some point, the idea of rendering this building began to intrigue me and how I would depict this craftsman masterpiece as an architectural illustration project.

Having some holiday time off in December, I decided to have a go at it- a poster type illustration of the majestic front elevation.  The South facing facade is visible to anyone driving down Orange Grove Avenue, and although there are any number view of interesting view angles, I went for “iconic”.

An interesting rendering problem in this case was the deep shadow cast by the eaves for most of the day (also making decent reference photos a challenge) and I chose to play down the shadow in order to present the subtle architectural detail usually obscured in darkness.

In homage to the Beaux Arts style, I rendered it on a beige colored stock, which infuses the overall drawing with warmth and richness.

This pencil drawing was meant to serve as a template for a more formal watercolor rendering – on the back burner for a while due to other projects – but who knows, maybe next Christmas!

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TBT: Here is an amazing aerial view of the Canary Wharf project in East London that I drew and painted while working in my step-dad’s studio, Carlos Diniz Associates. This was pre-computer rendering – all done by hand. The original is acrylic paint on a photo-mural panel, a technique developed by Carlos and used exclusively in his studio.

We are delighted to announce that Carlos’ archives have been accepted by the University of California Santa Barbara’s Art, Design & Architecture Museum for inclusion in their permanent collection. We will be posting more gems as we sort through the archive.

You can read more about Carlos and his studio here.  For more information about our studio, contact us.

When you are dealing with a city as cherished as Old Town Pasadena in California, getting a project past the city council, neighborhood groups and special interests can be trying.

After some difficulties, we were contacted by Lincoln Property Company to help.  We created a series of very detailed, traditional watercolor paintings that depicted how the initial architectural scheme would fit into this important Pasadena neighborhood.  We took into consideration the concerns that were expressed to our client by the community groups and city officials, and created images that emphasized the retail, landscape and public amenities and openness that speak to the quality of life expected in the area.

As you can see in this article in the Pasadena Star News, the City Council is now well on board.

The client’s comments?

“The renderings have been very effective for us. Great work as always!” – R. K.

“Beautiful!” – S. S.