St. Paul’s CathedralA step-by-step guide to the making of a “digital watercolor” architectural illustration in Photoshop

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Some early view studies of the massingmodel to help nail down the lighting andoverall composition.

These two are from the southeast - top ismorning light and bottom is lateafternoon.

View study from ESE with samemorning & afternoon lighting rigas before.

View study from NE with samemorning & afternoon lighting rigas before. We decided againsttrying to show both towers in oneviewpoint, and focus on the southelevation of the north tower.

Base rendering of 3d modelA viewpoint somewhere in between the first two was agreed on, and late afternoon lighting brought out the foldedplanes in the new tower. The final model was completed in AutoCAD and exported to Vue D’Esprit for rendering -I chose to use Vue for rendering this project because the standard glass materials are very nice and I could set upsome atmospheric effects very quickly.

Selection sets generated in Vue d’EspritSeveral alpha channels and material ID layers were rendered along with the color pass to allow for easy selectionset creation in Photoshop.

Watercolor skyThe sky rendered in Vue d’esprit was cut out via the selection set from the last step. A watercolor painting wasscanned and dropped in on a separate layer behind the model to control its strength - I could then blend it inwith the rendered sky as desired. I also added a color adjustment layer between the sky and the model to tonedown the oranges and yellows in the painting.

Background adjustmentsI added a couple simple planes to show neighborings buildings to the west, along with some palm trees at theextreme left edge to help with scale and composition. I also dropped in a dark blue wash in the upper right to blend in the east side (short side) of the tower with the sky beyond.

Filters appliedOnce the scene is set, I flattened all of the visible layers (leaving the selection sets underneath), and applied a mixof filters and blur effects. As much as possible, I kept them on separate adjustment layers to control their strengthand allow for changes later.

Closeup of the filter effects on the tower - before and after.

Glass adjustment 1: I added a highlight to the center third of the tower to emphasize the folded planes of the southelevation. Note that the highlight is brighter at the right edge and at the top to heighten the effect.

Glass adjustment 2: I then added a blue color adjustment layer over all of the glass to tie it together, and help thetower blend in with the sky a bit more.

Glass adjustment 3: A dark wash is added to the left third of the tower to emphasize the fold, but the effect is reducedat the tower edge to ensure visibilty through the balconies and corner units.

Glass adjustment 4: A random pattern of interior blinds are softly painted in to help add interest and help breakdown the scale of the tower.

Glass adjustment 5: Interior lights are indicated, and soft glows near the lights help to warm up especially cool areasin the tower. Note that more lights are visible in the left third and in the reflection of the south tower in the right third.

Glass effects completeThere was a great deal of neighborhood sensitivity to the size of the proposed new tower, and so the client wantedthe tower to blend in with the sky as much as possible as a way of reducing the perceived bulk. At this point wewere happy with the way the tower and sky were reading, so I proceeded with the foreground entourage.

Trees and people addedI added people throughout the scene with a grouping placed at the east gate of the cathedral. I took a little licensewith the growies at the east end of the cathedral and added the large specimen tree in the courtyard between thetwo buildings. Bouganvilla is painted on top of the low wall separating the courtyard from the street.

GlowsGlows are added to the shade side of the buildings. The color of the light corresponds to its surroundings, so theeast end of the cathedral is mostly green and the glows at the courtyard and the townhouses are mostly yellow. Aglint of sunshine is added at the top center of the tower.

Foreground palm trees addedQueen palms are added along the Sixth Avenue frontage, closely matching the tree species and existing locationsto reinforce the site’s proximity to Balboa Park across the street. The palm trees on the close side of the street areomitted for clarity.

Street reflectionsBlurred reflections are added to bring in more life and color next to the buildings. A mask is created just for thepavement and the reflections are “cloned in” from the rest of the image. I also increased the saturation here andthere to keep emphasis on the subject.

Cars addedCars are added at the left and right edges to help frame the scene. Another car is added at the right third pointand slightly blurred to reduce its impact. Careful attention is paid to its placement so that it does not block anyimportant architectural features.

Foreground landscapingGeneric flowers and shrubs are added to the right foreground to indicate the park across the street. They arepainted on several layers before flattening to ensure no repetition in the stamp pattern.

Dark wash at lower rightA new dark wash is added at the lower right two-thirds of the image to downplay the foreground landscapingand keep our attention on the project.

Paper textures appliedThe rendering is flattened once again, and a series of scanned paper textures are set on top at various opacities. Byapplying masks to the texturing, important architectural features can remain crisp while the background and edgescan be left “fuzzy”. A subtle salt effect is used on the watercolor sky and in some shaded areas for further interest.

Revisions to the architecture designSeveral months after the initial rendering was created, the architects requested that subsequent design changes beincorporated into a new version. Seen here is the color pass of the revised model rendered again in Vue d’Esprit.

Updated renderingMost of the initial work done in Photoshop was re-used for this new version. Updated selection sets were createdautomatically at render time, and many of the effects were simply re-applied with the new masks. Note also that wechanged the sun angle very slightly to get cast shadows on the east sides of the cathedral.

St. Paul’s CathedralA step-by-step guide to the making of a “digital watercolor” architectural illustration in Photoshop

Client:Tucker Sadler ArchitectsEntourage assistance: Genesis Studios

ASAI Award of Excellence winner, 2008

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