Art and Science
The work of an architectural illustrator is both an art and a science. Science starts with learning software, but unfortunately, that is where most archviz artists start and stop. Create a 3D model, slap some bitmaps on a plane, add some lights, and call it a day. That is where I start, minus slapping a bitmap on a plane (that is a science in itself).
Every image should have a purpose, which shouldn’t, and really can’t, be one shot showing everything equally. Every image should have a focus point; you must walk the viewer through your image using science. Unless the client dictates the view and isn’t flexible, every image has a purpose. I use light, shadow, color, contrast, and leading lines to bring viewers through my scenes.
I use several analytical tools to study my images. Some are low-tech, and others are high-tech. First, I squint my eyes, which removed detail, and distractions reveal themselves. Then I will crunch my colors so I only see bright spots, and then I’ll crunch it the other way to see dark spots; I want nothing 100% white and nothing 100% dark. Then I create a map over my scene that shows colors, what is hot (pure white) and cold (pure black), and since I work in float, or the camera world RAW, I can lighten up the dark and darken the light. Here is what that looks like.
Luminocity map
After I have my scene’s lighting balanced, with no 100% whites and no 100% blacks, I brighten what I want to be the focal point and darken everything else (very subtle). After everything is said and done, I analyze everything to ensure the viewer is looking where I want them to look. Here is what that looks like:
Heatmap
Regions
Visual Sequence
I initially intended for the fireplace to be the focal point, so I chose it to be right in the middle of my view. Since the outside is also bright, I darkened the fireplace to contrast more with the fire in the fireplace than the trees against the sky. Then, I ensured the fire was the most colorful part of my image. The whole project was a house that brings the outside in, so I got the viewer outside, then back into the darkest part of the image, via the table, and then back to the fireplace.
Final image
I can’t express enough the skill it takes to create a healthy, balanced, inviting, and pleasing image. I tell my clients that people might not know why an image is good, but they know when it is good (or bad).
When you hire a professional illustrator, you are hiring an artist who knows how to create an image, and they also learned the software to use as a tool to accomplish that.