Nobody Remembers Normal
Last month my son Benjamin, who is turning eight this month, had a hard day at school. After some bribing with the potential of longer computer privileges, Benjamin shared with me his troubles. Ben, who has Asperger's, told me kids at school were saying he was not normal. I told Ben, "nobody remembers normal". With the point of entry into computer graphics lowering I am seeing a lot of computer architectural illustrations being posted online. The majority of these illustrations are extremely limited and do not take into consideration the fundamentals of art. I compare this trend to the point-and-click camera. Most of us have a camera on are cell phone. Everybody can point and click to snap a photo. But not everybody takes a treasured photo.
Most computer architectural illustrations I'm seeing have a blue sky, puffy white clouds, and lack personality. These illustrations bore me and I find little excitement looking at them. Technically they might be accurate but creatively they lack substance.
Typically, in an architectural illustration, you'll see a clear blue sky, puffy white clouds, and apple green grass. Architecture's original purpose was to take us out of the elements. Try some dramatic lighting, perhaps the calm before the storm, or the calm after the storms. Concentrate your efforts on giving people a reason to go inside and get out of the storm with some bright sunny interior illustrations.
My point is straightforward. Anybody can pick up a camera or their cell phone and take a photo. Not many people know what makes a picture or rendering meritorious, they just know that it is. If all you create is blue skies with white puffy clouds and green grass your architectural illustrations will be normal, and nobody remembers normal.
Looking back at our lives, we all remember people and places, that were not expected. Referring back to my son Benjamin, his favorite Wonder Years episode, was the one with Margaret Farquhar. We all remember the Margaret Farquhars in our lives, because they were not normal.
