Bobby Parker 10/4/21 Bobby Parker 10/4/21

Elliott Home Renderings

Buying a new home is exciting. I have purchased three homes, one being new construction. I wish I had a good gallery of homes to choose from like Elliott Homes is providing their customers. When I had my home built it was based on a set of 2d plans. Had the builder invested in some good quality renderings, I think I might have made different choices.

My parent had my childhood house designed by a local architect. The 2d drawings looked great and were approves. Once built, so many things were not as expected. Again, a rendering would have avoided these costly design bloopers. The experience of seeing my parents go through this process, and my childhood love of drawing, is what got me started in the architectural illustration business.

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Bobby Parker 10/2/21 Bobby Parker 10/2/21

Longview Modern Farmhouse Rendering

I am happy to present the Longview modern farmhouse rendering. It is nice to see an American house without a garage door off of the front.

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Bobby Parker 9/30/21 Bobby Parker 9/30/21

Client Quote

“I want to tell you that having the rendering done was the best decision ever! And this is in spite of not having a high definition finished product (my fault, I do need to make the final choices on the house color). People are in awe when they see the picture, they actually think it is the real thing. There is not one day of the week that I look back at your design for reference, to help me choose trim and color for the outside”. - Johanne Ferguson

Bobby Parker 9/10/21 Bobby Parker 9/10/21

The Hucksley House Rendering

This is another wonderful house design from one of my favorite clients. I don’t do many green homes, but I do like it. My last home was green, so maybe I have a bias. What is your favorite color house? What color would you like to see on this one?

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Bobby Parker 8/27/21 Bobby Parker 8/27/21

House 2506 Rendering

These stock home plan designers have come a long way. Years ago, stock home plan designers didn’t want to pay more than a few hundred dollars for a rendering. I pre-qualify all clients, and when I would visit potential clients’ websites, you could tell that that was all they were willing to spend. I still had many who chose to invest in high-quality renderings, but the majority would decide on the cheap overseas alternative; however, that has changed. Today, house plan designers are willing to invest, and this is an example. A great design deserves a superb rendering.

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Bobby Parker 8/26/21 Bobby Parker 8/26/21

Troubadour 228 House Renderings

I love the Troubadour 228 House! First, anything with brick is good with me. I am from Chicago, and we like brick, so I have a fondest for it. Today, I live and work in upper Minnesota, and we simply don’t have bricks.

Sometimes my client gives me incomplete information about colors and materials, so what you see is of my choice, from the brick to the siding, roof, and stone retaining wall. I can imagine things will change, and I’ll be sure to post an update, so please check back often.

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Bobby Parker 8/23/21 Bobby Parker 8/23/21

Osprey Heights Renderings

What can I say? Someone will be blessed to live in this home. I do hundreds of house rendering a year, thousands over my career, and the Osprey Heights house is probably one of my favorites. I appreciate the architecture, but it is the location that sells this house, in my opinion.

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Bobby Parker 8/10/21 Bobby Parker 8/10/21

The emphasis must be on the work

The emphasis must be on the work, never on yourself or the desire for recognition. You are fusing your mind with the work itself, and any intrusive thoughts from your ego, doubts about yourself, or personal obsessions will interrupt the flow. Not only will you find this flow immensely therapeutic, but it will also yield uncannily creative results. These are words that I try to live by. When my ego starts to seep into my work, I know it is time to step back, go for a walk, bike ride, or hike, to ground myself, and once my mind is cleared, I can’t back to creating some awesome stuff.

Since this post is just a thought, I decided to add some arbitrary eye candy. These are digital watercolors that I did about a decade ago. One thing about watercolors is it is timeless.

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Bobby Parker 8/9/21 Bobby Parker 8/9/21

What makes a good rendering?

Many elements in an architectural rendering come together to make an architectural rendering be considered "good." Some of these elements include but are not limited to lighting, the rule of thirds, lines, shapes, texture, patterns, and color. All of these things play an essential role when it comes to architectural renderings.

One of the most important of these elements is lighting.
Lighting is one of the most essential elements of an architectural rendering. If you make an architectural rendering with terrible lighting, the architectural rendering you are trying to produce will automatically be terrible as well.

Another vital element used to make a good architectural rendering is the rule of thirds. The rule of thirds is basically a rule of thumb that architectural illustrators use as a guideline for placing the subject in the architectural rendering. Rule of thirds is also used to make the architectural rendering visually appealing, more interesting, and catch the viewer's eye. You can also use this guideline horizontally or vertically, depending on the architectural rendering itself.

The leading line is another element that architectural illustrators use to make architectural renderings more appealing to the eye. The leading lines may not seem very useful or essential, but they significantly add to the overall composition. They also serve two purposes in architectural renderings. That is to lead the viewer's eye around the architectural rendering and keep the viewer's attention.

One other element that architectural illustrators use to make an architectural rendering better is shapes. Most architectural renderings contain one or more shapes. Still, those architectural renderings where the architectural illustrator uses shapes in exciting and unique ways really stand out and make an excellent architectural rendering even better. Much like lines, shapes also help catch the viewer's eye.

The texture is also an element that is used when making a "good" architectural rendering. The texture is the surface of an object with shapes, lines, color, patterns, and depth. While capturing texture in an architectural rendering, details are crucial. If an architectural illustrator captures the fine details, it makes the architectural rendering more lifelike.

Architectural illustrators also add patterns to an architectural rendering to add to the composition. Patterns are a repetition of colors, shapes, and objects. Using a pattern is the key to having a good composition in an architectural rendering. Patterns also give added interest to an architectural rendering. Architectural Illustrators add patterns to architectural renderings to keep the viewer's attention and draw them in.

One more element that architectural illustrators use while architectural rendering is color. Believe it or not, the color wheel is something that architectural illustrators use as a guide to which colors go best together in an architectural rendering. Colors on the color wheel are often referred to as hues. Colors opposite from each other on the color wheel typically go best together. Architectural Illustrators also usually use cool or warmer colors to give off a certain mood that they are trying to accomplish.

Many elements in an architectural rendering come together to make an architectural rendering be considered "good." Factors like lighting, the rule of thirds, lines, shapes, texture, patterns, and color all work well together to add interest and a great deal of composition in architectural renderings. These things all add to architectural renderings in their own unique way, and architectural illustrators typically use them to their advantage to improve their rendering and make them as well and professional-looking as possible.

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Bobby Parker 7/23/21 Bobby Parker 7/23/21

House 2621 S House Plan Rendering

Over the past six months, I have completed dozens of these house renderings. These smaller houses are a pleasure to do. They take a few days from start to finish, and then I get to move on to the next. I also have larger projects which take months to complete and are good, but it is hard to stay motivated that long on one project. My remedy is to fill time with these smaller houses. With a larger project, I can send off a color proof and wait days and even weeks for feedback. It is nice to fill these gaps with smaller houses like the House 2621 S House Plan Rendering.

The 2621 S House Plan Rendering is a beautiful house, well designed, and I also love the brick. White brick with white grout is a challenge to render, but I think I pulled it off. What do you think?

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