Concluding the Vector Illustrator list... L.H Barker!

Right guys, this is the last vector illustrator I will be reviewing. Hope I haven't bored you too much!

Quite unanimously, it seems that successful architectural illustrations should contrast black and white with colour. The choice of shade or texture inclusion on the other hand seems to differ. I like how Barker has included detailed texture on the coloured portion of the illustration; however for me, it makes the image far too realistic to seem imaginative and energetic in my opinion. 

This emotion is emphasised for me by how the white parts have a lot of detail as well, I don't think the contrast is as successful if the detail is a constant throughout... as Birkey and Kugler varied amounts of detail in their work.

The same effect is used by Barker here. It does give the illustration depth; however it doesn't seem to have life. This could be due to the realistic textures and heavy amount of detail throughout the images. 

Of course, some of you will probably disagree with me, which is fine! This particular style doesn't particularly excite me unfortunately. Anyway, this about wraps up the vector illustration section. 

Apologies for the mass of architecture... it's what we're doing on our project at the moment so I thought it would be useful!

www.lhbarkerstudio.com/PortfolioIntroA.htm

Randal Birkey: Vector Illustrator the Fourth.

Well, it took me a while to find this artist; however it took me even longer to find what I needed... he's got folders for every type of illustration under the sun! Unfortunately, for now I can only share his vector illustrations with you.

Okay, here's illustration number one, and as usual, I'm starting with one which focuses on architecture. It immediately jumps out to me because I've noticed that, when looking from the outside edges towards the middle, there is gradually more and more detail which allows the focus to immediately be drawn to the centre.

 Following suit, Birkey has juxtaposed black and white with light colours; however he has braved more bold reds and greens instead of sticking to pastels. I like the textures he has included like on the glass panes and the sketchy quality that the lines have (as I've noticed that they're not all the same density.) 

Out of all of the line techniques which I have seen so far, I like this one the most due to the depth and emotion which can be gathered from the sketchy feel. It contrasts in this way compared to Dent's work, where everything is very organised and the same density. Being imperfect and sketchy is what makes this image seem alive in my opinion.

I know this one is architectural as well (sorry!) I've been trying to have some variety with vector illustrations but this one is different due to the 3D aspect. It contrasts to every other image I have posted linked to this type of illustration by how it has obviously been digitalised whereas the others still appear to have a hand drawn quality to them. 

The flow of use of minimal and light colours continues with this image. It is different, but it still has an illustrative quality as the lines which compose the building's structure can still be seen.

What can I take inspiration from with Birkey? Well, I really like the variety of 'detail density' which has been used to give his images life.

Check out his many other styles of illustrations here: www.birkey.com

Vector Illustrator number three is.... Chris Dent!

Chris Dent seems to favour architectural vector illustrations... that much became obvious to me when perusing his online portfolio. Okay, here's some of his creations!

Apologies if you need to zoom in to see this piece... it's absolutely huge! Now, I envy Dent's patience even more than Penton; every one of the buildings on this illustration has maximum detail on it, as well as every line being perfectly straight.  I have no idea how anyone can have that kind of patience!

 I love the 3D composition of this image, as well as how each continent has been assigned  a colour so each one stands out to audiences and it gives it life via the depth. Dent has included real buildings from around the world, and like the other vector illustrator's, he favours pastel shades and contrasts black and white with colour. 

In terms of this image, he has done the opposite to Penton, who drew attention to a building by surrounding it with colour. Dent on the other hand, has done the opposite by surrounding colour with black and white. Both methods work well; however it becomes clear that the secret to a successful digital architectural illustration, is to contrast black and white with colours (preferably pastel ones...)

Obviously, Dent's client here was Puma. Again, inhuman attention to detail and perspective when it comes to the buildings, especially as they are all from London. I really like how he has taken one city and recreated it. In particular, how he has successfully achieved this whilst simultaneously shaping it into the Puma logo stuns me, it is amazing! His detail is especially accurate since I can recognise buildings on here; such as the London Eye, the Gherkin and Wembley Arena.

One criticism I must give this is that using no colour makes the image seem flat and lifeless, which is emphasised by how he hasn't shaded at all.

I can take inspiration from Dent by learning how patience and perseverance obviously pays off when it comes to being accurate in detail.

www.chrisdent.co.uk

Olivier Kugler... come on down!

So the next vector illustrator in line for analysis is Olivier Kugler!

Let's delve right in, shall we?

Having only just finished looking at Tommy Penton's work, what I can see immediately is quite a large contrast when looking at Kugler's vector illustrations. Again, I will be sensible and kick off with an image of a building. 

Contrast number one:  Kugler seems to take a minimalist approach when it comes to detail of lines on his subject matter.

Contrast number two: It is much more obvious in Kugler's work that the lines are imperfect in terms of straightness, which impacts how the perspective is illustrated.

Contrast number three: It is clear that Kugler experiments more with colour than Penton; however they both favour pastel colours and juxtapose colour with black and white.

These contrasts do not make Kugler's work any more or less impressive than Penton's, if anything it is purely down to opinion. It's good that they are different as it proves that they both have a style of their own when it comes to vector illustrations. With this image, I like how Kugler has gradually faded out the image by filling in some of the trees in green, and leaving the others as simply an outline with the colour of the sky bleeding into it. This gives layers to the image, and therefore brings it depth and life.

The choice to make angles more obscure with the building makes the image appear as having more cartoon influences than Penton's images.

The idiosyncrasy of Kugler's vector illustrations is clearly how he leaves the effect of the image being incomplete by leaving certain areas in simple black and white lines. The contrast which it brings takes attention away from the fact that only simple lines have been used instead of a lot of detail. From Kugler, I can take inspiration from including contrasts to add depth to my images.

www.olivierkugler.com/life_drawing_reportage.html

Tommy Penton, vector illustrator!

Apologies for the lack of creativity in the title, very tired haha!
So the next few posts will be focused on Vector Illustrators to help me with my current project. Here we go!

This is an example of Tommy Penton's illustrations which focuses on buildings, (I thought it would be wise since our project focuses on architectural sketches and illustrations!)

 I admire the attention to detail which Penton has included, as well as using accurate aspects of perspective on the building. Although the detail is amazing and creditable due to the bucket loads of patience Penton must have, one key characteristic I can see is that the lines have been drawn free hand, and they aren't totally straight. Whereas on the one hand, someone like me would freak out for it not being perfect, at the same time it gives a quirky and unique feature to the image as a whole, it seems to have an energy about it... who knew wavy lines could be so great?

I find this image of Penton's to be very interesting due to the intricate lines which have been incorporated. The image is somewhat left to the imagination as to what it is but what is clear, is that the image has been repeated three times and rotated 90 degrees per rotation. (If I were to guess what it was, I'd say maybe the blades on an electric whisk.)

What is consistent with these pieces is that Penton seems to favour pastel shades. I believe this is good as it makes images interesting, but the light shades don't overpower the detail, they seem to compliment one another.


Overall, I really admire his attention to detail as well as his ability to find appropriate colours to add energy without being too harsh on the mind or the eyes. It is these qualities that I could take inspiration from when doing my own work. 

What have I learned from Penton? Sometimes imperfections are what makes an image perfect.

http://www.tommypenton.com