Rendering for Industrial Design: A Look at Raymond Lowey

About This Drawing:
Raymond Lowey created this Skylab rendering on a dark indigo blue background. Line work is done mostly in white pencil and highlights are white gouache paint. The background color is very much a part of the object. See how much of the paper actually shows through the object. Refined details, like parting lines, fasteners, surface texture, and a strong indication of light direction give the viewer plenty of significant information. Notice how the drawing is done in three-point perspective, close to the horizon line, with the vanishing points far off to each side. This effect gives the object a convincing, life-like appearance, as it is one of the most familiar ways one encounters or sees the world around them.

Drawing Tips:
1. Allow the background color to be an active part of the drawing. Avoid overworking the surface. Keep the drawing fresh and unlabored, providing only important information.
2. Include a variety of details that help the viewer understand the object, including clues regarding material, function, texture, weight, scale, volume, and context. Whenever it makes sense to do so, include an indication of human scale, as it will lend volumes of information to the piece.
3. For a convincing portrayal of drawn objects, be aware the principles of perspective. Place objects in the center of the cone of vision and close to the horizon line.
4. Including light and shadow in the drawing will help the viewer understand the figure ground relationship, time of day, light source, and three-dimensional volume.
If you would like to work on this technique, use a Canson toned paper (or similar), Prismacolor colored pencils (or similar), pastel powder mixed with baby powder and gouache.

Lowey Drawings:

About Lowey:
“The Shell logo. The Greyhound bus. The S-1 locomotive. The Lucky Strike package. The Coldspot refrigerator. The Studebaker Avanti. These and many other modern design icons were all created by Raymond Lowey, "the father of industrial design." Arguably one of the most influential designers of the 20th century, Loewy has been called the "man who shaped America." He left his mark countless times on everyday culture from household products, to transportation to corporate identity. Loewy was one of the first designers to understand the link between design and the economy. He expressed this connection by stating: "Between two products equal in price, function, and quality, the better looking will outsell the other."
Raymond Loewy (1893-1986), a brilliant designer and, without doubt, the most versatile ambassador of this discipline, became a design legend in his own lifetime. He was the most influential protagonist of industrial design that North America has ever known and has had a significant impact on the tastes and lifestyles of several generations. Loewy’s design philosophy still has an influence on the industrial design world today.” – This brief excerpt is from Art Net. See http://www.art.net/Lile/loewy/loewy.html

Drawing Research

The Drawing Research Network is a loose affiliation of individuals and institutions who are involved in some way with drawing research, for example via professional practice, education or the promotion of drawing. Some participants are based in universities and colleges of art and design with established teaching and/or research profiles in drawing. Other participants have an interest in, for example, drawing therapy, the cross-curricular role of drawing in schools or digital drawing. Some participants simply have an interest in drawings and the drawing process which might include in making, thinking about and communicating on drawing. Individuals and institutions use the Network to communicate news, to explore possibilities for cooperation in drawing research, to formulate collaborative projects and to share outputs. Membership of the Network is free. Drawing Research Network or, http://www.drawing.org.uk/
Note: If this link does not work, try pasting the URL into the address bar or do a Google search based on "drawing research."

Exhibit: Doodles, Drafts and Designs

Interested in an historical perspective of industrial design drawings and creativity from America? The Smithsonian offers the online exhibit, Doodles, Drafts and Designs: Industrial Drawings. Below are three brief excerpts from the site:

The Creative Process of Drawing for Industrial Design
“Engineers, inventors, and designers produce drawings as part of their creative process. They draw to work out and refine concepts and details. They draw to persuade. They draw to give direction. And they draw to record their ideas and to learn from others.”

Conceptualization
“Drawing is a key element in the process of working out ideas. Drawing moves an idea from the "mind's eye" to paper, the first step along the path from thought to three-dimensional reality. Inventors sketch as they think, developing their ideas on paper more quickly and more easily than they might in model form.”

Presentation
“Industrial drawings convince. By allowing viewers to imagine a building or machine before it is built, drawings make the idea seem real and viable. Gone are the tentative lines of conceptual drawings. With their straight lines, careful shading, and right angles, these images make the technology appear almost inevitable.”

Learn more about the design process, including the important detailing and recording steps. Experience the exhibit and see examples of the industrial design process, illustrated in drawings. Doodles, Drafts and Designs: Industrial Drawings from the Smithsonian is a traveling exhibition developed by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, Behring Center, from the collections of the National Museum of American History and the Smithsonian Institution Libraries. Organized for travel by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service.

Paperless Drawing and Animation

An animator describes how he utilizes the Wacom Cintiq to do animation, effectively eliminating the need for thousands of paper drawings, during the production process.

Sketching with Cintiq

See an artist sketch directly onto the Wacom Cintiq, a dynamic digital drawing board.