Intimate Courtyard

An older established neighborhood in Indian Wells, CA...

This courtyard design reinvents an intimate space into a viewing garden from inside the house; and, in contrast to the rest of the landscape, this japenese inspired garden will pleasantly surprise visitors at the front door.

Currently, the space is cluttered with several plant materials, a curvilinear band of concrete header board (how they thought that was a good idea, I don't know) and all in a tiny space (no more than 16'x16'). In the corner is a mature ficus tree, that amazingly hasn't lifted the foundation of the house.

In fact, I love the ficus tree...It brightens the space with its massive white trunk and blankets the ground with a woven pattern of its roots. I've proposed to demo all but the tree and use this tree as the anchor for the space. Mondo grass will ramble over and around the roots, making a "grassy knotted knoll" into an island within birds-eye gravel. A pineapple guava (Feijoa sellowiana) will be trimmed up into a small multi-trunk specimen tree becoming the human scale against the mature Ficus. And the punch of color will be from Golden Euonymus at the entrance to the courtyard. I will re-use boulders and flagstone from the rest of the property.

(I have designed the remodel of the entire landscape for this home, but the courtyard, is taking on the most dynamic transformation.)

Please check out Sukiya Living, The Journal of Japanese Gardening, if you're interested....This publication has helped inspire this drawing (as well as many other designs). www.rothteien.com

Drawing again...

Finally back in the office drawing!

The last month and a half have involved several construction consultations, nursery visits/plant tagging and general installation supervision. And especially with the hot days of summer in the desert, I've missed my (indoors and air conditioned) drawing board.

My next project is surrounding a mid-century modern home. It is remarkable to me, the extent to which the desert is a haven for mid-century modern architecture. Palm Springs and its environs laid it's roots in this architectural, interior, and product design era that is now recognized as a significant design movement...so where's the landscape fit in with this modern movement?

Landscape Architecture is the clever combination of built and nature-built. Minding to Frank Lloyd Wright's organic architectural efforts, materials should be relevant to the climate. Utilizing a Bauhaus-style "stripped" approach, the landscape is broken into planes, with hardscape and fields of monochromatic greens on the ground, and hedges and orderly tree placements hold up the "walls". Outdoor seating areas feel as though one sits in a scaled and plein-air room. The lines created, whether from a BBQ or the pavement, are free from bulk and girth, and are simple and clean.

A rumor that Mid-century modern landscape architecture style is "facile" or easy, is false. It may be easy to hint to a Mid-century design, but to practice it, I feel you need to understand the following:

Deconstruction of an outdoor space, that ultimately wants to grow wild and remain fluid, requires the designer/landscape architect to use confident restraint, use intelligent and divisive criteria, all the while following a personal understanding of your client's needs in their outdoor spaces. As well, to follow through, the authenticity of the materials in the space must be highlighted. Allow each material to stand proud with what it is made of... no stamped concrete here, no faux stone, and definitely no wasted spaces.

I'm cheating...

I found a great price for some picture frames the other day, so I bought 2. Now I'm inspired to create some new art, but I'd like to do it quick. And, since my free time is very limited I tried a new technique that I'm very happy with...

...but I really feel like I'm cheating...

The plan is to have a two paintings, one of a male and one a female quail.
I took a photo of a female as she was perched "on lookout". I brought it in to Photoshop and changed levels, saturations, hues, cropped it, and erased unimportant elements... then I did a watercolor filter-a.k.a. the cheating part. Now, I've printed it on watercolor paper, and am inking some outlines and marking certain lowlights by hand. I found another good picture that I had of a male quail and did the same. And now, I have my two great looking faux watercolors!

We have Gambel's Quails visit our yard nearly every day; often with their young families. It is entertaining to watch them with one on a lookout, while the covey searches for seed in the sand. The males are much more decorated and colorful, than the female. They adorn a red cap, usually distinctly pear-shaped, and have a much more pronounced plume on top of their heads. The picture above is the female... with an understated beauty.
:)

Design for the Elderly

Last week, a dear friend came to me with a dilemma from his client. The son of the client was concerned with his aging parents and their accessibility into their home (vacation home). He wanted a ramp but not to have the ramp intrude or over-step the existing landscape. The problem became not only one of aesthetics but also of grading. This sketch shows a proposed sloped path, no greater than a 5% slope at any one point and wide enough for a wheelchair, should they need it. Immediately, though, I was thinking enough for one person pulling a wheeled piece of luggage. AND with the addition of some native Filifera Palms, boulders to retain the soil, and the honed quartzite path (chosen because it's already used as the hardscape around the house, and honed to keep it smooth enough for wheels). The new path flows through like a small creek underneath a mini oasis. The skinny palms, the Washingtonia robustas are existing on site, and would remain to blend with the new native palms.

Planning for elderly mobility is a critical issue for landscape architects; and I suspect, it will become more popular as the baby boomers begin to lose their agility. When my parents (and my grandmother) come to visit, they indirectly (and fairly immediately) show me the mobility issues around my own house. I'm lucky to not be disabled and I know where my steps and handrails are and aren't, BUT my guests aren't as familiar... I want to be sure family and friends are comfortable while visiting. So, even if my client isn't disabled, I will always try to ensure ease of access and circulation through my client's outdoor spaces, if not for them, for their guests.

Site Planning and Design for the Elderly (by Diane Y. Carstens) is a great reference book that is always near my desk. And in this day and age of lawsuits, you can't be too careful in planning for people who are or may become, and even visitors who may be mobility challenged.

Options and more options

Here's quick commissioned rendering/sketch I did over the weekend for another design firm.

While I am not responsible for the design of this residential driveway/gate, they hired me to draw up their design and show options for their client.

I enjoy these little projects. It frees my mind from my current projects, and becomes a simple exercise in taking a plan view design and bringing it into a perspective.

I had some freedom with the column caps, and showed 3 different options. Above you see a precast cap atop the columns, and plinths in the front with aloe pots. Below are the two other options-gotta credit Photoshop again, here! Without redrawing the whole thing, I was able to just draw and scan different caps and put them into the drawing. And for the "all tall" columns, I cut and paste.

COLORS TRANSLATED/quick redesign

Here's a project I'm working on currently.

First, the colors of the quick sketch may look odd to you, but really it's a cursory study of light and shadow. I grab the first markers I find out of my box, with cool and warm properties. In my head, this helps me think through and distinguish material properties and the micro-essences within the space. I quickly scribble on the back of the tracing paper hints of shadows and volumes with these markers. Next, I scan the sketch and I eliminate the saturation in Photoshop. The highlights and low-lights, now in a monochromatic spectrum, create a sense of space.

(SIDENOTE) I think this all came about when I didn't want to use up my various grays (french, warm and cool grays - which I use up often) and found I didn't need too with my scan/reduce saturation method. And I get to use my otherwise neglected markers in the meantime. A happy finding through frugality!

Also....the picture to the left of the original sketch is the inspiration for the design of the planter/bench. My client's house has a side yard front door. The first time I walked up, I thought I was at the wrong door. So in that dilemma, we discovered the need for an entry statement. Originally I'd drawn an entry "porte cochere" style with a large overhead trellis over the front door. This announced an outdoor "foyer".
However, due to budget and structural concerns, I've been asked to reduce the design to a more intimate yet legible entry piece. So I went looking for some inspiration in my design books. Here's the page that I ultimately landed on for the front door. A raised planter with a "floating" bench. This not only stops the visitor on the path, but redirects the momentum of a visitor. A"waiting room" for the front door.

The Ocotillo

Yesterday I took a bus ride with about 2 dozen other landscape professionals. We visited and participate in several seminars presented by Armstrong Nursery, Ball Horticulture, and a couple other industry companies. I took the opportunity to take my sketchbook along and get some ideas on paper while we traveled from the Coachella Valley out to San Juan Capistrano.

Here is one drawing I liked, it was a planting idea for a residence I'm working on in design phase.

The Ocotillo... Several family and friends who have come to visit ask me, "What are those stringy looking cactus things that grow and have bright orange flowers?"

These magnificent shrubs, that look like cactus, are striking and indigenous to our valley! Specifically, they are seen in numbers growing native on the rocky slopes along HWY 74 which is a road I travel everyday! So, I have had the pleasure of watching them, after a period of rain, suddenly sprout all their dark green leaves between their thorns, and push out brilliant orange/red blooms atop their canes. Hummingbirds love these flowers! And conversely, after the next long dry spell (which the desert has many), they completely change, like autumn foliage on the East Coast- from green to gold to orange to brown and eventually defoliate and return to dormancy. This cycle can happen multiple times a year, as long as their is a period of rain!

They are, all too often, given way too much water in the residential landscape, but with a mindful eye on the irrigation, can thrive and be a great accent-they look so great when lit at night, and the shadows cast against a wall! Ocotillos are best transplanted when dormant however, they have a high mortality rate, because many are harvested in the wild where their roots are so extensive and so dynamically reaching for water through rocks, and crevices, that those harvesting them, often cut their main roots too short. These specimens look great because of the bulk of canes, but I'd hesitate. It is possible to find nursery grown stock, and clients should be patient through their growth spurts. Nursery stock tends to be much smaller and have less canes, but are likely to be better adapted to a controlled irrigation system and perform better in a residential landscape.

I love their authentic structure and admire their unique beauty.

Fouquieria splendens (Latin Name)
Ocotillo, Coach Whip, Vine Cactus, (Common Names)

YAY for SPRING!

Here in the desert, spring warms up quickly and everyone migrates outside! Outdoor living rooms, complete with firepits, TV areas, and outdoor kitchens are in full demand! Even in the heat of summer (with temps over 100F degrees regularly) outdoor spaces come alive once the sun goes down.

99% of my clients want an outdoor living space where they can enjoy the views and entertain.

Just like the interior of a home, the party usually lands in the kitchen, so an outdoor food prep/or serving area is a great anchor for an outdoor living room. It can be as minimal as just a serving bar or as elaborate as a chef's dream kitchen complete with grill, sink, fridges (multiple), ice makers, griddle, burners, and pizza ovens. Don't forget to think about where a trash receptacle can be located. The more elaborate your amenities, (beware) then, the more utility use and installation costs associated...such as: the wet plumbing associated with water and sewage for the sinks; the electrical required for the appliances and outdoor lighting, stereo system; and climate control, such as a mist or fog system, or heaters - which may require additional water pumps, and gas lines.

"Dining with one's friends and beloved family is certainly one of life's primal and most innocent delights, one that is soul-satisfying and eternal." ~ Julia Child

...I say try it outside!

Rendering

I'm coloring perspectives and plans for a conceptual design presentation, and I've always referred to this process as "rendering". The other day someone asked me, "what does that mean, you're rendering a drawing?" Thinking to myself, I've heard people talking about rendered lard for making soaps and such. So, naturally I second guessed myself, "am I using the term incorrectly?"
I looked up the definition and was surprised to find (from www.freedictionary.com) :

RENDER (as a verb) means:

1. to present or submit (accounts, etc.) for payment, approval, or action

2. to give or provide (aid, charity, a service, etc.)

3. to show (obedience), as due or expected

4. to give or exchange, as by way of return or requital to render blow for blow

5. to cause to become grief had rendered him simple-minded

6. to deliver (a verdict or opinion) formally

7. to portray or depict (something), as in painting, music, or acting

8. (Electronics & Computer Science / Computer Science) Computing to use colour and shading to make a digital image look three-dimensional and solid

9. to translate (something) into another language or form

10. (sometimes foll by up) to yield or give the tomb rendered up its secret

11. (often foll by back) to return (something); give back

12. (Miscellaneous Technologies / Building) to cover the surface of (brickwork, stone, etc.) with a coat of plaster

13. (Cookery) (often foll by down) to extract (fat) from (meat) by melting

So, although I've used the term consistently since college, I never really knew the full extent of it's meaning until now. And thankfully, I am using the term correctly when referring to coloring in and shading my drawings.

I always say to young people when they ask me how I work, I always say to them, the only time you're ever going to do something good is if you have a good client. And by good I mean all kinds of things.~Lawrence Halprin

How to never work a day in your life

So I've got a presentation ahead of me and I'm in the throws of design work and perspectives. My hands ache at the end of the day and as I shake them, I see I've got graphite smeared all over the edge of my palm. Eraser shreds are sprinkled everywhere around me along with trace paper headed for the garbage. I love this!!! This is why I do what I do. I love to draw, get into my imagination and see "what would it be like if...."

"LET THE BEAUTY OF WHAT YOU LOVE BE WHAT YOU DO."- Persian Poet-Jalal al-din Rumi

Spring has sprung!

This weekend was another weekend of painting... with my daughter! She loves painting so much she's starting to sing while she creates masses of colors and lines! I picked up a brush, too, and used the last of her tempura paints to create small vignettes for spring cards.

One of my favorite illustrators is (Helen) Beatrix Potter (1866-1943), whose artwork is still popular right now! Just today at Target, I saw several small board books of THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT on sale for Easter! Besides her love for animals, Potter also loved nature, especially fungus. She studied the symbiotic relationship between algae and fungus and recorded her microscopic findings by painting and drawing them. At the time of her passing, she'd donated most of her property and land to the national trust, in order to preserve the farming aspect and feeling in the Lake District of England. Her 4000 acres are now all located within the Lake District National Park.

The 2006 movie starring Renee Zellweger, called Miss Potter is a wonderful treat and great reference!

Roberto Burle Marx

So this weekend was a painting festival with my daughter-she loves her new Melissa and Doug paint brushes and the tempura paints wash off so easily! Our fridge has never been so colorfully decorated with her creations!

I couldn't resist...so I took a piece of trace paper, and drew one continuous line (an art project my mom taught me) and painted in the shapes with different colors. I showed her how the colors mixed make other colors and the amount of water on the brush can also lighten or darken the paint. This was the first time she saw "coloring within the lines" Who knows if she really retained the information, she is only two. But then after this dried, I showed her how the colors glow when put up in a window. She liked that!

This morning I looked at my painting in her window as I got her ready for daycare, and was reminded of a very inspiring and monumental figure in landscape architecture, Roberto Burle Marx (Brazilian Landscape artist/Architect born-died 1909-1994). His garden designs were often first drawn/represented in an abstract painting. Also ahead of his time, he encouraged the use of native tropical plants and used them in modern planting schemes such as within large color blocks. Some critics believe, though, his curvilinear lines and color massing did not take into account the curvature of the land, and therefore believe he designed best for flat open spaces and rooftop gardens. He is best known for the design of the promenade at the Copacabana beach in Rio de Janiro.

From this article and for more information: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/21/arts/design/21burl.html
Landscape design, he [Roberto Burle Marx] once wrote, “was merely the method I found to organize and compose my drawing and painting, using less conventional materials.”

Water/pools/spillways

Today, my sketchbook has a couple projects in it...a new pool-not constructed yet, but we're trying to get away without needing a security fence. And I want to maintain a very natural "seam" between the pool and the surrounding native landscape-it's a beautiful lot and even the lightest touch on the landscape will be visible. The homeowner would love to see an infinity edge also... the grades will work well with it, because the lot does drop off behind where it's proposed...I need to keep exploring to make all the elements work together.
The other project has an existing pool that will need to be remodeled.. the bones of are good, but the finish work is deteriorating and does not jive with the new overall landscape design theme.
The little cholla in the bottom right corner is just a study of those pesky and prickly plants around my house! (but they glow beautifully when backlit by the sun-and surprisingly, the flowers are really cool-they are greenish-yellow!)

Pots

Yesterday, I met an inspiring craftsman and was lucky enough to get to walk through his manufacturing warehouse... he fabricates 100% recycled material precast mouldings/sculptures/pots/benches etc. He uses recycled glass in them(straight from the recycling plant-so they are not separated by color- when you look close -the browns, greens and blues are like gemstones) His products are beautiful and can be customized. This excursion got me thinking...

....Pots! The house is mediterranean in style. Here's my sketchbook today. These are just some visual ideas from his shop, books in my library, and pictures from my trip to the Amalfi coast in Italy a few years back. Some pots were water vessels or olive oil containers...

It's amazing how the pottery styles from Pompeii are still very popular today.

oh gosh.... Makes me want to get back to Italy SOON!

LAYOUTS

Not technically hand drawn sketches but definitely artwork that I create for announcements, etc. I think this "fun" work keeps me tuned for presentation graphics. Not that I'd have cowboys (well wait, one client I have definitely would like to see cowboys on his drawings) but skeletons and pink poodles-maybe not.
The western bunco was my bunco night announcement last year and the PINK one, I just finished yesterday for this years. I drew the poodle-but have to admit, used alot of image references from the web. Not original by any means.
And the skeleton was an awesome invite I worked on for a neighbor. The skeleton with falling hands was a beautiful drawing we found online by an artist named Matt Furie. Not a huge fan of his other artwork at all-this one is so different from his other stuff..and perfectly aligned with my neighbors style/theme/etc for their Halloween party.

Process

Here's a process shot of black and white to color rendering. I usually print two to 3 copies to color so if I screw up, I have another to color... one is always for test colors, shading, highlight technique tests. It reminds me of playing with a coloring book when you were a kid. So when I outline the drawing, I think about what lines do I actually have to draw.. and I'm learning that so much can be eluded to with color and not everything needs an outline.

Have to thank Bob Benson, Mimi LaPlant and Cindy Hooper for really my basic art education at College of the Redwoods. Moore was just alot of practice for me and pushed me into different medias like etchings, and print-making. But College of the Redwoods was where I fell into love with art. I fell.. I always liked drawing but there, something clicked on, like a light switch!

Random past sketches

This was a random idea I thought might be good for a magazine or something, but never sent it out for publishing or anything... just drew up a sheet about a fun activity I did with my own daughter; once spring time hits, it's fun to get your hands dirty outside! I did the drawings/layout/etc.

Another card-this one for my best friend who was having a baby-notice I used the cherry blossom theme again-a definite trend in my life at this moment. Sidenote-I miss the plum tree outside my apartment in San Luis Obispo! I suppose I could plant one at my house, but being that it's not a native tree, ,my neighbors would frown to see one. Hmmm perhaps I could hide one... :)

I often draw up my own cards for different occasions...here's my thank you cards for my daughter's baby shower... theme: a cherry/plum blossom-my favorite flowering tree.

Just some of the past year's sketches for projects

So this is not the prettiest of sketches (or the most exciting), but this is what I've been working on lately- an as-built plan for a residence I consulted on. They've built most of it and are pouring the concrete as I write, but as usual, the plans change as the contractor starts to build. This is always good for practicing surveying/dimensioning plans.