Interior Design Rendering

Interior designer Carolyn Baylon hired me to render here concept for a restaurant remodel.  

Interior Design Renderings, Process

Clients usually ask about the working process. Typically I work in my own home office, but here are two pencil drawings produced in my client’s office— two views of the a master bathroom for a project in Aspen. 
Following each rendering, you can see the preliminary sketch, created in pencil, red pencil, sharpie marker, and white-out. 

My client had the plans and elevations drawn. In the sketch process, we could develop some of the details. To produce the two renderings required 7-1/2 hours.

Drawing with Manga Studio! Guadalajara Cathedral!

Here's an illustration of the Catedral de la Asunción de María Santísima in Guadalajara. I copied a photo I took when I snuck up onto the roof! I “painted” the watercolor with Adobe Illustrator's artistic brushes.

Before working in Illustrator, I drew it in Manga Studio to get the look of ink. You can see that the illustration lost some detail in the Illustrator version.

Overhead View of Teaching Garden

A Los Angeles charter school committee is interested in converting an little-used parking lot into an educational garden. Here is the concept illustration I produced for their fund-raising campaign: 

Initially, the committee and I discussed how to best illustrate their ideas, exploring the option of illustrating each feature. Here's the preliminary sketch showing students working amongst the raised vegetable beds:

But we decided an overhead view would more dramatically show the transformation from dreary asphalt to vibrant garden. Here's the preliminary sketch I drew of the bird's-eye:

The committee then directed revisions (more covered lecture space, an exit gate, etc.), resulting in the illustration above. Let’s hope this generates a lot of interest and the necessary funding!

Concept Art for Television Show

A creative/production team recently hired me to produce concept art for a science-fiction adventure series. Although I can’t reveal any details about the project, they gave me permission to put a few of the illustrations on my website.

As a challenge, I worked completely digitally, using my Wacom tablet to draw and “color”. Also, the drawings have sort of a “comic book” look.

Storyboards for Miranda July's "The Future"

Miranda July's "The Future" is in theaters now. I have uploaded some of the storyboards onto my website.  I worked with Miranda and Nikolai Von Graevenitz, the Director of Photography, in February of 2010. That was a long time ago! 

What's that creeping in the window?

Illustrations for Levi’s Film Workshop Schedule

As I posted previously, I drew 70 illustrations of various film-making equipment for the Levi's Film Workshop. Coupler Industries installed them on the windows and used them for the literature promoting the event.

Using 3-D modeling as basis for a rendering

For complicated drawings I may build a simple 3-D CAD model as the basis of the drawing, allowing me to try out different views quickly.
As a demonstration, I will show several steps of the process for producing this rendering for a remodel of the Crescenta Valley United Methodist Church.

Using a plan provided by the client and some measurements I took at the Church, I built a wireframe model in Vectorworks. I modeled the unique bent-wood beams and built simple pews, etc. I did not model the curved ceiling, allowing the beams to define it. For the choir, I used a piano, other instruments and people from the SketchUp warehouse.
Here is the first wireframe I considered:

I rejected this view for several reasons. For one thing, I wanted to see more of the right-hand video screen. I considered this second view: 

Reviewing the above model, I wanted to see more of the pews and less of the floor tile. And I didn’t like the location of the floor tiles’ vanishing point. So I tried this view, which I was happy with:

Satisfied with this model, I printed it out and drew my rendering over it, adding details from reference photos and information provided by the interior designer:

The clients were happy with the drawing, suggesting a few revisions, such as making sure that the piano player was visible. I then colored the drawing in Photoshop, producing the illustration at the top of the blog.
You can see the second view I drew in an earlier blog entry or here.

Levi's Film Workshop at the MOCA Geffen Contemporary

I worked with Zak Hawthorne of Coupler Industries on his design for the Levi's Workshop now at the Geffen Contemporary. (Levi's has sponsored the amazing "Art in the Street" exhibit— a must-see comprehensive exhibit of graffiti and street art.)

Above is a the area where workshop participants borrow filmmaking equipment and supplies. Below is one of the concept illustrations I drew for Zak.

Here are displays for DVDs, books about filmmaking, sample scripts, etc. 

I'm standing in front of my illustrations of filmmaking equipment, wheat-pasted over the windows and doors.

I drew 70 of these illustrations.

Nintendo 3DS Launch Event Rendering

ESE Lifestyle events hired me to illustrate the various environments they would create for Nintendo's launch party for the new 3DS game console.

For the example shown here, the client had selected props to suggest a Chinatown for the Street Fighter video game. In our our initial meeting, I sketched out plan options. 

Based on the approved plan, I sketched these four different views of setting. Eli Soto (ESE Lifestyle owner and designer) approved option B (with some revisions) and I drew the image above.

I drew several different environments for other games. I'll post more later.

Rendering for the Crescenta Valley United Methodist Church remodel

I just completed two renderings for a church committee to show its congregation their proposed alterations, including a new stage for the band behind the sanctuary, rotation of the side pews, new color and materials and new audio-visual elements.

The church has a Modern 1960's style with massive bent pressed-wood beams as the major structural element.

You can see the second rendering I produced, with a view from the side of the altar, here.

Set Design for the play “Eat the Runt”

I had a lot of fun at opening night for the “Eat the Runt,” directed by Tom Beyer. The comedy of manners is set in the world of museum administrators and curators, all of whom seem crippled by their egos and insecurities.

I had the challenge of designing a set for two completely different plays. (See my previous blog entry about the play “Shake.”) Steven Stanley at stagescenela.com says:

Terence McFadden’s angular set design works even better here than it does in the concurrently running Shake, the addition or flipping over of a painting here or there signaling which office or other part of the museum we’re in.

(I appreciate Mr. Stanley’s praise, but I think with “Shake,” Matt Richter, who designed the lighting for both plays, really defines the varying locations for the different scenes with beautiful sensitivity. “Eat the Runt” takes place almost entirely within museum offices which just don't seem as poetic.)

Photos by actor and set builder Darrett Sanders.

“Eat the Runt” runs through Sept. 9th. See it at the Theatre of Note in Hollywood (www.theatreofnote.com).

More about the play “Shake”

Newspapers and magazines have published some reviews of “Shake.” Some critics really enjoyed the play.


Steven Stanley at Stage Scene LA complimented my design (though the review misspells my name):

“Terrence McFadden’s abstract, angular set makes for a nice fit with Shake’s multi-scene, multi-locale setup, and is beautifully lit by Matt Richter.”

The review in Back Stage mentions my set design, saying:

“With smart staging on a simple set (Terence McFadden), director Kiff Scholl does an extraordinarily handy job helping us put together the pieces to track the implosion of Bill and Peggy's relationship, as well as guiding us through implausible twists and turns prompted by the play's other characters.”

The Tolucan Times describes the play as “an essential addition to this summer’s calendar.”

An image from the very funny fourth scene, photo by Darrett Sanders.

Set Design for the play “Shake”

The play “Shake”, directed by Kiff Scholl, opened at the Theatre of Note in Hollywood Friday night. It runs through Sept. 5, performed Fridays though Sundays. 
I had an extra challenge in designing the set--the play “Eat the Runt”, opening Aug. 10, will be performed on the same set Tuesdays though Thursdays. For “Shake”, I designed minimalist abstract sets that reference the World Trade Center towers. For “Runt”, the sets suggest the avant garde interior design of museum offices.

From Scene 3, in a park.

Photo by actor and set builder Darrett Sanders.

From Scene 11, in an office.

Photo by actor and set builder Darrett Sanders.

Find more information about the play here.

A quick color sketch of a gate design

I drew this quick concept sketch for a project I am working on.

Holiday Skating Penguin Mascot--creative process

I definitely don't consider myself a graphic designer, but for this project, my client for the Holiday Skating festival (see earlier post) was looking more for a mascot rather than a logo. The client wanted two penguins, possibly a parent and child, skating together.

I first drew several options for the client to review. I really liked the first one this page (upper left), with the little penguin slipping and sliding on the ice. But the client wanted to see the "parent" penguin helping the little one skate. Also, he liked seeing them wearing skates, rather than skating on their webbed feet.

I redrew the penguins per the client's suggestions, added a Santa Claus-ish title and got his approval.

He liked the Happy Feet-feel of the drawing and so I redrew it in Adobe Illustrator:

Hopefully, come October or November you and I will see these penguins around Los Angeles promoting the Holiday Skating festival.

(The final image is the property of Kenneth McPheeters and Holiday Skating, used by permission.)

Recent Storyboard work

Recently, I finished storyboards for the feature "Walk a Mile in My Pradas", now in production. I can only post details already mentioned in the press releases: It's a whimsical comedy whose cast includes Tom Arnold and Bruce Vilanch.
Here are a few panels that won't give away the plot.

IMDB info here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1645187/

Rendering for the Museum Tamal exhibition

Last week I created this rendering for the Museum Tamal, the center of Latino culinary arts and history. 

John Sedlar will be installing this exhibit in the ground floor of the Evo building, near his Rivera Restaurant.

A huge video screen, featuring chefs talking about food as well as information about sponsors, will greet visitors. I was asked to show Julia Childs on the monitor.

The space is currently raw. If the Museum's budget doesn't allow for the dropped ceiling shown in the rendering, the existing exposed pipes will provide a great industrial look.

Holiday Skating Festival concept art

I have been producing concept art for a promoter who is developing a holiday festival with an outdoor iceskating rink, for this coming Christmas season, possibly for the Pasadena area.

I worked in a new illustration style for this project, using more Photoshop effects.

I’ll post the illustration for the festival entry, guarded by nutcracker soldiers, soon.

Cablevision concept art

Working with director Paul Cummings, I recently completed concept drawings for Ka-Chew Studios for a Cablevision promotion.

Here are four of my favorite illustrations. (I contributed the idea of showing the $29.95 price with the rolling pin and dough.)