Over the years, Randal Birkey has created hundreds of line art drawings in pen and ink style using actual pen and ink in the early days, then graduating to digital pen and ink using software such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and Corel (Fractal) Painter. These are just some of the many line illustrations done over his illustration career.

Commercial Jet Airliner	Camera
Business Woman	Concert Tickets
Dice	Grocery Shopping Cart
Sunglasses	Travel Luggage

Cushing Academy is a private coeducational secondary school founded in 1865, and located in Ashburnham, MA. They have partnered with a design firm called Corey, McPherson, Nash to redesign their viewbook. Through a web based search, CMN contacted Randal Birkey Illustration and contracted for a new Campus Map to be produced both for the school viewbook and their website.

Randal worked from maps, photos and other references provided by CMN and Cushing Academy. The first stage in the illustration process was to produce a line art “pencil” of the aerial perspective view that best displayed the campus. This line art was done in sepia tones using Corel Painter at a size of  6450 x 3750 pixels.

Cushing Campus Aerial Perspective Campus Map - Pencil

Once this “pencil” was reviewed and approved by the design firm and the client, Randal then added digital watercolor to a layer below the line art using Corel Painter. The final file was converted to Adobe Photoshop and delivered as a layered Photoshop file with line art on one layer, and color washes and texture on the background layer.

Cushing Academy Aerial Perspective Campus Map - Color

In this stylized version, the forested areas around the school campus were left white or blank in order to allow the buildings, streets and other fields to have visual prominence. The design firm will add all the labels and key to the site during the print production process.

The home of the world renowned Chicago Symphony Orchestra is called Orchestra Hall, located on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Randal Birkey was commissioned to produce a series of architectural illustrations of the Orchestra Hall renovation project called “Symphony Center,” a new combined complex housing the auditorium, practice rooms, backstage production and staging areas, and the headquarter offices for the CSO organization.

These illustrations were commissioned for use in a high-end printed piece that went to CSO fund-raising tool. Randal worked from the architectural blueprints, in a Mac-based drawing and painting program called Fractal Painter. A Wacom tablet was required for the kind of control needed for the digital “brushes.”

Chicago Symphony Orchestra Hall Lobby

Chicago Symphony Orchestra Hall Rotunda Cutaway

Chicago Symphony Orchestra Hall - Concert Hall Interior

Randal Birkey created this watercolor illustration of a Chicago industrial style warehouse building being converted to residential lofts by a Chicago area real estate developer back in the 1980′s. Randal created the 20″ x 30″ ink line and watercolor art for the building and project architects, CAPA, also a Chicago firm.

Chicago Loft Conversion

Randal Birkey created this Adobe Illustrator vector-based illustration of a high-rise tower building for use on the cover of a MetLife Asset Transfer Kit, through a New York City ad agency. This style of architectural illustration is called an axonometric. The footprint of the building is drawn to scale and proportion (width and depth). The third dimension (height) is created by popping up off the footprint at a consistent angle, all of the vertical elements. There are no perspective or foreshortened lines in the illustration, yet it delivers a 3D aerial perspective visual sense to the viewer. This copyrighted work was done in 1995.

MetLife Tower - Adobe Illustrator - Digital Vector Art

Another illustration done for the “Friends of the Chicago River” project. Randal illustrated what could be done at the southern end of Rush Street in Chicago, where it dead ends into the Chicago River. This view showed an outdoor eating area, a dancing area on a barge, plantings, walkways and other amenities to make creative use of this under-utilized property.

Rush Street at the Chicago River

Randal was commissioned by CNA Insurance company to illustrate this “main street” USA street-scape scene for a company publication. The work was done using a Mac and Wacom tablet with “Painter” software.

"Main Street" Streetscape Scene for CNA Insurance

Randal Birkey created this urban skyscraper tower design as a personal architectural design and illustration exercise. This version of his design was rendered in watercolor on D’Arches watercolor board.

Randal Birkey's Tower Design

A graphic designer from the Marietta, South Carolina area contacted Randal in 2003 through this portfolio website and inquired about developing a streetscape illustration to be used in promoting a residential housing development. Randal worked with the designer and the photo resources provided by the developers and architects to create this illustration intended to communicate a lifestyle to prospective home buyers.

Redfearn Lifestyle Streetscape

It is now 2010 and the development was built, and here is a photo along one of the streets.

Redfearn Development - South Carolina

Randal was commissioned by a real estate development firm to develop this architectural rendering of a residential design being offered in a development in Chicago’s near South Loop area. This was to be new construction offered in the Prairie School style, popularized by Frank Lloyd Wright. Randal first worked from architectural drawings to develop a 3D perspective wireframe. Once a view was established and approved by the client, Randal transferred the line work to watercolor illustration board, then rendered the house in watercolor and ink line work. The original was done on D’Arches 22 x 32 watercolor illustration board.

Prairie Style House