Sketch Series: Maksim Koloskov

Hard line pencil drawing of the Hotel Valencia Riverwalk

Watercolor rendering of Hotel Valencia Riverwalk

Final watercolor and line rendering of the Hotel Valencia Riverwalk

Profile Template_MAKS

Welcome to our "Sketch Series," a periodic peek into the notebooks and minds of Rottet Studio designers. Through their notes, doodles, and working sketches, we hope you get a glimpse of the design process behind some of our award-winning projects - and the tools we grab when inspiration strikes. In this installation, we hear from our in-house artist and renderer, Maks Koloskov. Hailing from his native Russia, Maks is a prolific artist whose body of work is as varied in scale, subject matter, and medium as it is impressive. He recently completed on-site signage and custom mural work at the new Valencia Cavalry Court in College Station, Texas and his sketch of James Turrell's Skyspace at Rice University was selected as a winner in Architectural Record's 2016 Cocktail Napkin Sketch Contest. Be sure to check out Maks' Instagram, where he posts new artwork daily.Tell us about your architectural renderings. I find it easiest to use a SketchUp model as a base, mainly so I can get the right view - it can be as simple as walls, ceiling heights and square blocks for principal elements. Typically, I prefer to have an eye-level view to give a direct experience of the space, and for that reason I don’t like to use wide-angle shots. The limited cropped view can give a better sense of the space than an all-inclusive one. Next, I prefer to do a hard line pencil tracing over the SketchUp model to give a sense of structure to the sketch, throwing in some loose, hand-drawn pieces of furniture and such. Then, I do a color drawing, either with marker over trace paper or with watercolors over the pencil drawing that has been lightly printed onto watercolor paper. The hand coloring never has line work in it, to maintain the loose and textural feel to the unique elements. Lastly, I use Photoshop to enhance or subdue parts of the rendering. I keep these two files separate, which gives me the opportunity to alter the color without affecting the lines, or vice versa. Here are some of these steps illustrated: How did you first get into sketching/drawing?I’ve been drawing and sketching for as long as I remember, but started doing it on a regular basis in summer of last year. I always have a sketchbook with me.What do you sketch when you’re not at work?I guess a common interest is architecture, but in general I sketch anything that catches my eye, and I do it at the moment, not putting it off for later. It might take few seconds or almost an hour, depending on time constraints. Normally I start to get bored after 30 minutes of drawing, so I try to keep it fast.What was the last thing that inspired you?I was watching a documentary about Keith Richard where Tom Waits said that sometimes, “You are looking at a frame and then you realize that the most interesting thing going on in the frame is happening outside of the frame.” Recently at the Hiram Butler Gallery, I saw a Murray Moss collection of photographs from old newspapers that had editors' cropping marks, leaving the “unimportant” parts of a picture out of the frame. I’ve been thinking about it.What are your favorite tools?I always have with me a small (old Soviet gasmask) bag with a sketchbook, a fountain pen, a couple of small jars of ink and ink nibs, a few pencils, brushes and a tiny box with several watercolor colors. I prefer to use basic timeless materials, like ink, watercolor, and lead pencils. For example, watercolor paints basically have not changed since their invention years ago. The binding base for this paint has always been the same, which is made from a milky juice that comes from a small thorny tree found only in the heart of Sudan. For my sketches, I use a lot of spiral sketchbooks made by Canson.My Lamy Safari fountain pen is probably the most used tool in my bag, though I often draw with ink and a bamboo stick that is cut in an angle at its end.When do you find the time?I make time, you can always find 15 minutes for a sketch. Recently, [renowned textile and product designer] Suzanne Tick came to our office and she was saying that you have to allocate 30 minutes a day to do something for yourself and just do it.