Thanks folks.
Maybe I could get more work if I moved to Vietnam.
About 40 years ago, most of the architectural renderings were either water color or colored pencil. I was trying to learn colored pencil techniques to that end but whatever illustrative presentation were just elevations on mylar and technical pens.
The rest of my work was drafting. From land surveys, to civil engineering to structural engineering. Planning and at an architect's office which was 2D drafting. Started doing non-photo real rendering around the mid 2000s and I was charging $500 per rendering. Of course I spent far more billable time than $500 with all the details. I needed the work and the experience or practice.
Most of my work remains drafting. I starting doing more photo-real rendering using Kerkythea. I finally got Thea Render only a few years ago. I tried V-Ray but it kept crashing on me. D5 Render is really good for doing fast work. I like setting things up with Thea now and rendering in D5.
It's difficult to get rendering work. Last week someone wanted a rendering. For $350. I would have done it for $600 since I already did the model for the architect. I've gotten anywhere from $500 to $2,500 (USD) for architectural renderings. At one point I really needed work and did some non-photo real for container homes. For a mere $100.
I can't think of any way to stand out to get rendering work. If it's not outsourcing it seem like real estate investors aren't even interested in renderings anymore. Architectural firms are just using Revit generated renderings which for the most part look amateurish.
