A few weeks ago at the AIA show in Washington DC I had the chance to meet Jim Leggitt in person. For those of you that don't know, Jim Leggitt is an AIA member who creates absolutely incredible hand renderings of buildings.
Above is just a tiny example of what he does. What you may or may not be able to tell from this picture is that he combines Sketchup 3D drawings with hand drafting. Jim will create 3D models in Sketchup, print them out, and then draw by hand over them. I had seen his stuff before, but never in person.
He took a moment to stop by the Sketchup booth where he showed me his book of drawings. I was completely blown away. His hand applied techniques to Sketchup models are simply amazing. This video can explain what he does much better then I can here:
Jim is a fantastic guy. His technique is nothing short of amazing, not only because the end result is fantastic, but it's not as hard to do as it looks. Jim has a great blog with tips on how to do this, a book that he has written, and he even teaches classes on his techniques. I highly recommend that you go over to his website and check it out, you won't be disappointed!
DrawingShortcuts.com