01 / Sketch to render · 2026Made by an architect, for architects

The drawing is the master.

Loose pen sketch of a free-form roof slab on thin legs, sheltering two small figures, over rocks and a round pool, with plants behind. A blue note, rock pool, has an arrow pointing at the pool.

Plate 01Study 08, a slab over a rock pool. Pen on paper, photographed and imported. A note in blue steers the render — it is read, never drawn.

The Brutalist turns an architect’s hand sketch into a photorealistic render in about twenty seconds. The render follows your lines — same building, same proportion, same viewpoint. It never invents a different building.

Open the app See the gallery

02 / Sketch → renderPlates 02–03 · Study 03, each shown whole

The render follows the pen.

One sketch and the render made from it, each shown whole.

Pen sketch: a long building raised on legs, a band of deep concrete fins, a coffered soffit and an escalator rising to the entrance, trees and people on the plaza — **Plate 02**Study 03, a canopy on legs. Pen on paper, photographed and imported. Sketch artist unknown — if it’s yours, tell us and we’ll credit you.

The render of the same sketch: concrete fins over a coffered canopy on two legs, a glass box to the right, escalators to the plaza, people crossing — **Plate 03**Its render, about twenty seconds later. The fins, the two legs and the escalator are where the pen put them.

Draw the massing with a pen on a tablet — or import a photo of a paper sketch, or paste a view from your 3D model — and tap Generate. What comes back is your building, in the proportion of your drawing, seen from your viewpoint.

Project: The Brutalist
Price: A$49 a month
Renders: 10 free, no card needed
Per render: About 20 s
Download: 2K · 2048 px
Runs in: The browser · Android on Google Play
Made by: Jahrom Sorage, architect, Sydney

03 / StudiesFive drawings, five renders · each shown whole

Your lines are never redrawn.

Each pair is one sketch and the render made from it. The building, the proportion and the viewpoint are the ones on the page.

Pen sketch on grey paper: a long building stepping back over a garden, with people walking along a path — **Plate 04**Study 04, a building stepping back over a garden. Pen on grey paper.

Render: a stepped concrete building over a tropical garden, people on the path where the sketch drew them — **Plate 04**Study 04, a building stepping back over a garden. Pen on grey paper.

Your lines are never redrawn.

Each pair is one sketch and the render made from it. The building, the proportion and the viewpoint are the ones on the page.

A few pen lines: a curved wall, a thin tower with a cross, two small figures — **Plate 05**Study 06, a chapel with a curved wall. Sketch by Oscar Niemeyer.

Render: a white concrete chapel with a curved wall and a slender tower, two people on a bare forecourt — **Plate 05**Study 06, a chapel with a curved wall. Sketch by Oscar Niemeyer.

Firm black lines: a low dome with a ring of fins around an oculus — **Plate 06**Study 19, a dome in a forest.

Render: a board-marked concrete dome with radial fins around an oculus, in a fern forest — **Plate 06**Study 19, a dome in a forest.

Pen sketch of a long low building under a folded roof that rises to a glazed gable — **Plate 07**Study 21, a folded roof.

Render: a concrete building under a folded roof rising to a tall glazed gable, gravel forecourt — **Plate 07**Study 21, a folded roof.

Pencil sketch: a concrete extension with deep vertical fins beside an old pitched-roof house, steps in front — **Plate 08**Study 20, fins beside an old house. Pencil. Sketch by Estúdio MRGB, Brasília.

Render: board-marked concrete fins over a long plinth beside an old rendered house, wide steps — **Plate 08**Study 20, fins beside an old house. Pencil. Sketch by Estúdio MRGB, Brasília.

04 / ProcessPlate 09 · Study 23, one session in the app, frame by frame · Sketch by Trí Núi (Hữu Trí)

Six moves, one drawing, one session.

Blackthe pen: it draws the building.
Bluea note on the sketch: it steers.
Reda note on the render: it edits.

Notes are direction, not drawing. The renderer applies them but never draws them. A “#” sets the whole scene; arrows and words target a spot. The sketch in this session is by Trí Núi (Hữu Trí).

The sketch in the app: a narrow street with wires and lanterns, a tall stacked tower on the right — Pen on a tablet. Or import a photo of a paper sketch, or paste a view from SketchUp, Rhino or Revit.

The first render: a grey concrete tower of stacked, shifted boxes in a narrow street, a man walking — About twenty seconds. Adjust the lines and generate again until the massing and the view are right.

The same sketch with two handwritten blue notes: trees on top, with an arrow to the roof, and small houses, with an arrow down the street — If it misreads, say so in blue. Two notes by hand: *trees on top*, *small houses*. Read, never drawn.

The next render: trees growing on the tower's roof, small pitched-roof houses at the end of the street — Trees on the roof; small houses down the street. The tower itself is unchanged.

A pinned take: the tower with a tree on top, a man walking up the street — Geometry and angle right, so pin the look. Each take after this is a close variation — never the same image.

The pinned render with a red hand-drawn loop around the tower and the words red concrete written in red — Circle an area with the lasso, write the change in red: *red concrete*.

The same render with only the tower changed to red concrete, and a new red note: #sunny day — Only the circled tower changed; the street, the wires and the man walking did not. Then a red “#” alone, no loop: *#sunny day*.

The whole scene restyled: blue sky, low sun, long shadows across the street, the red tower unchanged — The “#” restyled the whole scene: blue sky, low sun, long shadows. This is the one — 2048 px, to your device.

05 / InstrumentsLegend, keyed to the toolbars

The app on a tablet held upright: the render of a red spiral stair in a concrete courtyard above, the pen sketch below with a blue handwritten note, all red painted concrete, and a toolbar under each — **Plate 10**The app on a tablet, upright: render above, sketch below. The blue note — *all red painted concrete* — was written on the sketch by hand; the stair came back red. Sketch artist unknown.

Ten instruments.

Five on the sketch, five on the render. A note lands in its tool’s colour: blue on the sketch, red on the render.

On the sketch

The sketch toolbar: pen, blue pen, type, eraser, undo, redo, import, clear

01	Pen	Black lines: the building. Tap it again to set the thickness.
02	Blue pen	Notes on the sketch, by hand. Read, never drawn — they steer the geometry. A “#” note sets the scene; “#interior” or “#isometric” changes the view.Specimen · Plate 09, frame 03
03	Type	The same note, typed — handy on a desktop, or when handwriting is hard to read. On both panels.
04	Eraser	Removes pen and blue strokes, at twice the pen width.
05	Import	A photo of a paper sketch (its text won’t show), an image file, or a screenshot pasted from the clipboard — a view from SketchUp, Rhino or Revit works.

On the render

The render toolbar: generate, undo, redo, edit, type, pin, download, clear

06	Generate	Renders the sketch in about 20 seconds, in the same proportion as the drawing.
07	Edit	Circle an area on the render and write the change in red, by hand or typed: material, colour, people, weather. Only that part updates; a “#” alone restyles the whole scene.Specimen · Plate 09, frame 05
08	Pin	Holds the look and keeps generating: close variations, never the same image, until it’s the one.
09	Download	Saves the render to your device at 2K, 2048 px.
10	Swap	Flips the sketch and render panels.

Unnumbered: undo, redo, clear.

06 / In plain termsWhat it is · where your work goes

In plain terms

“A fast concept tool — not a final visualization. Explore massing and ideas instantly, then take the direction into your full pipeline.”

Jahrom Sorage, architect, Sydney — who made The Brutalist

Your work stays yours

Sketches and renders are never stored on our servers. They live only in your session: discard a render or close the app and it’s gone for good. The only copy that exists is the one you choose to download to your own device.

Made by an architect, for architects

Jahrom Sorage is a practising architect in Sydney. He built The Brutalist for the concept stage, when a massing idea needs to be seen before anyone models it.

07 / Ten renders on usNo card · no install · runs in the browser

Draw something.

Ten renders free, no card needed — then A$49 a month. It runs in the browser — on a tablet with a pen, on a desktop with a mouse — and in the Android app.

Open the app See the gallery