Why were Lighthouses built?
When people began going out to sea, they needed a way to help them find their way home. When it was light in the day these people used landmarks (large objects/buildings/land that stood in the direction of where they came from). At night, bonfires were lit on land to help guide the small boats home. As ships became bigger and started to travel out to sea further, it was helpful to have signals and to know where hazards like rocks lay beneath the water, so lighthouses were built to aid navigation.
Where are light houses located?
Rocky Cliffs
Sandy Beaches
Entrances to bays and harbours
What are they made of?
Stone
Concrete
Wood
Steel
Cast Iron
How are Light houses identified at night?
At night you can see the light of the lighthouse but not always the lighthouse itself. Each lighthouse has its own pattern of flashing/rotating light.
When was the first lighthouse built in California?
Following the discovery of gold. Following the gold rush, shipments of goods arrived on the coast, prior to railroads being built. Farmers and ranchers could ship their goods into larger cities. As this developed, light houses played an important role in protecting the flow of goods along the coast.
SOURCE
http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/ca/pdf/bakersfield/pbls/data.Par.98621.File.dat/basic%20lighthouse%20information.pdf
What have I learned?
If I am basing my project off a 'Western' theme, then I reasoned that it is best to gather some information about lighthouses around the time of the 'gold rush' in California. I learned from the information I found that lighthouses were used for boats to bring in goods and take out goods from larger states. This means that lighthouses might be placed on harbours or rocky cliffs.
Research on the California Gold Rush of 1849
The gold rush began when gold was discovered in 1948 in the Sacramento Valley. As news spread of this discovery, thousands of people travelled over land and by sea to San Francisco and the surrounding areas in pursuit of wealth. By the end of 1949 around 100,000 people had migrated to California.
SOURCE
http://www.history.com/topics/gold-rush-of-1849
Housing
When I searched up for housing at the time of the Gold rush, California these are the images I found. All these buildings have similarities. They are all simple houses, in simple shapes (cubes/cuboids) made out of panelled wood, have windows (made out of glass) and doors. Some of them have second floors and balconies. Most of them have chimneys.
What have I learned?
From this I have learned that when I texture my houses I need to use wooden panelling textures and to keep the houses relatively simple and sharp. Possibly use other textures like thatch, rock and metal, but the majority of it should be wood. If I want to make more complex designs I should add an extra floor and balcony. Possibly include a couple of civil buildings with pub or shop signs outside, or a couple of benches or wood logs to fill and detail my scene up a little more.
Since gold was discovered in the Sacramento valley and the valley is often painted with high hills or mountains I think that when I do my final render, it is important to include hills/mountains in the background to incorporate this idea.
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