[Jewelry making - Article 00579] - Re: [Orchid] Jewelry design - what & where to learn

[John Donivan]

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>     What advice would the forum give to people who want to be more
>     than just a technician, soldering part A to part B? 

    Kelley, you might as well ask how to become an engineer!! Long
    process... A list of good things to think about, though: 

    Much of what you need to know you already know as an engineer.
    Jewelry design is no different that auto design and bridge design.
    Structure, strength - the longer the part the thicker the material,
    stuff like that. That's what many beginners lack, so you have a head
    start. 

    Much of design you can learn from books - there are many good ones
    with titles like "The Principles of Design" or something. A lot of
    design is composition, proportion and arithmetic. How to break up
    space, when to use threes, when to use fours, the nature of curves
    (Grace, Strength, etc.). How to break up circles and squares, how
    they become cones and other shapes, that sort of stuff. White space
    versus dark space, the use of silence. That's the kind of design
    fundamentals that can be taught and learned. 

    You are an engineer, so maybe you need to learn how to color outside
    the lines - maybe not. 

    Study everything in nature, which is a lifelong study. 

    Very importantly - I know some might take this askew, but it's true.
    Jewelry is 3 dimensional. You'll never be a great jewelry designer
    in 2 dimensions. Don't think about what you will do with a silver
    disk, think about what you will do with a ping pong ball (virtually
    speaking). Two dimensional jewelry is only half designed by nature,
    though there's certainly a place for it. But the more you can think
    like a sculptor instead of a painter, the better off you'll be. 

http://www.donivanandmaggiora.com
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