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Coming up with new and exciting designs is essential for
artists to successfully sell their work. If you’re not selling you’re not
eating and not eating is a bad situation. The problem for many artists is tackling the
daunting task of changing their tried and true designs to come up with a fresh
new look. So why make the change? In
1909 automotive pioneer Henry Ford was quoted as saying about the Model T, “Any
customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black”.
Any idea why you can buy a car in a wide array of colors today? Competition.
Years after making that statement Ford realized that if they wanted to stay
ahead of the competition they had to make fresh changes to their product. The
same idea is true with wire art. If you
keep making the same thing year after year eventually people will begin looking
at the competition. To stay ahead of your competition it’s extremely important
to give your work an updated look.
So how do you come up with a fresh new look to your pieces? Chinese
philosopher Lao-tzu said “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single
step”. That’s a great way to view the monumental task of updating basic
projects. The first steps in our design journey begin simply with a pencil and
a blank piece of paper.
Before you begin sketching you need to define what you’re
making. If you don’t define the project you’ll have no direction. One of the
first projects most wire artists learn is a basic pendant. So for this first
exercise we’ll update a basic wire wrap pendant.
Choose a stone to work with and place it on a blank piece of
paper. With a pencil trace the shape of the stone (Picture 1). Remove the stone
from the paper and have a look at what you’ve drawn. Congratulations, you’ve
just taken the first step to giving your work a whole new look. 
Picture 1
Every wire wrapped pendant has necessary elements that must
be added to the piece for stability. Every pendant has to have a bail, wire
strands must be brought over the front and back of the stone to secure it in
place, and all of the wire strands have to be wrapped together. These elements
can’t be omitted, but they can be modified.
Before making any changes to these design elements lightly draw them on
the sketch just as they would appear in a finished piece (Picture 2).
Picture 2
We first need to devise a way to add additional stones or
metal to the basic pendant. A good way to do this is to add eyelets to the wire
frame. These eyelets will allow you to hang design elements from the pendant. Begin by drawing a small eyelet at the bottom
of the pendant (Picture 3).
Picture 3
To take this design a little further draw in two more
eyelets on either side of the first one (Picture 4). From these three small
design elements you can take the piece in an untold number of directions. You
could flatten and texture a few pieces of large gauge wire and hang them from
each eyelet. Several beads could be strung and suspended from the eyelets. You
can even add a couple more eyelets and have a ton of places to add design
elements. The possibilities are endless.
Picture 4
Picture 5
To finish the design you must look at the basic elements
that were added first. Do they still work in their current position? A few
adjustments may need to be made before you can say the job is done (Picture 6). Take
a few minutes to tweak the design until you’re satisfied with the results.
Picture 6
The point of this exercise is to show you how easy it is to
make simple changes to basic designs to come up with a fresh approach to your
work. From this first drawing you can
create an entire line of pendants that have the same design thread running
through them. Add an element here and there to create something new and
appealing to your customers.
The Finished Design
Trust me, the seemingly long journey of creating fresh work
isn’t as daunting as it may seem. It all begins by taking that first step. For More Jewelry Tips, Information and Projects, Visit Us Online
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