1/3/13

Best new thing on my bead table


Do your designs take shape through sketches, or do you prefer to let them evolve as you go?


I was three-parts excited, one-part panic-stricken, when I won this sketchbook from Kathleen Lange Klik’s Modern Nature Studio blog. It’s going to have a prominent place on my bead table this year and is already proving to be a great tool to firm up my design ideas. I wasn’t born with the ability to think visually with a pencil, so I plan to start with a basic sketch of the shape of my design, and translate my thoughts to its pages in other creative ways. To collage (perhaps literally!) my key elements together. Develop my color palette.  Plan out each step in the design and sort through possible variations. Jotting down a materials list and production notes should prove invaluable in case I want to create a second version of a piece.
Using a sketchbook has changed up my creative process, and helped me resolve some technical challenges in this lariat design before I threaded my first bead on the needle. A good start to my first project of the new year!

3 comments:

  1. I usually sketch out my statement pieces - helps to anticipate some pitfalls before I fall into them! And I always make paper templates of my metalwork before I start cutting metal - this has saved me from some costly mistakes!

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  2. So glad to see that the sketchbook is helping your creative process! Jotting down a materials list is a really great idea. I look forward to seeing where your art takes you in 2013!

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  3. It's a brilliant idea to have someplace where you keep all of your ideas. I would love to have one, but would it be any helpful for the beginning beader?

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