Just curious about creativity!

[lolabead]

I would really like to know how you go about creating and designing your pieces. The reason I ask is that I used to envision drawing my design out on paper then basically following it through. The reality has been very different. I have to physically try all the various bits and pieces together. Colours and shapes and parts I initially chosen to put together may not actually work in real life due to proportion, balance, colour issues...or just because something won't physically fit something else!

I find it impossible to keep my work area tidy when creating because I have everything out in my sight in case that particular pot contains the very bead I'm looking for. The jewellery I'm working on is a combination of metal, currently copper, and various beads, wire wrapping, stamping, etching etc. so a lot of scope for many different things. Sometimes I feel I'm putting all the right things together and then at the end no matter how long I've spent on it there's just something about it I don't like but I don't always know what it is.

There's masses of trial and error - partly I suppose because I am still new to it all. Each time I make something I learn something new. The design can often change because I have to think of a way around a problem. I seems to me that the adding or taking away or repositioning of 1 bead can alter the whole look.

At the end of every session I have to spend 30 minutes tidying everything up for the next time otherwise it would be impossible to work.

It all feels very haphazard but it seems to be the way I operate. I wish I could just draw on paper then construct the finished article and be happy with it as it would save so much time!

I'm just curious as to what this process is like for everyone else? I understand a lot depends on what it is your making etc.

Also, is it usual to like some of your creations more than you like others?

[Patstone]

I do the same, make things and alter as I go. I have tried to design on paper but for me it doesnt work. Some of the things I make I really hate, and cant wait for them to sell, others I covet and try to find an excuse to keep it.

[caroleallen]

I normally design on paper first. That's not to say that things don't evolve.

[Goldsmith]

I start off with rough sketches, then when I am happy with a design shape, I re draw to correct size and even use watercolours to colour parts of the design, then I make to the design, improving the ideas as I work.

James

[Dennis]

One thing I must say: it's impossible to do any kind of designing or drawing on my work bench. So I take myself off to somewhere cleaner and more spacious for that.

Having achieved a largish drawing, first in pencil and finally in pen, I adjust the size on my photocopier, usually downwards.

This sometimes shows that a detail becomes much too small to retain, or that the whole thing is unbalanced. Then, back to the drawing board.

Organic things are different of course: they often just happen. Dennis.

[camalidesign]

I think that the design process is something you get better at with more practise, both in drawing and knowing what will actually work in reality. When you are a relative beginner some things don't become obvious until you try to make the item you have sketched, later on you will know straight away that a certain thing won't work, experience will tell you. But of course, nothing is a sure thing until you actually make the piece and I imagine most people do quite a lot of tweaks once actually making the piece.

Carin

[enigma]

I think the creative process is very much a personal thing so there is no 'right' or 'wrong' way.
Also depends what you are creating.
I do my designs on paper first always but when it comes to adding stones for example, I will often get different stones out and try them.

[Goldsmith]

When a customer of mine wanted an egg, he asked for some ideas so I drew up three designs. He didn't choose an egg but like bits of my designs so he chose what he wanted from my designs and ordered his egg, which I made.

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James

[CJ57]

I rarely put anything on paper now having been made at Art College to put everything on paper amd produce elevations and working drawings for 4 years. I sometimes put lines or basic shapes on paper and then I set to work usually with about 8 pieces on the go at one time so it's very messy.
They evolve as I work on them and if I have any for any length of time after finishing I sometimes look at the ones I'm not so happy with and work on them again till I am.
And yes there is some work I like more than others but you have to tell yourself that everyone's taste isn't the same and someone else may like it.
I knew another jeweller who didn't let anything leave her workshop that she didn't like 100%, I'm not sure that's always possible!

[enigma]

James makes a good point there- if you don't sketch designs out on paper then how are you going to work with customers ideas?
I have to send sketches out to customers quite often although I only generally send rough sketches as I can do that in seconds so don't have to charge for it.
Amazing work as always James! Im assuming you would be charging a fee for the design process involved in that?

[CJ57]

James makes a good point there- if you don't sketch designs out on paper then how are you going to work with customers ideas?

I try not to do commissions as I find it really stressful so drawings are t really necessary. Depends how the individual sells their work I suppose. As someone said earlier there is no right or wrong way to the process of creativity

[caroleallen]

After I've drawn the piece, I usually draw it in stages so that I know if it'll work.

[Tabby66]

I play around with ideas and sketches on paper, once I am happy with these I draw definitive line drawings to use as a template for pieces such as hares, penguins. Like Dennis I often use the photocopier to adjust the size of a design. Things can still evolve, but I like to have thought through the making process and how a piece will be achieved.

For commissions, I often provide a number of designs (about 3 or 4) and work with the customer from there to an agreed design. The final design is drawn to scale and when a piece is finished I like to be able to lay a piece on the agreed design.......saves debate on what is ordered/delivered ;) .....though I've only really had this debate once and it was about the shape of a piece (they had kept going on about what can be achieved by computer design,.....I had suggested they should go that route, that my work is not CAD)......they liked my work, so I agreed.....they were pleased with the piece and satisfied when I showed the piece exactly matched the design......and even came back some months later for matching earrings!!

I find drawing helps me to get the look I'm after, get the scale right and think through the making process.

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[enigma]

I try not to do commissions as I find it really stressful so drawings are t really necessary. Depends how the individual sells their work I suppose. As someone said earlier there is no right or wrong way to the process of creativity

I dont blame you, there is definitely added stress to a commission especially if its working from the customers own photos and they are poor photos!

[caroleallen]

I dont blame you, there is definitely added stress to a commission especially if its working from the customers own photos and they are poor photos!

As I found out to my cost recently. That nasty customer was the last straw for me and I've taken the commissions heading off my website. It's quite liberating.

[enigma]

Yes that kind of thing does really get you down.
Ive only had one so far that was unpleasant but even then despite lots of delighted customers that bothered me for ages.
I think you really put yourself on the line with commissions so if you happen across an unpleasant customer it really cuts.

[Nick martin]

I do rough sketches as ideas pop into my head, and sometimes if I'm trying to visualise how something will look in reality then instead of making rough versions, I'll knock up a 3D model on the computer in order to rotate it and look at it from different angles. My designs tend to be simple and uncomplicated so its not that difficult for me to do.

Cheers,

Nick

[ps_bond]

Similarly, rough sketches through to detail drawings (yes, sometimes 3rd angle projection) and CAD renders, even if the result will be fabricated.