Hi,
Here is a book that i love. It is titled “Indian Jewelry Making”, but i feel that it covers a lot of practical techniques that can be used for many types of jewelry…it is very simple, yet very comprehensive…very visual…step by step…
covers fabrication, sand/ tufa casting, stone setting, stamping, forming, etc…
i believe there are a few different editions…i only have this one.
i think you might enjoy it.
julie
Julie,
I agree. Dad gave me a copy of that book that was included in another book of the same format, art, and topic. The truth is any beginner can get something out of most books on the subject. Back in the days when Rio put out catalogs there was a wealth of solid info in the little fillers they added to the pages.
I tell people who ask me about jewelry is learn to draw before anything else. Learning to put proportion and size on paper is a great help in doing things in three dimensions. The time between drawing and fabrication is always a variable.
There are other books I like to paw through. Some are old school manuals but other I just look at the pictures.
Don
Are those the books that helped you learn drawing and fabrication?
Greetings Jessica,
Those books in the last post are very informative. Very example driven. But I guess I can’t say any specific book helped me learn either skill. As I said before you can take something about fabrication, large or small, from about any book on the subject. My brother Rob and I grew up with silver fabricating happening in the house. We didn’t have to go looking for the craft, it was happening around us. And our father was willing to share. Maybe it would be best for you to find a Community College or Public Studio with courses on making jewelry.
As far as drawing is concerned, when I was in High School in the 60’s I lived in the art room. That is pretty much all I did there, draw. And I have had a life long fascination with cartoon art. I worked largely as a draftsman. My adult work was first as a boat builder(steel fabrication) and interior designer and later as a designer and fabricator for people with disabilities. I have had folios and sketch books going back decades of sketches I did in department meetings. As you can see I have been drawing for more than fifty years.
I have had nothing specific to sketching jewelry altho’ I am sure those books exist. I suggest you go to the library, or on-line and see if you can find:
George Bridgman’s Constructive Anatomy.
Drawing Dynamic Hands Book by Burne Hogarth
Learn to Draw with Jon Gnagy
Look for books that explain “The Golden Mean” or Greek Proportion. But I imagine just googling the subjects will do as good a job.
Good Luck
Don
