I am another UK larker who is also a jeweller, Did you say sunny UK, I
must have missed that! I don’t really think there is any contest
between using CAD and layout paper, pencil and Magic Markers. The cost
of setting up a computer system is high. It is easy to get seduced by
sexy software, but it can never do all the things that can be done by
hand. Personally, I have found that CAD is slower that hand drawing.
Obviously, if you want to do work that is repetitive CAD is the
answer. For brainstorming ideas quickly, you cannot beat paper and
pencil. Richard Essex UK
richard - we prefer to use pencils, brushes & color media because, you
are, as am i, probably very good at hand done rendering - it’s a
combination of perspective, conceptual ability, proportion, hand to
eye cooridination & balance which you are either born with & develop,
or you don’t have it. contrary to the popular saying, most artists
can’t draw a straight line, that’s why scales were invented.
i was amazed to see reproductions of hand sketches by the ‘top
designers’ who obviously need a translator when it comes to
transcribing what’s in their head to haard copies. this isn’t a slur
on their great finished work, it just explains why such cad programs
are developed. thomas r. mc phee, a canadian gem carver, is one i
greatly admire because he’s one of the best i’ve seen who can do both
the conceptual rendering & the finished product. (see december 2000
lapidary journal - pg 73)
one person’s opinion - ive