"Drawing and coloring has always been my passion and I am so glad that I found a way to tie it to my jewelry fabrication."
Anna
Anna started learning jewelry rendering several years ago, mostly out of a desire to be able to depict her own designs before fabricating them. As she continued studying, researching, and practicing jewelry rendering she came across many historical drawings, paintings and sketches of various jewelry collections. Many of them were simple, almost primitive, but incredibly life-like images of necklaces, earrings and brooches. The pieces seemed to float just above the sheet of paper they were drawn on, creating an urge to pick them up as if they were real. Even though the idea of painting tiny, colorful gemstones with very small brushes seemed impossible, she decided to pursue this passion. In recent years she took many drawing classes and completed several intense courses of jewelry rendering led by international jewelry designers, such as:
- The Art of the Gouache by Helene and Jeanne Karpov of Karpov Paris
- Drawing Gems by Inesa Kovalova of "Draw Me a Jewel" Jewellery Illustration School, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Sketching Jewellery with Markers by Irina Vasylenko, Jewellery Designer, Kyiv, Ukraine
- Colored Gemstones by Samatha Kelly of Jewellery Design House, Adelaide, Australia
"From the initial free hand sketch to the detailed finished painting, with each stroke, it feels like I am taking a journey into the depths of each stone. It can be a several hour task but achieving that sparkling light on paper is extremely rewarding."
Anna
DIOR Brooch - gouache
"By drawing an object you get to know it better; by drawing an idea you make it visible."
Jewelry renderings in various media
Colored pencils
Gouache and watercolors
Markers
Various renderings
Painting with gouache may seem straightforward but it can only be achieved through a time-consuming process which requires precision and care. Every painting starts with a pencil sketch which is followed by: mixing colors, creating light and shadow areas, and adding highlights. This journey of bringing a jewel to life on paper is fascinating to me as I continue to dive deeper into this once considered lost art of gouache jewelry painting. I find that the entire process creates an emotional connection to the painted jewel.
