In this article we will talk about the basic steps a professional jewelry sketch passes, before being turned into a final product. We will cover the jewelry design process, cooperation with jewelry CAD designers and the final step of production.

Searching for an idea:

To make something extraordinary, you need to think outside the box. But whatever idea you come up with you need to remember that jewelry sketches require a special approach. If you are new to jewelry design you may need to gather some ideas and closely examine some sketching concepts. After that you can start drawing a jewelry sketch and then trying to think of possibilities of turning it to CAD model. You can pick up any jewelry piece around, and try to fully examine it. Try to review it upside down, at an angle to understand how it looks, and what the right proportions are. You need to understand the basic requirements of CAD jewelry to make jewelry sketches that are right to 3D model.

The sketching process:

You need to start with basic shapes, lines and then proceed to step by step drawing. You need to try not to get too detailed on the first step. What you need to do is to get the overall shape and structure of the jewelry piece you have thought. Then after bringing it lo life-size you may proceed to details and stones.

Demo sketches:

Your sketches do not need to always be a finished jewelry design. You may create a basic form of a jewelry piece, and then use it as a template to get different ideas. This may be extremely helpful when developing a jewelry line. The rings or pendants may have the same style, but not the same details and stones. Especially when you decide to color the gems, you will see the same style of the line, but totally different jewelry designs.

Finalizing the design:

Once you have tested your sketch, and are completely sure that it works, you may do the final touches. You can place the beads, different textures and connections and play around with the design. After having the final design you can send it out to jewelry CAD designers.

CAD and production:

After the CAD process you will see your 3D jewelry design for the first time. You need to remember that it will slightly vary from your original jewelry sketch. That is due to some requirements that jewelry CAD services have. You may even see that some part of the design doesn’t look the way you have thought would. And you may ask your jewelry CAD designer to change or modify it.

When you are totally happy with your jewelry CAD design, you may send it to production. The steps of turning the jewelry sketch to a final product are pretty long. That’s the cost for getting into the unique world of jewelry design.

Other topics about the modeling process:

• How To Draw Jewelry Design Sketch: Starter’s Guide
• Design is not how things look, but how things work
• Top 10 3D Jewelry Design Groups to follow on FB
• How to become a 3D jewelry modeling artist?

The biggest mistake beginner jewelry designers make is scaling the jewelry design sketch properly when drawing them. As the jewelry models like rings, pendants, earrings and charms are usually small items it will not be very comfortable to draw them with a 1:1 scale (life-size). That’s why you may want to change the scaling, for example to draw a double size piece to get a close-up look at the tiny stones or some complex texture. It is very common to mix scales when working on zoomed jewelry sketches. So it is important to be very attentive, especially during close-ups.

Jewelry sketch proportions

The same problems occur with the jewelry sketch proportions. If you don’t maintain the right proportions; your jewelry design will lose the initial shape and look like a different piece. As we know most of the jewelry models are pretty small and usually very detailed. Thus a slight difference in proportions will make a big and visible change toward better or worse.

One more important thing to remember is that the jewelry design sketch that you draw will be produced and someone will wear it, someone is going to wear. So you certainly might want to take into account the wear-ability and comfort of your design. But you might plan to design something that is not meant to be worn. Like something big and extravagant. In this case you may just skip this note.

Drawing your own jewelry

Being able to draw your own jewelry design sketch may be extremely straightforward in many situations. If you are planning to start your own hand-made jewelry line, being your own designer will allow you to differ from others. Thus offering something new to your clients. You are the one making the decorative decisions, and you are the one bringing your ideas to life. It will also make the communication with your 3D jewelry artist, who is making the 3D jewelry models for you. You may be able to fully explain what you are looking for. No matter what your plan is, being able to draw your ideas on a piece of paper is something very useful. If you stay attentive, and don’t go too much into 3D design and unrealizable, you will always succeed.

Other topics about the modeling process:

• 5 Steps a Jewelry Sketch Passes
• Design is not how things look, but how things work
• Top 10 3D Jewelry Design Groups to follow on FB
• Designing Gold Jewelry: What You Need To Know