What I learned from world-leading jewellery designers in Rome

"After I first experimented with 3D arts by making a bag inspired by my own rabbit illustrations for a university project, I decided I wanted to continue exploring disciplines outside of my comfort zone. What better way to do that than by learning the art of jewellery design in Rome for the summer? Because as we all know, the most iconic fashion trends are nothing without jewellery."

"Every morning Barbara would take us to a different location in Rome and tell us to draw what we saw around us. This was often architecture. Each time she gave us a new demonstration of a different way we could use our materials to communicate the picture before us. By the end of the week I had truly hammered down my observational style in buildings and architecture,"

"As technology develops, tracing becomes more common and AI weaves its way into the art and design world, observational drawing is a crucial skill to have for any creative. But it's a misunderstood skill; it doesn't mean recreating a scene like a photograph. Think of Sickert and Topolski; their accuracy and their detail was accurate in emotion and atmosphere as well as in direct depiction."

A student studied jewellery design in Rome through an Arts Abroad scheme to develop 3D art skills. The month included instruction from world-class lecturers and reinforced that fine art skills can benefit jewellery design. Previous experiments with 3D arts led to a bag inspired by rabbit illustrations and motivated exploration beyond comfort zones. Daily observational drawing exercises in Rome focused on architecture and material techniques, which built an observational style transferable to jewellery drawing. Observational drawing is framed as a crucial, often misunderstood creative skill that conveys emotion and atmosphere, remaining valuable despite tracing and AI developments.

Read at Creative Bloq