Most jewellery starts off as an illustration of some kind or other. Often, a sketch will emerge in a sketchbook, this will then develop into a more detailed technical drawing and then a render which includes colour and tone. This forms the final design which will then be sent to the craftsman who will make the jewellery.
The final presentation render is often in orthographic format and may include annotation, such as the dimensions or the quality of the gemstones to be used in the peice.
Jewellery illustration
Traditionally this was all done by hand and today a select few jewellery designers carry on this convention, while others have incorporated an element of CAD into this process. Others still, have replaced the human touch entirely with digital methods.
It’s hard to say whether there’s an objective difference between the 3 approaches and if customers benefit from one more than the other. Many customers like the romance of having a handpainted jewellery design, but, also appriciate the convenience and speed of being able to see a CAD model and variations of a design. With CAD, you can change the metal or gemstone colour and shape at the touch of a bottom, whereas with hand-painted illustrations, any variations must be done separately.
We use both in the design of our jewellery, hand painting jewellery renders is probably my favourite part of the whole jewellery design process, however, I can appreciate the speed that CAD offers and the ability to view a fully 3d object and experiment with combinations of gemstones and metals in real time.
Hand painting jewellery renders
A hand painted jewellery render is an illustration of a peice of jewellery using paint at 1:1 scale. In the days before CAD and even before photography ,this was the best way for a designer to communicate their ideas to a customer and to the crafts people who were to make the peice.
Using paints allows you to communicate not just the size and composition of a peice but also colours and tone, indicating the type and quality of the gemstones and metals that are to be used.
Jewellery renders are often painted onto grey paper. Using grey paper allows you to use simple dark and light tones for highlights and low lights, rather than having to make a series of greys, which you would have to do if you were painting on white peper.
A mixture of both gouache and watercolour paints are often used, though some designers prefer to use just gouache and you need a selection of fine and extra fine paintbrushes.
Painting gemstones
Making gemstones look 3dimensionsal as well as colourful, using paint,is achieved by using a series of layers of colour and detail. It is very important to let the layer you have painted dry thoroughly before you apply the next layer.
Different gemstones require different combinations of layers and colours. Gemstones which are opaque, mostly cabochons, work slightly differently and you can blend the colours instead of using layering.
Striking, realistic results can be achieved with all gemstones.
Opals are unique and require a mixture of both blending and layering to achieve the look of a 3d dimensional object that has layers of colour within it. You can learn more about painting opal with our opal painting tutorial.