Fearless Drawing

57

with my scissors, but you might need to use pliers

depending on the thickness of your wire. When

drawing with wire remember to watch out for the

end as you don’t want it to accidentally ping into

anyone’s eye!

The tricky thing about drawing this way is how each

bend and fold created moves the existing bends

and folds. This means you have to keep altering and

adjusting as you go, keeping in mind the overall

look of the drawing, while also focusing on the small

section in progress. The finished pieces are gorgeous

but very fragile; they’re easily squashed so store them

in a safe place until you’re ready to tape them into

your book.

Drawing with wire is a really beautiful way to create

a line drawing in space. I have lots of these drawings

taped to the walls of my studio and I love their

elegance and the different shadows they create

over the course of the day. Using wire is a sculptural

approach to drawing, allowing us to create lines in

three dimensions and to view our emerging and

finished work from every angle. These drawings work

beautifully hung as mobiles or simply taped or pinned

directly onto the wall. For inspiration before you begin,

research the exquisite wire drawings of Alexander

Calder and CW Roelle to see how far this approach can

be taken and inspire you before you begin.

You will need a small amount of thin, soft, pliable

wire that is really easy to bend with your fingers. I

recommend floral wire, but you can also use 2mm

aluminum wire or modeling wire. I can cut floral wire

Drawing

with Wire

CUPS

To complete this exercise, we will repeat the adventure in chapter 8—creating a

continuous-line drawing without breaks—but this time in three dimensions. Let’s revisit

those cups. We are now familiar with their shape, so let’s re-create our continuous

drawing in wire. I want you to draw the entire silhouette of the cup using one long

piece of wire. For now make sure you are working from the actual cups rather than your

drawings. This is important as we are now at the stage in our journey where we are

beginning to really see. All the answers of how to draw an object can be found through

careful and thoughtful study of the object. The problem is that when we are asked to

draw, we panic and we rush into drawing without any real contemplation of the object

we are trying to draw. Instead, slow down, spend time looking, enjoy the process, and

don’t fret about the end result. In time your looking and drawing skills will develop

in tandem; you will learn how to look more closely, and with practice your hand will

respond with confidence. For now save your wire drawings in a safe place where they

will not get damaged.

58 > Fearless Drawing

Drawing with Wire > 59

Once you have completed all the adventures in the book, tape your wire

cups here.

60 > Fearless Drawing

BUTTERFLY

Here’s half a butterfly; I’d like you to make the other wing on the

opposite page. You can see it’s been built up gradually, using

many small pieces of wire. I started with the wing outlines and

then created the designs within them. Don’t worry if your design

is not symmetrical. You can follow my design if you’d prefer,

but please do take the time to explore your own shapes and

patterns as well. Once you have completed all the adventures in

the book you can tape your wings on the opposite page.

Drawing with Wire > 61

TIPS

 Create the outline with a large piece of

wire and then fill the interior with pattern

by attaching smaller pieces of wire to your

outline frame.

 To join one piece of wire to another, wrap it

around in a circular fashion to create a bind

and then snip off any overhanging wire.

 Be careful using small pieces of wire; don’t

make them too short as it will be difficult to

bind them to the structure.