Asymmetrical Wire Wraps: A guide on design
Four Factors to Consider In Asymmetry -
A few things to consider when creating asymmetrical pieces are:
Focus on balance
Focus on angles
DO NOT neglect sketching and designing
Be comfortable with a piece turning out different than what you originally pictured
If you check out the #wirewraps section on Instagram, Pintrest, or any other media sharing platform, you are likely to find hundred upon hundreds of wire wraps. It may seem odd, but the majority of these wraps will be asymmetrically designed and there are a few reasons for that.
Why do so many wire wrappers tend to create asymmetrical designs?
The majority of wire wraps out there are asymmetrical. Most of your influences when you’re new to this art form will wind up being asymmetrically designed pieces because of statistics
It is easy to ignore flaws in asymmetrical pieces! This is not a good thing and can turn into a crutch, it will severely impede the way that you progress as an artist.
With symmetry, a small error is apparent because you should see a mirror image. In asymmetry a small error may not be as easily noticed , and you may be less inclined to fix it!
Focus on Balance
The best way to visualize this is by breaking a design up into a grid.
This is probably the most important aspect of asymmetry, as it creates a pleasing silhouette.
In this design example if we look at the vertical line we can split the piece into a left and right half.
The left half of the design extends roughly 1.5 centimeters from the center, this is the same for the right half.
If one side extended a significant amount more than the other it would throw the balance off, and your eye would automatically move to the unbalanced portion of the piece.
In symmetry, this happens automatically because you’re creating a mirror image. That’s why it is even more important to be aware of this when designing asymmetrical work.
Focus on angles!
No, you don’t need to use sin, cosine, or tangent, and I’m not going to ask that you find the hypotenuse of a triangle. But make sure to pay attention to the angles in a piece. This pertains to the orientation of minerals as well as the wirework itself!
Using the same design, i’ve highlighted some key elements that help bring the piece together.
The outline in the top right section of the piece is where I placed an Australian boulder opal. I placed this mineral at a slight angle, as opposed to vertically like the tourmalines that went into the piece.
I imitated the angle and curvature of the boulder opal in the wire work that was surrounding the two tourmalines. This is allows for cohesion in the piece, your eye sees similar shapes and angles at different points along the pendant.
If I only used straight lines around the tourmaline, there would probably be a clash between the angle in the orientation in the opal, and the vertical orientation of the tourmaline.
Do not be afraid to make changes on the fly
Sometimes, you should stick to your design as best as you can. But don’t be afraid to veer off from your initial sketch if you think the adjustments will add value to the piece. You might have a great design, but there may be something slightly off about it. Work with what you have and adjust as needed.
This is a perfect example of a design that I was in love with, but couldn’t figure out what was wrong with it.
After breaking the piece up into the left and right half, it is easy to see that the right half of the piece was extending a bit further than the left.
Instead of going back to the drawing board, I decided to stick with the design but adjust as I worked.
This was the final result of the piece.
I opted to orient the tourmaline at an angle instead of keeping it vertical like the original design. It matched the angles on the left half of the piece, and contrasted with the angles of the right half of the piece. I highlighted this in yellow and red. This wound up pulling the eye back into the piece, wherever you look.
This is adjusting on the fly. The piece remained similar to the original design conceptually, but in the execution I made necessary changes to create a cohesive, balanced piece.
Do Not Neglect design.
This isn’t as strict of a rule as everything else discussed in this post. Some wire wrappers are able to create stunning, exquisite pieces of work without ever having touched pencil to paper. I also think that the majority of artists that are successful at this have a lot of experience, and these principles are embedded in them so they come as second nature.
So if you’re new, PLEASE SKETCH A DESIGN. Even if it’s just a sketch of your frame, and you want to figure out the rest as you go, at least have something to build off of.
This is by no means a comprehensive list of the rules you should follow when creating asymmetrical work. Even if it were, rules will broken and when broken on purpose, can result in absolutely stunning and unique works of art.
Most of what I mentioned has become second nature to me while designing. It will also become second nature for you as well. I hope that by bringing awareness to these aspects of design, you can more easily see where you can improve, or what you’ve already been doing properly without even realizing it.
If you enjoyed this guide, check out the guide Meaghan wrote on Symmetry
