Introduction to drawing with wire

Today we had a workshop of drawing with wire. We were introduced to the equipment, process and health and safety. At the beginning of this workshop I thought it was really interesting, and I was eager to try it.

Equipment list

• Aluminium or steel wire – only cut off the reel what you actually need for your piece, as a lot of te wire is expensive
• Pliers
• Wire cutters
• A picture to refer to

Health and safety

• Be aware of people around you. Bending the wire causes the wire to move about in the air next to you a lot, therefore be careful not to hit or hurt anyone. If you are near another person, bend the end of the wire over, to minimise the likely chance of getting hurt as the end because blunt
• Use the wire cutters safely and correctly as it is possible to to catch skin or fingers in them
• Stand up when straightening out the wire, as a method of using 2 pliers to pull it straight needs a lot of space
• Cut excess wire off the finished piece to avoid it getting caught on clothing or hurting someone

 

I began this workshop by searching for an image that links to my theme of senses. I chose an image of a hand because this represents touch. I also chose the image of one with the palm facing down, as I wanted to be able to create the nails, as well as the outline of the hand itself. Here is the image I chose:

I cut off about a meter of aluminium wire to use for my piece. I then used the image to almost trace the wire around, to get a better idea of the outline of the hand. After completing the outline, using the excess wire I cut it up into shorter pieces an used them to create the fingernails. However, after starting the first nail I really struggled to make the nails stay on the top of the fingers. The reason I struggled is because the wire kept digging into my fingers which really began to hurt after a while. I also found it so fragile that I kept bending the wrong things, therefore I asked my tutor for some assistance.

I was asked to attempt each fingernail, but all of which had to be tightened and altered by my tutor to ensure they were secure. Here are 2 images of my hand and its development:

I am pleased with the final result because I found the simplicity looked really effective. However I really hated the process as I found it really difficult and also painful. I don’t think I will use drawing with wire in my future work because it is also too time consuming in my eyes.