Lapidary_Journal_Jewelry_Artist_-_November_-_December_2019

PHO

TOS

:^ HO

LLY

GA

GE

O

NE OF THE GREAT things

about working in metal clay

is how readily it accepts

texture, especially compared to

working with metal sheet. I like to

create texture plates in copper,

which is easy to emboss and refi ne.

Here are ways to make simple

designs and build on them for more

complex elements.

DRAWING FIRST

Start out with a line drawing on

tracing paper. Make a sandwich

starting with the tracing on top, the

copper sheet in the center, and the

acrylic sheet on the bottom. Use a

ball point pen to transfer your line to

the copper.

Remove the tracing paper and

alternate working from front to

back. For raised lines, use the

foam as a base. To fl atten the

background or defi ne an edge,

work with the hard acrylic surface

as the base.

THICK AND THIN LINES

1

Working from the front, draw

evenly spaced lines using a ball

stylus. From the back, use the same

ball stylus in between the lines. For

thick lines, use a medium stylus; for

thin, a small stylus.

Design your own copper plates to use for texturing

metal clay By Holly Gage

Texture on Demand

Use the Plate

HAWAIIAN LEI, PAGE 72

About Design

STYLIZED, PAGE 68

1

4

2

5

3

Tip: Try using this technique with

curved lines, too.

DOTS, BULL’S-EYE,

SPIRALS

2

From the front, make random

dots with varyingly sized ball

styluses. Cup the dots from the

back.

To make a bull’s-eye, make a small

dot from the front, and cup from the

back. Return to the front, and with

a ball stylus add a line around the

dot. From the back, add another line,

and repeat as desired to enlarge the

bull’s-eye.

Start a spiral from the front, leaving

space between each progressively

larger circle. On the back, use a

narrow ball stylus to come in tight on

either side of your line to defi ne it.

RADIAL SPIRAL

3

To make a radial spiral, start on

the back and make your largest

dot. Cup the dot from the front.

80 LAPIDARY JOURNAL JEWELRY ARTIST