Designing with Watercolor

Before CAD (computer-aided design), we jewelry designers relied on another art form - watercolors - to portray our designs in living color to share with our customers before a piece is given to the craftsmen to be created. At the Gemological Institute of America, they taught us the fine art of watercolor to capture both the exquisite nature and the exact setting of a piece. It take quite some skill to produce a watercolor that evokes the transparency of a gemstone, the brilliance of a diamond, and the reflective surfaces of a faceted gemstone.

Nowadays, I do not produce watercolors that often. Mostly, I paint for clients who are commissioning a collection or a piece with an extremely special stone. For them, the design is another gem to collect alongside the actual piece!

Here are some of my watercolors.