The drawings I trace with the wire are generally finalized on a computer using Adobe Photoshop. I use the pen tool to make paths and move them around until I like what I have. Then I export the paths to Adobe Illustrator and print the illustration to the size I want. That size is usually 11X17 inches (two 8-1/2X11 sheet that I tape together) for the models and 4 by 5 inches for the larger pieces (I project them on to plywood with an opaque projector and trace the image with a marker). I could start and finish my drawing using Illustrator software, but I have found the drawing tool hard to work with in illustrator. Photoshop is not as precise and that allows you to play with the image a lot more before you determine that it’s finished. Also Photoshop allows me to trace photos and drawings to use as a starting point. When I think of an image that interests me I can draw it quickly on a piece of paper, then scan the drawing with a scanner and manipulate it with Photoshop for hours until it’s exactly what I want.
I didn’t always use a computer. When I first started making drawings for sculptures, I used a drafting pen on tracing paper. I’d make a shape, then change it by tracing it a little differently on another piece of tracing paper. If I wanted to remove a line, I cut away the tracing paper that held the line with an Exacto knife. To add two partial drawings together, I used a stapler. If things got to messy, I traced the image over again. I still essentially do the same thing, today, but the computer makes it much easier.
For me, making wire sculptures is like drawing in space with a flashlight – only the light stays long after the flashlight is gone. I like that, too, because I can go back to the drawing and make changes to it or eliminate parts of it with pliers.
