Overview

A butterfly is pure organic symmetry — flowing wings that have to feel alive rather than mechanical. The surest way to capture that is to let a real drawing lead, tracing its lines rather than inventing them freehand. This closing project turns a flat 2D butterfly image into a finished 3D gemstone pendant: you’ll trace the wings over a locked reference, mirror and remesh the form into smooth SubD, and set it with gems on curves, interior pavé and a marquise center stone in a six-claw basket.

Design a butterfly pendant using RhinoArtisan.

In this tutorial you will learn how to:

• Trace the outline over a locked reference image, close the curves, and build the first wing with From Planar Curve and an extrude.

• Extract an Isocurve along the wing, set the outer gems with Gems on Curve at 1.35 mm, and Mirror the wing to the other side.

• Add the marquise center stone and secure it in a six-claw basket with Gem Studio.

• Fill the wings with the remaining Pavé and prongs, then finish with Quad Remesh, Boolean Difference and a custom Bail.

By the end of this project, you’ll have the skills to turn a 2D drawing into a fully set butterfly pendant from scratch.