The reality, however, is that there is a lot more to learning how to bead than just stringing popcorn, and this post will have a closer look at what else you'll want to learn.
Learning how to bead involved learning in four basic aspects. They might seem to be innocuous enough at first glance, but on closer examination, the inevitable conclusion is that there's a lot more to learning how to bead than first meets the eye.
The four basic "disciplines" you should get good at to really learn how to bead are the following:
Mechanics
Patterning
Color Selection
Medium Selection/Mixing
We'll read through the particulars of these one-by-one as a way of putting you on the path to learning how to bead.
The first step in your "learn how to bead" training is mechanics. If you don't have the mechanics down, then the rest does not matter. Thankfully, from a mechanics standpoint, it truly is about as easy as stringing popcorn. If it can be done, then you've already gotten this feature of learning how to bead down, but even here, there is some subtlety. Were you aware, for instance, that when stringing pearls, you need to tie a knot on either side of the stone to avoid potential damage caused by the stones rubbing against one another? Or that there are times when you merely have to tie a loose knot as a "bead brake" on the end of the line you're not working?
Thus even where the basic mechanics are involved, there's much more to learning how to bead than you may first think. Certainly, however, this is the simplest of the four aspects to learn.
The next discipline you should wrap your brain around in mastering how to bead is the idea of patterning. Whole books could (and have) been published on this subject, and once you really get into it and start learning it, you'll quickly realize that of all the fields, this one is the most complex and involved. Certainly the one you'll spend the most time on when learning how to bead.
Color selection is one part skill and another part science. Art students discover more about complimentary and different colors as a first course, and thus are a leg up in this department, however there are several assets both online and off that will advise you through this field on your quest to learn how to bead. Don't think of saving here. Proper color selection could make or break your designs!
Finally, the last main aspect to master in learning how to bead is medium selection and the correct mixing of mediums. This is mostly a practical, good sense discipline (ie., don't combine lower quality plastic with your semi-precious stones!) but even here there is some subtlety to be found.
Learning how to bead isn't too tricky, and getting a free beading project to practice with is very easy. Anybody can do it, and with practice, do it nicely. Just remember that there's much more to it than stringing popcorn!
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