STEP FORTY SIX

I want to show you an alternative mandala design, so as to give you an idea of how many variations one can make with this. I joked on Facebook that I could easily create 100 variations of this design. I could do 1000, but I would probably get bored after 100.

STEP FORTY FIVE

Let's overlay our mandala and see what we get. Nice, eh?

STEP FORTY FOUR

To use the thorn pattern as a background, we need to subdue it, so that it doesn't compete with the foreground. So I have darkened it and made it blue. With some designs, I have added some blur or tweeked the level of contrast. PSP makes all that easy and fun.

STEP FORTY THREE

Now, we just duplicate and fill the page. I have done this with various geometric shapes, applesauce, rice crispies, foliage, cantalope section, bread slices, skin section, and more. I am always surprised and amazed at the results, but this one is the best so far. This can be done with so many natural and artificial textures that I won't live long enough to explore all the possibilities. That is why I am enlisitng your help. Put your Safari hat on and start exploring. It's a jungle of potential images out there.

STEP FORTY TWO

Here, we have simply duplicated our first group and move it over to fill the first rows. Isn't that amazing? And it is really very simple.

STEP FORTY ONE

Here, we have duplicated the first pair, rotated it 180°, and moved it up adjacent to the original pair. Wow! But we are not done yet.

STEP FORTY

Here, I have duplidated the square, flipped it horizontally to create a mirror image and place it to the right. You can already see pattern developing.

STEP THIRTY NINE

I have taken the cutout and place it on my 4x6 grid on the poster size page.

STEP THIRTY EIGHT

I want to demonstrate how I have created a new background for my new pincushion cactus mandala. I am offering it here, because it is a technique that has potential for widee ranging applications.
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I start with this photo of a pincushion cactus. Note that I have outlined a square section in blue which I cut out using PSP(Photoshop).