If you're like me, you're not very happy with the mandala. It's not compelling enough.
I usually continue to tweak the images, geting interesting forms and colors then using some part of the modified image to make a new four.
So, let's try some things, keeping in mind that there are many, many things you can try. It's all a matter of experimentation and getting someplace that feels good to you visually.
1. Open the mandala image that we got to last time. You might have named it "mandala1.jpg". If you don't have it or can't find it, use go to my own copy, right click, copy it to your desktop and open it in photoshop. Ray's mandala1.jpg.
2. Filter menu -> select "DISTORT" -> select "WAVE"
This opens a complex dialogue box that looks like this:
I usually play with the settings until I have an image that I think will provide me with a new and interesting pattern from which I can once again "make the four". Note my settings, but use your own at this point if you wish.
3. Select the Rectangular marquee tool and pick a section of the image that looks to you like, when you make the four, it will produce an interesting pattern. Here's the square that I've selected -> Ray's Selection. I deliberately selected just a bit of the red for the center of the image.
4. Make the four with your new selection. Call this "mandala2.jpg." Here's what I got -> Ray's Mandala 2.
Sometimes after 'making the four' the images get a bit large, because each time you make a selection, you are doubling the width and height to make the four.
5. image menu -> select "IMAGE" -> select "IMAGE SIZE"
You will get a dialogue box which allows you to change the height and width of your image. Here's what it looks like:
6. Click off "Constrain Proportions" and then change the width and height to 500 pixels. This will give you a square mandala. You don't really need to produce a square mandala ... you may wish to play around with different shapes. Here's what I got -> Ray's Square Mandala.
I don't like all the blurryness around the edges and I want to show you how to make a more circular mandala anyway, so let's take another step in that direction.
7. Select Eliptical Marquee Tool [upper left of the tool bar ... it's contained in the rectangular marquee tool] and try to replicate my selection. You can do this by finding a spot in the upper left clicking on it and dragging to the mirror of that spot on the lower right of the image. Look at the two red arrows on the image to see where I started and finished dragging the eliptical selection.
8. Edit Menu -> select "COPY" which places the selected part of the image on your clipboard.
9. File Menu -> select "NEW"
This brings up a dialogue box which on my computer shows the width and height of the new window to be 350 and 377 pixels. But, I want to place the circular selection on a black background, so I will add 20 pixels to both dimensions, making them 370 and 397.
This will produce a window, 370 x 397 pixels and a white background. But I want a black background.
10. Click on the foreground color box, which on the image below is indicated with the red arrow and which is currently blue on my image, but is likely to be white on yours. The drag the small "O" to the lower right corner or set RGB each on "O". [Black is indicated by RGB 000 in photoshop.
11. Edit Menu -> select "FILL" -> select "FOREGROUND COLOR"
Since you've set the foreground color to black, you will now get a black window.
12. Edit Menu -> select "PASTE".
This should paste your eliptical image right in the center of the black window with about 10 pixels to spare on each side [Remember, you made the window larger than the dimensions of the eliptical mandala that you selected in steps 7 and 8 above.
13. Save this image as mandala3.jpg
I did the above and here's what my mandala looks like:
There are a large variety of mandalas you can make from this original modigliani color pattern and this is but one of them.
The next lesson will get you to use some different tools and to start with a color pattern of your own.
Are you having fun? If not, perhaps this is the time to quit. In case you're interested, my dictionary provides these synonmys for 'quitter' : deserter, faint-of-heart, fraidy cat, gutless wonder, invertebrate, jellyfish, lily-liver, malingerer, milksop, milquetoast, mouse, pessimist, poltroon, rabbit, recreant, scaredy-cat, shirker, sissy, skulker, weak sister, weakling, white liver, yellow, yellow-belly
Well, it's up to you. What's your choice, be a quitter [aka 'milquetoast' ] or a healthy, creative, wonderful person who can't wait to explore the next learning step? it's up to you.
Steps [introduction] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]