|..... Dragon Pix .....|

Aqua botanical

2007-08-22T17:13:00.000-04:00

Abstract -- early morning

2007-08-05T07:06:00.001-04:00

Cool, arcing bubbles on a hot day

2007-06-26T21:02:00.000-04:00

Golden mandala

2007-05-15T10:41:00.000-04:00

Evoking the poppies yet to come

2007-05-10T09:33:00.000-04:00

Tiled mandala

2007-05-10T09:31:00.000-04:00

Stylized oak leaves encircling the essence

2007-04-19T09:50:00.000-04:00

Purple as in ...

2007-04-11T14:30:00.000-04:00

Purple as in ...

passion
crocuses peeking up through crusts of late-winter snow
royalty
dark, tender bruises as we wonder how they came to be?
dark clouds of rain (snow?) on the western horizon
hyacinths with their over-fragrant proclamations of SPRING IS HERE!

This image/mandala reminds me of purply CDs that hold mysteries of sweet music and storytelling. I post this celebrating my daughter's birthday TODAY. Happy Birthday, Carolina!

To celebrate the day!

2007-03-30T05:46:00.000-04:00

I found the little leaf motif in an advertisement. I wrapped it around the edge of the mandala and played with something kind of "organic-looking" for the middle.

Evoking the spirit of Pewabic Pottery

2007-03-23T11:26:00.000-04:00

Pewabic pottery began here in Detroit, during the Arts & Crafts movement of the early 20th century. See their link here.

Here's a photo of Pewabic tiles that I found at flickr by a fellow named donjoz:

In homage to spring

2007-03-23T11:16:00.000-04:00

Cheering myself up

2007-03-23T11:13:00.000-04:00

I've been in a bit of a funk this week. Brainstorming how to cheer myself up, I fired up Illustrator and spent some time creating this. I like how the spirals create a sense of movement amidst the revolving 3-square motif.

... another day in paradise

2007-01-22T22:28:00.001-05:00

With all the cold, gray wintry days here in Michigan, I'm longing, longing, LONGING for warm, tropical colors.

Happy Winter Solstice!

2006-12-21T13:36:00.001-05:00

Rosette with spotlights

2006-11-05T22:35:00.000-05:00

Black-and-tan mandala

2006-11-05T21:27:00.000-05:00

A beautiful web

2006-09-22T16:02:00.000-04:00

P1010010-spinnennetz-200906-a
Originally uploaded by NaturKamera.

Red swirling cherries of happiness

2006-09-18T12:36:00.000-04:00

Mandala, 09-05-06

2006-09-18T12:35:00.000-04:00

Mandala, 09-04-06

2006-09-18T12:31:00.000-04:00

... Autumn teases us

2006-08-31T20:33:00.000-04:00

Celebrating as lovely Autumn teases us with her cool breezes.

Mandala in desert colors III

2006-08-10T22:49:00.000-04:00

Created in Adobe Illustrator and filtered in Photoshop. I used a combination of these filters: high pass, equalize and plastic wrap.

slices of a yummy July day

2006-07-20T22:03:00.000-04:00

First full day of Summer, 2006

2006-06-22T14:52:00.000-04:00

Midsummer's Eve Mandala

2006-06-21T15:44:00.000-04:00

June's poppies Composed

2006-06-12T16:59:00.000-04:00

Gourd Mandala

2006-06-12T15:02:00.000-04:00

The Original

I grabbed an interesting photo of a gourd that my daughter had taken while visiting the local farmer's market. I did a bit of cropping and cutting away of the part of the image I didn't want and then rotated the portion I did around a center axis point.

The Mandala

Spiraling into teal-ness

2006-05-15T23:36:00.000-04:00

mandala for the middle of May

2006-05-15T14:08:00.000-04:00

Orangey-goodness Mandala

2006-04-18T12:29:00.000-04:00

Orangey-goodness Mandala
Originally uploaded by calypso Dragon 13.

Cosmic swirl

2006-01-12T09:34:00.000-05:00

Cosmic swirl
Originally uploaded by calypso Dragon 13.

Here's a quick little swirl I did 'on the fly' when I needed an icon for my ID on Yahoo Messenger.

glyph - unadorned

2005-11-21T16:54:00.000-05:00

glyph adorned

2005-11-21T16:38:00.000-05:00

Autumnal Virginia creeper

2005-10-09T10:23:00.000-04:00

This is the view out our dining room, filtered through Photoshop's Ink Outlines filter.

Mandala 23 -- Multiple variation

2005-09-29T13:39:00.000-04:00

Mandala 29 -- Variation VI

2005-09-29T13:36:00.000-04:00

Mandala 29 -- Variation V

2005-09-29T08:22:00.000-04:00

This includes using Photoshop's poster edge filter.

Mandala 29 -- Variation II

2005-09-29T08:19:00.000-04:00

Applying some gradient colors and using some Photoshop filters.

Dramatic in black

2005-09-09T11:29:00.000-04:00

This is mandala 23 - Variation IV.

Mandala 29 -- Variation I

2005-09-04T13:06:00.000-04:00

Mandala 29

2005-09-04T12:13:00.000-04:00

Here's another mandala I made a while back. I purposely set out to make a very "non-geometric" mandala -- organic, free-flowing, all that sort of thing, you know? It does have nine spokes or axes. I think it has a very Air/Fire quality to it. I like it!

Mandala 24 -- Variation II

2005-09-04T12:06:00.000-04:00

It's Sunday morning, middle of a holiday weekend, and I felt inspired to "play" in Photoshop.

I'm pleased with the results.

Mandala 24 -- Sunburst without three

2005-08-22T16:49:00.000-04:00

mandala 24
Originally uploaded by calypso Dragon 13.

This is a modified sunburst, with three of the "rays" or "spokes" of the mandala removed.

Buddhist Sand Paintings

2005-07-29T10:57:00.000-04:00

As with Buddhist tradition as a whole, sand painting has its roots in the Tantric legacy of Buddhist India, extending back more than 20,000 years to the time preceding the migration of the native North Americans from Central Asia. Thus we see similarities between it and the sand painting traditions of the natives of the southwest such as the Hopi and Navajo.

There are hundreds of mandalas in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. On the Mystical Arts of Tibet tours, the Lamas create many different types, including the mandalas of the Healing Buddha, Amitayus Buddha (the Buddha of Boundless Life), Yamantaka (the Opponent of Death), and Avalokiteshvara (the Buddha of Compassion). These are created when there is a need for the healing of living beings and the environment. The Lamas consider our present age to be one of great need in this respect and therefore construct these mandalas whenever requested during their world tours.

See this site for more information.

Colorblock mandala

2005-07-17T11:13:00.000-04:00

Colorblock mandala
Originally uploaded by calypso Dragon 13.

this is a mandala I made a while back ... a dark and stormy night ... the wind whipping through the trees ... at the pied-a-terre. Sitting at Nana's old table with Lina's laptop fired up, I played and played with Photoshop.

mandala on frosted glass shadows

2005-06-16T16:31:00.000-04:00

mandala on frosted glass shadows
Originally uploaded by calypso Dragon 13.

There appeared to be an arc on the glass ... so I superimposed a mandala that I'd previously made on the shadows on the glass.

leaf shadows on the wall -- modified

2005-06-14T12:52:00.000-04:00

leaf shadows on the wall -- modified
Originally uploaded by calypso Dragon 13.

This was taking a not-very-good photo of leaves' shadows swaying on our living room walls ... and trying to do something interesting with it.

I applied a watercolor filter to the image, among others.

In my mind, those leaf shadows are still swaying with the breeze.

Five-axis mandala, variation II

2005-06-14T12:33:00.000-04:00

Five-axis mandala, variation II
Originally uploaded by calypso Dragon 13.

Same thoughts as Variation I, although I do think this one is a bit more appealing.

I do like the colors (thanks to the Difference Clouds filter in Photoshop) and the filter applied to the "swiss cheese" arms of the mandala.

Five-axis mandala, variation I

2005-06-14T12:32:00.000-04:00

Five-axis mandala, variation I
Originally uploaded by calypso Dragon 13.

This is probably one of my least favorite mandalas that I have created.

I like the five-arm configuration. I don't like the concentric circles that look like "tracks" and I don't like the "swiss cheese" look on the perimeter.

I wish I could have turned this sow's ear into a silk purse! (sigh)

What's Leo doing in the British Museum?

2005-06-05T10:54:00.000-04:00

blogposting
Originally uploaded by calypso Dragon 13.

Isn't this a cool image?

It is a detail from a door at the British Museum. Lovely!

I copied it from a person named Claudecf at flickr.

I reduced its size and applied a film grain to the image.

green shafts of light

2005-06-04T08:59:00.000-04:00

tmp.AKM54490_5.var
Originally uploaded by calypso Dragon 13.

This is another Photoshop creation. The background that looks like perspective lines is from a photo by OscarN at flickr.com.

The other components of the image are a simple sunburst mandala that I projected onto a cylinder in a 3D software that I work with. I manipulated that .jpg file within Photoshop.

five-footed flower mandala

2005-05-28T17:37:00.000-04:00

five-footed flower mandala
Originally uploaded by calypso Dragon 13.

This was an experiment in defining a "petal" from a photo of a nude woman lying in a bed with sheets draped around her. Her foot formed the center of the flower.

I then (clumsily) transfomed the petals around the center of the flower mandala and played with filters and gradients and layers.

Here's the result. If you look closely, you can indeed see the five feet of the center of the flower mandala.

[Note to myself: next time, when making the initial cut, be more careful about creating sharp corners. These petals lack soft, organic-looking curves.]

Cat's head, whiskers & all (mandala 8-2-2)

2005-05-27T09:44:00.000-04:00

mandala 8-2-2
Originally uploaded by calypso Dragon 13.

This is a three-axis mandala.

I have distorted it with a filter in Photoshop. S says it looks like a cat's head, whiskers and all.

I like the sense of movement in the middle of the mandala.

I was also pleased with the end results of the background color.

Here is how it started out. I think it looks rather like a Ouija-board pointer or some type of game puck.

Ojo de Dios (mandala 7-3)

2005-05-27T09:17:00.000-04:00

mandala 7-3
Originally uploaded by calypso Dragon 13.

I always have mixed feelings about the composition of this mandala. In some ways, I like its simplicity. In other ways, it feels overly simplistic.

I can tell you it evokes a southwestern Native American feel for me. The four directions of the wind, the four points of a compass ... I see those in this mandala. In my flickr account, I mentioned an Ojo de Dios, an "eye of God." It's a creation many of us made when we were kids at summer camp. You take two sticks, cross them and begin weaving yarn around their intersection. That's what I remember of an Ojo de Dios.

Like this one from an artist named Jay Mohler. See his website here.

Colored Glass

2005-05-24T15:25:00.000-04:00

Aren't these thumbnails, as a collection, gorgeous?

This is a compilation of colored glass shots taken by a photographer I know only as Tejana. Tejana posts on flickr. I have modified it slightly, cutting and pasting here and there.

Slightly late: Signs of Spring

2005-05-18T16:14:00.000-04:00

Signs of Spring

Kind of a mandala?

2005-05-12T13:31:00.000-04:00

Title it "Sundial in Fuchsia Time."

intertwined

2005-05-05T17:16:00.000-04:00

Here's a mandala I created a while back. I have altered it somewhat in PHotoshop.

It's actually supposed to be two five-pointed stars intertwined with one another like a Celtic knot.

Whaddaya think?

A mandala for today

2005-05-05T11:43:00.000-04:00

Here's a mandala I created in Photoshop. I love those warm intense colors.

May -- the time for dragons to return?

2005-05-04T13:25:00.000-04:00

I am going to try posting some of my images here at DragonPix again. Zoto is making this a much easier process.

The Dragon has flown the coop . . .

2004-06-09T18:01:00.000-04:00

While I appreciate Blogger's efforts to let people post images to their weblogs, I am finding working with Hello.com too cumbersome.

For that reason, and that reason alone, I am moving my images to Merry Dragon, where I hope you will come see me.

Mandala 7 -- variation 3

2004-06-09T11:56:00.000-04:00

Mandala 7 -- here they are overlapped.

I am pleased with this one.

Mandala 7 -- another vantage point

2004-06-08T11:32:00.000-04:00

Working in the 3D world that I do, this is simply a .jpg from another vantage point

A new look for Mandala 7

2004-06-08T11:30:00.000-04:00

Here is Mandala 7 projected onto the face of a cylinder

Mandala 7 with color

2004-06-07T12:47:00.000-04:00

Mandala 7 with conte crayon filter

Mandala 7

2004-06-06T21:49:00.000-04:00

Mandala 7 is a symmetric, four-axis design. It has a slightly Native American, perhaps Navajo(?) feel to me.

Mandala 6 with some color

2004-06-05T11:36:00.000-04:00

Mandala 6 after a little Photoshop play.

Mandala 6 -- Dry Brush

2004-06-05T00:19:00.000-04:00

Here is a variation on Mandala 6 again experimenting with the wonders of Photoshop. I believe I applied a water paper filter, first and then a dry brush filter. I like the batik-like look of the result.

Mandala 6

2004-06-05T00:08:00.000-04:00

I believe this is the first five-armed mandala that I have posted on this blog.

I struggled with this one, initially using only arcs, trying to achieve a design that had some "flow" to it. I finally resorted to some splines to get the shapes that I wanted. The "bell-shaped" curves on the perimeter of the mandala are splines. Also, if you look at the "rose" shapes in the center, they aren't perfectly circular. I purposefully put some "flats" in them for interest. The flats are achieved by having two arcs come in non-tangent to one another; that is, not at 0 or 180 degrees, but something close to that.

Overall, I struggled with this one and I think the result reflects that. Ah well, better luck next time.

Mandala 5

2004-06-04T23:55:00.000-04:00

Here's another design based on the number seven. I particularly like the flower-like petal design in the middle. As I worked, it evolved and emerged. What a nice surprise!

Mandala 4

2004-06-04T23:45:00.000-04:00

This is a seven-spoked mandala. When I first started this, I found myself wanting to create symmetry, even with an odd number of axes. While each spoke may look identical, they are not. Look carefully.

Boots

2004-06-04T23:36:00.000-04:00

Here is an image I found via Google Images and then modified in Photoshop.

I love how worn and gritty they look, after applying these particular filters.

Mandala 3 -- The Circular Centipede

2004-05-31T10:30:00.000-04:00

Have you ever seen a seventeen-footed circular centipede?

Well, if not, here's my approximation of one.

Hiroplum

2004-05-30T23:10:00.000-04:00

This is "Hiroplum" from John Hudock's collection of Japanese prints (seen at Common Sense & Wonder).

I was immediately drawn to this print because of the gorgeous juxtaposition of green and red. While many of us may associate those colors with Christmas, this Japanese artist probably felt and saw something quite different.

I also appreciated the little quarter-circle cutouts at the corners of this print. I tried to reinforce that small design motif in my horizontal background.

Brown is the color of my true love's hair . . .

2004-05-29T12:01:00.000-04:00

Not to kill a dead horse, but here is another derivation of the original mandala 2. As I am such a Photoshop neophyte, you viewers of my images will see many such variations and combinations.

Here I've used the old bas relief filter again, along with creating an elliptical fill and stroke on a separate layer for a background. Recently, I was exposed to Gaussian blur as a means of removing jagged edges. On this image, though, I used it to soften the edges of the elliptical fill.

Pretty enough for Nana's cameo brooch . . .

2004-05-29T11:42:00.000-04:00

Taken into Photoshop, I believe I used the gradient tool and then applied the bas relief filter.

Circles can become ellipses . . .

2004-05-29T11:39:00.000-04:00

And here is that same mandala, tilted back (or forward) into the screen, hence creating an ellipse.

Mandala 2 -- Bas Relief

2004-05-29T10:23:00.000-04:00

Here is that same mandala, now modified in Photoshop with a bas relief filter. I liked the outcome.

Mandala 2

2004-05-29T10:11:00.000-04:00

This is a nine-spoke mandala created again in Unigraphics NX2. I recall reading something about nine being a sacred number, especially with regard to enneagrams.

. . . and the cow jumped over the moon!

2004-05-29T09:11:00.000-04:00

Doesn't this make you smile? It does me.

This was a line drawing that I copied off the internet somewhere. Unfortunately, I do not have the URL for its source. I would happily give credit to its owner if they contact me.

I have modified it a bit. I think I have added one large star and enlarged many of the smaller stars. I have colored it, including the pink cow. I wonder if she gives strawberry-flavored milk?

Hasu Beppo

2004-05-28T10:19:00.000-04:00

I copied this image from the blog, Common Sense & Wonder. This is a group blog, a delightful, smart and satiric blog. One of the bloggers is John Hudock, self-described as "The older, wiser and grumpier one." John evidently collects these beautiful Japanese prints, which he generously shares with the world at this site.

What you see here is my "practicing" with layers and gradient colors in Photoshop, around John's lovely print.

Mandala 1

2004-05-28T09:36:00.000-04:00

This is a first attempt at creating a mandala. I created it in Unigraphics NX2. While I am used to working in the 3D world, this is a purely two-dimensional exercise.

I like working with odd numbers as opposed to even. While a viewer's eye can quickly absorb and "pass over" the symmetry of even-numbered designs, I don't believe that is the case with odd-numbered designs.

Just a little color block

2004-05-27T16:02:00.000-04:00

This is a color block that I created in Photoshop 6. I am not really satisfied with it, so I may revisit this little jpeg at a later time. I am so used to the accuracy of other software apps that I use, that in an instance like this, Photoshop feels a bit loosey-goosey. Probably just my lack of experience with PS.

Initial posting

2004-05-27T09:17:00.000-04:00

okay . . . I didn't even choose a template.

How bare will this thing look?