header
page#

Set the foreground colour to white. (Click on the foreground colour display and choose white from the colours displayed)

Add a new layer as you did before, and name this one web1.

Use the shape tool shape tool again, but this time on the control palette set the shape to ellipse and the width to 2, keeping outline mode and antialias checked.

ellipseStarting at 200,100 drag an ellipse vertically upwards till it exactly touches the inside edge of the hoop. The width of the ellipse is not critical, so do an ellipse you like the look of, but do not make it too thin. It will not come quite to the centre of the circle, but it must just touch the hoop.

I am indebted to my friend Stephanie Baker-Thomas for suggesting this way of joining the web to the hoop. I had previously taken the strings to the outside edge.

Select the line tool line tool and on the control palette set the width to 2, the line type to normal and leave antialias checked. You should still have white foreground colour and be working on layer Web1.

vPut the cursor on the point of the ellipse and draw a little line angled to the left just to the outside edge of the hoop. Then draw another from the point of the ellipse angled to the right, so you have drawn a little v of strings joining the ellipse to the hoop.

Now use Layers/Duplicate. Not much will have appeared to happen to your image, though the ellipse may look a little thicker, but on the layer palette a new layer has appeared called copy of layer 1. Use Image/Flip and a second copy of your ellipse will appear going down to the bottom edge of the hoop.

On the layer palette, click on Web1 to make that the active layer and use Layers/Duplicate again. Another copy of Web1 will be added, between Web1 and the first copy. Use Image/Rotate and check direction Right, degrees 90 and make sure all layers is NOT checked. This time, the new ellipse will appear at right angles to the original, but not in the right place. Use the move tool move tool and drag it over to the right of the hoop, halfway down. Arrange it so that the strings exactly come to the edge of the hoop. Put your cursor right on the point of the ellipse facing the circle centre, and check that the right hand figure displayed for the cursor position in the status bar is 200. If it is not, move the ellipse till it is, and check again that its strings exactly come to the edge of the hoop.

On the layer palette, click on Web1 to make that the active layer and use Layers/Duplicate again. Another copy of Web1 will be added. Use Image/Rotate and check direction Left, degrees 90 and make sure all layers is NOT checked. Another new ellipse will appear at right angles to the original, but not in the right place. Use the move tool move tool and drag it over to the left of the hoop, halfway down. Arrange it so that the strings exactly come to the edge of the hoop. Put your cursor right on the point of the ellipse facing the circle centre, and check that the right hand figure displayed for the cursor position in the status bar is 200. If it is not, move the ellipse till it is, and check again that its strings exactly come to the edge of the hoop.

4 ellipsesYour image should now look like this. On the layer palette, click on the layer visibility toggles (little striped buttons next to the layer name) on the background and hoop layers, so that you are left with only the four ellipses visible.

Use Layers/merge/merge visible. The Web1 and copy of Web1 layers will all vanish from the layer palette and be replaced by one called merged, so you now have only three layers. Switch background and hoop back on again, and your image will look exactly as it did before.

Click on the merged layer to make it the current one. Use Edit/Copy followed by Edit/Paste/As new layer. Now use Image Rotate, Direction right, and Free set at 15 degrees. Make sure that all layers is still unchecked. OK this, and you will see that you now have a second set of ellipses, at an angle to the originals, and they will have landed in the right place. You have no need to adjust them.

Click on the merged layer just as you did before and make another copy, but this time when you rotate it, set the degrees to 30. Keep doing this, adding 15 to the degrees every time, until you have done one at 75, when the web will be complete. You will gain a new layer every time you paste as a new layer, but do not be tempted to use the latest layer to copy for the next one and rotate by 15 again. If you do that the ellipses will get more and more blurred as you go. Always go back to the merge layer for your next copy, and increase the rotation figure by 15.

Now switch off the background and hoop layers and use Layers/Merge/Merge Visible. Once again you will be reduced to the three layers. Switch the first two back on again, and double click on Merged to get the dialogue box. Rename it web and OK it.

If you like the woven circle in the centre of the web, you can skip the next bit and save your hoop and web as a .psp file and go on to the next page. If you prefer a neat circle, this is what you do.

Use the selection tool selection tool and on the control palette set selection type as circle, feather 0, antialias checked. Working on the Web layer, start from 200,200 and select a circle which goes onto the tails of the ellipses, just beyond the woven circle. (left picture below). Hit the delete key and use Selections/select none. (centre picture below) Use the shape tool  shape tool set at circle, outlined, width 2, antialias checked, and draw a circle from 200,200 to just cover the raw edges of the ellipses. (right picture below).

select     cut     circle

Your hoop and web are now finished, so save this as a .psp file. It will look like one of the images below. We will go on now to make the feathers and beads to decorate it.

web with woven centre

web with neat centre

 

previous pagenext page