Twisted loops

[mart44]

I made this years ago (around 2009) after seeing a post on the 'Talk Graphics' forum where some one had just fallen across how to get a loop with a brush applied to reverse. After playing around with it for some days, I got this result. The frustrating part now is not quite remembering how it was done. Had to reverse engineer it and find a way it can be done ..although I'm not sure it was how it was done originally. If you follow the loops with eye or finger, you can see it's a shape that can't possibly be.

[pontiac1940]

That is amazing and great fun Mart. I can't even begin to imagine how that is done. 

Sept 21, 2023 9:50:38 GMT mart44 said:

The frustrating part now is not quite remembering how it was done.

Same. 
 

[Lillias]

Sept 21, 2023 9:50:38 GMT mart44 said:

If you follow the loops with eye or finger, you can see it's a shape that can't possibly be.

It's a sort of optical illusion.

[mart44]

It might have been done as shown. I've been through old posts on that forum to try and find it but it's like looking for a needle in a haystack.

[xairbusdriver]

Kind like programming; always embed copious notes on why and how things work (notes/etc. don't show in the running app).

[Jim]

Sept 21, 2023 9:50:38 GMT mart44 said:

I'm not sure it was how it was done originally.

However you did it, constructing something like that is way above my pay grade, Mart. Good job.

[mart44]

I always say it's the program's capabilities more than anything else. Xara Designer is not not so good at pure editing and effects as PSE but it is good with vector images. All programs have their strong points. One of Xara Designer's strong points is 'Brushes'. Any basic shape can be used to make a brush and once made, there are a lot of adjustments that can change the look of it.

A single round-cornered oblong (as seen the image) was used to make the brush and then that oblong 'brushed' onto an ordinary line. The line thickness size governs the size of the brush. The spacing, rotation angle, colour are all adjustable. The result is that the adjustments can be experimented with until pleased with the shape produced. It perhaps doesn't look related but the image below uses the same basic method as the twisted loops in the OP. Interlinking a duplicate of the original shape in Xara takes a bit of thought but here it is...



Brushes can be made into 'Scatter brushes' or 'Art brushes'. A scatter brush behaves as described above. If a shape is made into an 'Art Brush' it spreads the shape along a drawn line or in this case some text...