i have loads of paisleys in my abandonded projects folder that i don't know what to do with. i rotated one of them with the clone layer tool, set a radial gradient on overlay and got this neat paisley flower. now i'll experiment on backgrounds for it and my plan is to make a big seamless pattern, then maybe post it to my spoonflower account so it can be printed on fabric. as if i didn't have enough projects as it is ...

Looks good, AnMal!

Very nice, I really like the colors.

Looks nice AnMal but I wonder what it would look like if the paisley was the other way round I.E The big rounded end facing outward.

this one gives me the 'whoa !!!!!1' effect

very nice details, like the red to gold gradient effect
the background with all the seemingly random arranged paisleys (did you arrange them all by hand, AnMal ?)
and at the centre, where all the paisley outlines intersect, it looks like stems for the leafy bits

one thing that bothers me is the circle in the middle: the green is not the same color as on the outer region of the piece and it looks wrong to me

odinbc: thank you!
molly: thank you! i like them too, though i had problems with the green background.
he4rty: thanks! i tried that too and i post the result here, but i knew already before i tried that i wouldn't really like it. the thing is, when you turn the rounded end outwards the flower looses movement. it looks more static and also more compact. it did look a bit better when i inverted the gradient too, though, that colour scheme seemed to go better with the character of the inverted flower.
esper: arrange the paisleys by hand, oh heavens what a thought! i'm far too lazy for anything like that! i made a .ppm brush of the paisley and rendered the background in gimpressionist. the reason there are colour differences in the background is that it's built on a gradient that goes from a very brownish green or greenish brown to a cold dark green. and that doesn't bother me one bit . what really bugs me is that 1) the topmost paisley breaks the pattern because we see all of it. 2) the background pattern is a bit too empty around the centre, we should see more parts of paisleys in the middle circle.

here's an edited version of the flower where i hid parts of the topmost paisley so it wouldn't break the pattern, the gradient layer isinverted as well:


and here's an inverted variety of the flower:


now i'll try to make a perfect background render with a busier centre!

AnMal - those both look great

he4rty: thanks! like i said i wasn't too impressed with the inverted one, but inverting the gradient too seemed to make it a lot better.

here's the latest version - the background is a bit better in the centre, but i don't think the colours are as good as the first one.

I love both of them especially the last one. Love your knotwork sig as well. What to do with left over Paisleys? Make a table cloth for your Mattar Paneer and Aloo Gobi.

erisian: thank you! somehow i thought you'd like that sig, wonder why? tablecloth for an indian dinner sounds good - as long as that dinner isn't cooked by me . i just burned a tin of soup again today...

If I have a left over paisley I usually freeze them and eat them later on a french bun with provolone and some arugula.

And now I'm hungry.

Nothing like a paisley pannini.

gms9810: your freezer must be the most decorative one in town! how does this diet affect you, i wonder? no side effects?

Paisley is to high in carbs and gives me heartburn if I eat it too late in the evening.

I think it's carcinogenic too. I suppose it must be - everything else seems to be.

You are right about that Eris.

I like your patterns, AnMal!
The very last one reminds me of the silk brocades I've seen a lot at various Middle East Souks.
Definitely has an Oriental touch to it, I know paisley design has Tamil Nadu origins and is very popular far beyond that region.

k1tesseraena: thank you very much! i'm indebted to you for posting that thread about rendering patterns with gimpressionist - i use that for backgrounds a lot these days, like i did here . i'm heavily influenced by indopak styles and the orient in general (and actually do some oriental embroidery), so that's spot on!

gms9810, erisian and molly: you're scaring me now! i had no idea paisleys were so bad for my health .

That's ok, I scare everybody.