Doodle Three

A series of doodles illustrating the trail of strategies taken up by orb weaver spiders in weaving their web. The web begins as the spider bridges a given space, laying down a dragline and then crisscrossing stands to create a simple star. The star is anchored by attaching a few threads to distinct, often opposite places around the space, but all unite at an intersection called the hub. A second set of strands completes the frame by linking together the anchor points along the outer edges, creating an outer circle. Then the spider moves from those points back to the center, strengthening the hub’s connection to the outer circle through a series of radii. To this outer wheel frame and hub, auxiliary spirals are added. The spirals encircle the hub, creating a series of smaller to larger concentric circles that imitate the form that the hub and the outer frame have taken. Finally, the spaces remaining between the concentric circles are filled with elastic capture threads. Filling the spaces between the concentric circles is accomplished through continuous movement, working toward the center then reversing back toward the outer frame.