Scenes · Study 086
Kites
Five diamond kites tug at their strings in a gusting breeze, tails snaking behind. Point where you want the wind to blow.
What you're looking at
Every kite is pulled toward a spot at the end of its string in the direction the wind is blowing, by a soft spring, so it overshoots and bobs when the wind turns. Each tail is a chain of points, each dragged along by the one before it and nudged downwind, which produces the whip and ripple.
The idea behind it
A kite flies because the wind striking its tilted face is deflected downward, and the reaction pushes the kite up. The tail adds drag at the bottom, which keeps the nose pointed into the wind. Take the tail off a diamond kite and it will usually spin itself into the ground.
Try this
Move the pointer around the sky. The wind blows from the bottom centre toward wherever you point.
