Axolotl pond
A little pond with four axolotls in it: pink, golden, wild and copper. They wander about, walk along the bed, rest with their gills breathing and now and then come up for air. Tap the water and rings spread out and anyone near gets startled; tap one and it darts off, legs tucked in. It's planted the way axolotls like it, after the canals of Xochimilco they come from: fine sand and smooth stones, Elodea and long ribbons swaying below, lily pads, water lilies and water hyacinth floating on top, shading the water as they bob.
About
Shawn's koi pond made me want one of my own, with axolotls. The water is two sets of waves stepped 240 times a second: fine rings from taps and tail flicks, and a broader swell the bodies push around. A grid of light is bent by the surface on its way to the bed, and how much each cell shrinks is how bright the sand gets. The axolotls are drawn from scratch in a shader: the broad head, three feathery gills a side, legs that walk in diagonal pairs and fold back when they dart, a fin that ripples along the tail. The lily pads, flowers and duckweed float on the surface, ride the waves and cast their shade on the bed and on whoever swims under them.
- Inspired by
- The koi pond on shwn.design
- Made with
- WebGL2, React and Next.js