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g e t t i n g   s t a r t e d

p a r t   o n e 

<> part one <> part two <> part three <>

So you've flipped through my site, or perhaps someone else's galleries--you've looked at a lot of fractal art and maybe browsed some information on the subject. Now you've decided that you'd like to try your hand at fractal art. But how to start?

 Well, the first thing you'll need is some idea what it is that you're doing. This knowledge may or may not be remotely mathematical. If you're really serious, you might read Fractal Adventures, drop by some of the fractal-information sites listed here or check out a book or two off the suggested reading list. However, if you’d rather not go off the deep end just yet, read Fractal Basics for an idea of just what a fractal is. That includes all the mathematics you’ll need to get started with.

Next, you’ll need to download a fractal generator. This is your toolkit: it’s a program that lets your computer generate fractals for you to explore and tinker with. Generators ranging from rudimentary to excellent can be found for free on the Web by just Googling “free fractal software,” but if you’d like to shortcut the search process I suggest Fractal Forge, a nice simple program with a fairly easy-to-use interface. Go to its site and download the program, unzip it someplace convenient, and open it up.

Congratulations, you now have a generator. Your next problem will be learning how to use it. For that, I suggest steady experimentation. As you explore both the fractal landscape and your generator software, you’ll find software commands that might as well be labeled in Babylonian cuneiform for all they mean to you; the best way to deal with these is to experiment. Change the parameter in question and see what happens. Through experimentation you’ll soon gain a basic understanding of what that function is.

Also, be certain to go through whatever tutorials are included in your generator’s help file. If you’ve got a high-end piece of shareware like Ultra Fractal, you’ll have a multitude of helpful tutorials to get you started. Some generators might not come with any tutorials: in that case, experiment like crazy, and you’ll soon learn.

Before long, you’ll find yourself creating something worth being proud of. When that happens, be sure to celebrate it! Use your favorite fractals as desktop wallpaper, print them off to decorate the refrigerator, hang them on the walls, print them onto T-shirts—in short, go ballistic if the mood strikes you.

And certainly never be afraid to keep learning. Fractal geometry looks from outside like a forbidding field, but once you see how beautiful the field is from the inside, you may want to learn more about it. Go ahead and do just that!

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