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g e t t i n g s t a r t e d |
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p a r t t w o |
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<> part one <> part two <> part three <> |
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By now you have a basic fractal generator and some idea how to use it. However, just as paints and canvas won’t make you into an instant Picasso, a generator won’t make you an artist. For that you'll need whatever artistic talent you were born with: no matter what your grade-school art teacher may have said, everyone was born with some. The fact that you've gotten this far means that you appreciate beauty enough to be interested in creating some yourself: that implies that you recognize beauty when you see it. And for the next step, that's all the talent you'll need--the ability to recognize something beautiful or at least interesting when you run into it on your way into a fractal set. Open your generator program, and get yourself a fractal to explore--I suggest the Mandelbrot set (z = z^2 + c). Once it’s up on your screen, pick an area in the frilly border territories and start zooming in on it. Keep going for a while. If at this point you’re not amazed, either you haven’t been watching your screen or this was a false start. Don’t worry about it--just go back to where you started, pick a different spot, and get zooming again. Sooner or later you’ll come to a place where the fractal’s structure catches your eye. Stop zooming. This is the basis of the art: the raw structure here is naturally occurring, but you're going to make it into art by the way you present it. Your tutorial, or at least your explorations, of your fractal generator should have shown you how to use different colors: start experimenting again, this time with different color combinations. What looks good to you? Which colors best suit the structure here? If the structure reminds you of something, do the colors you're using emphasize the similarity? When you've colored the fractal to your liking, step back and look at what's on your screen. That is your first work of fractal art. Applaud it! Save the file to your hard drive: you're going to want to keep it around. As you learn more about your generator and your individual talents and preferences, your art will doubtless improve: however, this is the first step of your journey. Keep it around to admire every now and then. |
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