What DeCelle has done, to my thinking, is vectorized Nordström's painting. Here are the more pertinent questions: Is DeCelle's image a fractal - and is it any more a fractal than my lightning-round exercises of importing a digital copy of Nordström into Photoshop and making rapid-fire adjustments?
How DeCelle made the image is purely a technical question. The point is that Ultra "Fractal" has been and now will even more become a tool for producing a hybridized, "fractilized," mixed-media art. Whether DeCelle's image was brought in whole or built piece-by-piece is not the real issue here. In fact, I think it's worth noting that (so far) no one has come forward to dispute or refute any of those points. And, actually, I'm glad to learn my guesswork fell short, since it means that my initial review of DeCelle's image - which I noted that I stood by - still rings true.īut simply because I mistook DeCelle's reconstruction for importation, it does not follow that the rest of the reflections or claims made in my last post were also in error - especially my suppositions concerning the ramifications that Ultra "Fractal" 5 may have for both fractal art and our artistic community. My speculation was hardly a wild shot in the dark, though - given the timing of DeCelle's posts and UF5's release. My guess turned out to be wrong, and I stand corrected and appreciate those who wrote Orbit Trap - including DeCelle himself - to set me straight. When the image importation features of UF5 were announced, I guessed - and I made clear I was only guessing - that Paul DeCelle had used this feature to reconstruct a copy of a painting by Lars-Gunner Nordström. I'd also like to address some of the points made in the comments about my previous post on UF5. Here are just a few examples of what users have done with Ultra Fractal.I've had a little more time now to reflect on the implications of the digital image import features added to Ultra "Fractal" 5, so I hope I can clarify some of my initial observations. Ultra Fractal gives you the power to become an artist in true 21st century fashion! Eventually, you can move from student to master and start writing and submitting your own fractal formulae to the online database! Ultra Fractal lets you explore thousands of fractal types from an online database of formulae, then lets you tweak parameters to create your own unique combinations. With Ultra Fractal, you can start with the basics, but the possibilities are limitless. You'll be blown away at how easy it is to make beautiful patterns and images! Built-in tutorials guide you as you learn to create your own fractals, change colors, add layers, and even use masks. Ultra Fractal is the digital brush and canvas that facilitates fractal art creation. Pretty spectacular, no? Get this - you can draw it yourself! well, just take a second to look at the pictures below.
In technical terms, fractal art is derived from visual interpretations of repeating, self-similar, geometric, mathematical algorithms. If this describes you, I'm here to tell you about something that isn't nearly so hard to appreciate. This usually comes to mind when you're in the middle of some boring art museum tour and calculating how many hot dogs you could have bought with the admission price you just paid. We've all heard the expression "Art is in the eye of the beholder".