{"id":1809,"date":"2010-11-19T13:39:31","date_gmt":"2010-11-19T18:39:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=1809"},"modified":"2011-01-13T14:45:59","modified_gmt":"2011-01-13T19:45:59","slug":"mixed-media-fractals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=1809","title":{"rendered":"Mixed Media Fractals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although some fractals today can look extremely realistic, rendered in three dimensions and having an appearance as photo-realistic as any photograph, I find they don’t usually mix well with photographic elements used as backgrounds or when embedded as repeating pictures in formulas.\u00a0 There’s no technical reason for this, computer-made imagery like fractals just seems to clash aesthetically <\/em>with imagery from the real world.<\/p>\n

But just recently I discovered a few examples of just the opposite; harmony and synergy in a image mixing fractal and non-fractal imagery.\u00a0 Up until now most attempts to combine the two haven’t looked so great and even now these images shown here are still quite unique in that they combine two different kinds of imagery with successful results.<\/p>\n

~ Click on images to view full-size on original site ~<\/em><\/p>\n

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Cherry Blossoms by BrutalToad (Fractalforums.com)<\/p><\/div>\n

This is by far the most effective use I’ve ever seen of blending photographic imagery with fractals.\u00a0 I think this is exactly the kind of sinister, predatory plant that John Wyndham imagined in his classic science fiction novel, The Day of the Triffids<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Note the subdued and sweet “cherry” flavored color in the blossoms on the trees in the background and also carefully mixed into the fractal “blossom”.\u00a0 I’m assuming that was intended, but even if not it’s a very nice touch, a sort of wolf in sheep’s clothing theme; camouflaged fractal predator.<\/p>\n

The mandelbulb object seems to almost have a grimacing mouth and squinted eyes.\u00a0 The low, worms-eye-view perspective (looking up) suggests a large, looming creature.\u00a0 I don’t think a professional artist could have done any better with this mandelbulb image than Mr. BrutalToad has.\u00a0 It ought to look out of place with the photographic background but instead it merges into it naturally and the two complement each other perfectly.<\/p>\n

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Influence of Close Encounters by Fiery-Fire<\/p><\/div>\n

Another superb combination, this time of a mandelbox fractal with an image of at least differing<\/em> origins if not entirely photographic and real.\u00a0 I’m not absolutely sure if the image of the sky which forms the background is a photo or not but it’s clearly not part of the mandelbox.\u00a0 On her Deviant Art page Fiery-Fire<\/a> refers to it as a “beautiful nebula by Ali =casperium<\/a>“.<\/p>\n

The two go together so well I’m sure Fiery-Fire took a great deal of care in selecting and positioning the background to get the great effect it has.\u00a0 Perhaps that’s what makes mixed media fractals so hard to make: you need multiple skills and multiple programs.\u00a0 But when it’s done this well it looks<\/em> easy.<\/p>\n

The exploding nebula dust-sky is of course an overcast one and this matches the diffuse light in the fractal image.\u00a0 Furthermore, the “camera” position in the fractal image is looking up at this towering clump of fractal shapes whose composition leads our eye right up the clump to the one at the top and into the strange, alien clouds.\u00a0 It’s not a fluke; Fiery very carefully crafted this image.<\/p>\n

Many great fractal images are simply found while exploring a vast fractal generated panorama, but if you want to incorporate other kinds of imagery, particularly photographs, into a fractal image then you’re going to have to work a little more and you’re going to have to juggle two often opposing mediums.\u00a0 Brutaltoad and Fiery-Fire have achieved some really great results in the two images shown here but I think their success is rare and not as easy as it may look.<\/p>\n

Guido Cavalcante has pursued a mixed media style of fractal art for\u00a0 some time now.\u00a0 I have not one, but four of his images here.\u00a0 Three of them are 3D fractals like Fiery-Fire’s and BrutalToads.\u00a0 All of them were made in Ultra Fractal, sometimes with a little help from Photoshop and sometimes just UF and its versatile image importing features alone.\u00a0 Guido’s style is different but his methods and tools are the same as any fractal artist who pursues mixed media.<\/p>\n

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Archimedes 5 by Guido Cavalcante<\/p><\/div>\n

Wouldn’t you rather live in a computer than the real world?\u00a0 Of course there’s more than one real world to chose from.\u00a0 Here’s a golden mandelbox with a third world slum in the background.\u00a0 It’s not an image that requires a lot of explanation; the golden computer temple is contrasted with the bleak, B&W misery of the slum world.<\/p>\n

There’s more: each is a highly detail edifice; the individual slum houses merge into a single, organic-looking multi-celled organism.\u00a0 The mandelbox is equally detailed and yet the expression of just one formula with three dimensions: length-width-depth; food-clothing-shelter.\u00a0 It’s a very clever contrast and done so simply.\u00a0 Golden fantasy vs. concrete reality (no pun intended).<\/p>\n

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The Hanging Garden by Guido Cavalcante<\/p><\/div>\n

It’s the cow that “makes” this one for me.\u00a0 But perhaps the movement of the tangoing couple accentuates the simple pastoral calmness of the grazing cow.\u00a0 I don’t know about the airship, but it does give some depth and perspective to the great, mossy mandel-palace.\u00a0 Old dance halls used to be distinguished by their many pillared rooms.\u00a0 They were built at a time when the strength of structural materials was not as great as it is today and therefore had many more vertical supports.<\/p>\n

One can make up a million stories for images like this but to me it’s instantly a palatial dance hall in decay like a wonder from the ancient world.<\/p>\n

\n

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The Fall of Syracuse by Guido Cavalcante<\/p><\/div>\n

Alright.\u00a0 Where’s the mixed media?\u00a0 All I see is a mandelbox overlayed with a texture and given a torn paper drop shadow border.\u00a0 But together, mixed together, they create a papyrus fragment depicting the fall of Syracuse, an ancient city thought to be impregnable (secure) but conquered by some sly ancient Greek (better check that).<\/p>\n

I like the coloring too.\u00a0 Looks like a hand-tinted engraving out of a Victorian book (ripped<\/em> out of a Victorian book).<\/p>\n

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No Way Out (9) by Guido Cavalcante<\/p><\/div>\n

Fractal?\u00a0 Where’s the fractal<\/em> art?\u00a0 I know what you’re thinking: it’s all made with Photoshop.<\/p>\n

“No way out” is an entirely UltraFractal processed image\u00a0– the astronaut was rendered with the\u00a0the image Importer “Sprite” (Mark Townsend\u00b4s freeware).\u00a0The image\u00a0belongs to one of my obsessions, which is death in space<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And the space station, grey cylindrical thing? A quaternion?\u00a0 The planet in the center looks like a fractal image mapped to a sphere.\u00a0 UF is the photoshop of fractal art and Guido’s image here is a great example of those features.<\/p>\n

I like the space theme; fractals often lend themselves to fantastic, extraterrestrial contexts.\u00a0 It’s like a graphical voyage or graphical exploration of space: not a real, but a mythical<\/em> space.<\/p>\n

You can see more of Guido’s work on his blog, Fractalmix<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mixed media fractal imagery can be very expressive when done well like it has been in these six images.\u00a0 It’s a graphical twilight zone where the virtual meets the real.\u00a0 But some just call it digital art.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although some fractals today can look extremely realistic, I find they don’t usually mix well with photographic elements. Computer-made imagery just seems to clash –aesthetically– with imagery from the real world. But just recently I discovered a few examples of just the opposite; harmony and synergy in a image mixing fractal and non-fractal imagery. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1810,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Cherry-Blossoms-by-brutaltoad.jpeg?fit=600%2C450","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2848,"url":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=2848","url_meta":{"origin":1809,"position":0},"title":"Rebooting Fractal Art: Part 3","author":"Tim","date":"4 August, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"What fractals fail to do... You can't make art with them.\u00a0 And we all need our heads examined for thinking we could in the first place. I should be a bit more specific when I say, \"art\".\u00a0 I mean the thinking man's stuff.\u00a0 The kind of image that provokes your\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 6 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 6 comments","link":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=2848#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/Beardsley-peacockskirt.jpg?fit=400%2C547&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5672,"url":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=5672","url_meta":{"origin":1809,"position":1},"title":"Everything you need to know about Fractals and Art in one blog post","author":"Tim","date":"11 August, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Fractals are many things to many people but as an art form they're really very simple:\u00a0 Fractals are a visual medium. Do not be fooled by such simple language and such a simple statement,\u00a0 \"medium\" is the thin edge of the wedge that splits fractal art apart and reveals all\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"322px-Mandel_zoom_00_mandelbrot_set","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/322px-Mandel_zoom_00_mandelbrot_set.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":370,"url":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=370","url_meta":{"origin":1809,"position":2},"title":"Challenges for Fractal Artists","author":"Tim","date":"24 February, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Under Red Sea, by maruscyaI think working with fractals is very much like the art of nature photography.\u00a0 Nature photography tends to be descriptive, showing what things look like and focusing primarily on the form, color and interesting situations that one finds in the natural world.\u00a0 Sometimes you see a\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 3 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 3 comments","link":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=370#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2646,"url":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=2646","url_meta":{"origin":1809,"position":3},"title":"Reality Changes Things","author":"Tim","date":"11 April, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Something happens to fractals when they start to resemble real things.\u00a0 It's sad, in a way, but I think fractal art is limited in its appeal to a wider audience simply because it's \"fractal.\" Fractals have shape, color and pattern, but often those purely abstract, non-representational qualities relegate fractal imagery\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/orbittrap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/458px-Galaofspheres.jpg?fit=458%2C600&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":382,"url":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=382","url_meta":{"origin":1809,"position":4},"title":"Realistic Fractals by Rich Jarzombek","author":"Tim","date":"28 April, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Senorita's New Attire by Rich Jarzombek.\u00a0 Click for larger image.The general field of Fractal Art abounds in pictures that may be largely described as beautiful random designs or geometric shapes. It is rare to find Fractal Art pictures that strongly portray substantive images such as people or specific objects. However,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5929,"url":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=5929","url_meta":{"origin":1809,"position":5},"title":"Is that all there is to Chaotica?","author":"Tim","date":"14 January, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Not too long ago, before the advent of the Mandelbox and Mandelbulb 3D fractals, there were basically two types of fractals and two types of fractal artists: plain fractals and flame fractals. Flame fractals were a very interesting new development because they had a whole new look. 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