3 min 0

Spider Writing

Block-waving is all about lines. If there’s no lines, then you just end up with a pile of block-waved mush. I was looking through an old book on my computer. It was a series of…
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2 min 0

Columbus

(from the journal of Columbus) Whereas, Most Christian, High, Excellent, and Powerful Princes, King and Queen of Spain and of the Islands of the Sea… …this present year 1492, after your Highnesses had terminated the…
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3 min 0

Meet the New Masters

Large Bank with TreeJust as some people admire the traditional artform of painting because of the skill and effort that goes into making it, I’ve come to realize that I have the same sort of…
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1 min 0

Fresh-made Rothko

These days, you could find yourself travelling half-way around the world in a few hours. And in the world of art: a couple clicks and you could find yourself in the Louvre. That’s the reality…
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2 min 2

Stone of Mystery!

Look at it. Stare into it. Learn it’s mysteries –if you dare! Stop! Stop!Your mind is in its icy grip!Run, you fool!The Stone of Mystery will DESTROY YOU!!!Your puny brain can not survive its thunderous…
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5 min 5

I’ve been reviewed

I deleted lycium’s (Thomas Ludwig’s) original comment to my posting about Fractal Art isn’t Rocket Science. But his expansion on the theme expressed in his original Orbit Trap comment grew to become an interesting work…
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1 min 0

Timbuktu

Technorati Tags: timbuktu block wave filter photoshop filters digital art fractal art join the mirage
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3 min 0

Click-ism: a Manifesto

I’ve been reading a book about various “-isms” in the art world. Eagerly wanting to follow in the footsteps of those great, outspoken artists of the past and to contribute something new and personal to…
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1 min 1

a little water

Technorati Tags: vernissage digital art poetry photoshop filters apartment building suburban decay
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1 min 0

star of arabia 2

somewherein the worldthere is a cave and the eye that looks from itsees the star of arabia years have passedthe eye, unblinkinglooks from it pale, dark, written with redsees the star of arabia the wind…
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5 min 2

Artists and Craftsmen

Here’s another theory in the rough; something that I think is relevant to Fractal Art, and probably all artforms: There are “Artists” and there are “Craftsmen”. An artist is… I don’t know what an artist…
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3 min 5

Fractal Art isn’t Rocket Science

The Fractal Art world is an odd place. The strange combination of technical people (mathematicians, engineers, programmers) and artsy, creative people is curious and could almost be the setting for a mystery novel. My wife…
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2 min 3

Orbit Trap’s Change of Format

Orbit Trap has abandoned the goal of becoming a group fractal blog due to lack of interest. Continuing to present Orbit Trap as a group blog is confusing to readers and misrepresents it’s actual content.…
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6 min 2

Contests and other Circuses

Before I start to comment on this year’s Benoit Mandelbrot Fractal Art Contest, I should tell you something: I don’t like contests. I think they trivialize art by turning it into a sports competition. The…
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1 min 0

Scratchy

If you’ve ever driven on a highway in a snowstorm you probably know that the best way to stay on the road is to drive with one wheel just off the edge of it. I…
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3 min 1

Three Cheers For Jock!

Browsing fractal sites usually leaves me with a feeling best described by the fancy term, “Ennui“. There just isn’t much originality. I don’t know why. Maybe most fractal artists makes fractal art for reasons other…
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2 min 1

Ant Works

It’s always amazed me how careful and disciplined insects can be. One of the many wonders I saw when visiting the tropical Gulf coast of Mexico were leaf-cutter ants. Up here in Canada (Toronto), ants…
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3 min 2

Phoenix

The scenery of Walden is on a humble scale, and, though very beautiful, does not approach to grandeur, nor can it much concern one who has not long frequented it or lived by its shore;…
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3 min 0

An Open Call for New Contributors

As Orbit Trap rolls towards its first anniversary, Tim and I are looking back — and also looking forward. Initially, we used a by-invitation-only process for selecting contributors to Orbit Trap. We have decided to…
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3 min 16

Has Ultra Fractal become the Walmart of fractal art?

“So radically innovative are Ultra Fractal’s capabilities that they have literally redefined fractal art since the program’s debut.”(From Ultrafractal.com) It’s complicated. Believe me, it took me a few years to come to such a radical…
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3 min 7

Why I don’t use Ultra Fractal

In a nutshell, it doesn’t do what Inkblot Kaos, Sterlingware, Tierazon or Xaos does. I want something that sprouts artwork after a couple of clicks. Ultra Fractal? It’s just too much work. Too many layers.…
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1 min 0

Colorful Desert

Before there was only sand and the Shat al Arab. But now, plumes of color from the petro-chemical plants. From oil comes the pigments and inks of modern industry, turning the sombre land into oceans…
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1 min 2

Electric Cabbage

I have wanted nothing elsebut to release the machinefrom its stall I have told ityou are better than the othersfaster than the others,they paint with sticksand they talk like fools Sure, a lot of it’s…
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3 min 0

The Gold Mirage

Sometimes the past fails us, and we have to write our own ancient legends. The 8th voyage of Sindbad, and other things that were probably imagined, but never recorded. How many books could be filled…
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3 min 1

I am become Klimt!

When Robert Oppenheimer witnessed the first nuclear explosion, a project which he personally managed, he apparently said, “I am become Death, the destoyer of worlds”. When I first tried out this photoshop filter, I said,…
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1 min 0

Little Images

There are the few that are Great, and there are the many that are Little. The Great are classics, or well on their way. Everyone knows them. They have a following. They have names. They…
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2 min 1

The Persistence of Sierpinski

The smaller you look, the larger you see. There are two modes I apply when working with fractals or graphic software in general. One is to keep a close eye on what does what, and…
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3 min 5

Ten Filters that Shook the World

Well, it’s actually just one, but with such power, such awesome, earth-quaking power. Ilyich the Toad’s multi-crystal.8bf is a fairly standard distortion, multi-faceted, lens filter. We’ve all seen variations of this all over the place.…
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2 min 1

Baba Yaga and the Sierpinski Roundabout

Some filters make mountains, and some filters make dust. More about Illyich the Toad’s multicrystal.8bf. I start with a fractal, and then smash it up. I smash some more. Not much fractal left now. If…
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1 min 0

Oracle of Evil

Orwellian, 1984, Mouthpiece of Baal, Howling Telescreen. My latest fractal Rorshach test. It looks a bit like an old “Victrola”. They were one of the earliest record players, before electricity was widely available, and relied…
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3 min 1

Coaches and Artists

I dislike the “artist” label. Maybe it dislikes me, too. Original from Tierazon 2.7 To me, the word, “artist” conjures up the image of someone who works hard and approaches their “work” with discipline and…
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1 min 3

One-eyed Madonna

Alright, it’s not historically accurate. Traditionally, I think, Mary has always been portrayed with two eyes. None of the Bible accounts mention how many eyes Mary had. Da Vinci’s Madonna had two eyes. Of course,…
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2 min 2

The Wells of Abraham

I saw a documentary on Middle Eastern wells. A well is a big deal there. Everything happens because of water. Some of them are quite old, even supposedly dating back to the days of Abraham.…
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1 min 1

I spent my future building a star

We worked as a team. A huge team of scientists and builders like me. No one had built a star before. We were going to be the first. How many angels can dance on the…
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