{"id":3460,"date":"2011-11-18T00:31:00","date_gmt":"2011-11-18T05:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=3460"},"modified":"2011-11-18T00:31:00","modified_gmt":"2011-11-18T05:31:01","slug":"my-deviant-art-odyssey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orbittrap.ca\/?p=3460","title":{"rendered":"My Deviant Art Odyssey"},"content":{"rendered":"

“A lot of the people I hang out with at dA are the same people that are at Fractal Forums\u2026”<\/p>\n

Hal Tenny said that in a comment<\/a> here on Orbit Trap recently.\u00a0 After my recent posting, Renderfeast<\/a>, which featured an number of Deviant Art folks (DAers) I saw people on Fractalforums.com remarking that they had been featured on Orbit Trap.\u00a0 I didn’t recognize their FFs usernames from DA.<\/p>\n

Hal Tenny is right though, much of what appears in the FFs gallery uploads section also appears on DA.\u00a0 I should have noticed this myself and probably would have if it wasn’t for the aversion I have acquired over the years to the big online art sites like DA and Renderosity, Flickr, and just about anywhere else you can find easy upload access and instant social interaction.\u00a0 Places like that just get swamped with mediocre stuff and it’s tiresome to wade through it all looking for a few good ones.<\/p>\n

But I don’t seem to mind it so much anymore.\u00a0 Maybe I’m more patient or maybe I’ve just come to accept the fact that digital art in general is like that and that places like DA are more like “refrigerators” to stick stuff up on than they are serious art galleries.\u00a0 The Linux world often complains there’s too many versions of Linux and that that confuses and distracts too many newcomers from the really good ones.\u00a0 I just see it as the expected result of removing restrictions to innovation and creativity; it will never be any other way.\u00a0 We sort through things everyday when we’re shopping or reading the news.\u00a0 Should online artwork be any different?\u00a0 Who really wants less choices and fewer options?\u00a0 Maybe the chaff makes the wheat look better?<\/p>\n

What sets the gallery section of FFs apart is that there’s very little “fiber” to sift through.\u00a0 Most of the FFs artists seem to have a home gallery on DA.\u00a0 This is not so surprising really, since FFs has always been primarily a “fractal” site and not a fractal art site.\u00a0 DA on the other hand is clearly a place where the graphical side of things is the main attraction.\u00a0 It has the atmosphere of a flea market but that’s just the nature of online digital art.<\/p>\n

Since becoming reacquainted with DA in the past few months and particularly in the last few weeks via the “favorites” sections of personal gallery pages I see DA and sites like it differently now.\u00a0 Consider this:<\/p>\n

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

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Ultimate Mandelbrot Xmas Fractal by aparks45 (DA)<\/p><\/div>\n

I found it by browsing DA on the search term, “Fractal” and selecting “Newest”.\u00a0 Instead of newest you can browse by “Popular” but that’s the kind of thing I always avoid on these BOAS (big online art sites).\u00a0 Popular is “too subjective”, let’s say.\u00a0 How else can you quickly find fractal artwork like aparks45’s up there?\u00a0 You won’t find it traveling on “Popular Street”.\u00a0 Now some of you may be thinking, “That’s a good reason to stay on Popular Street” but I’m of the opinion that there’s always something better out there “in the wild”.<\/p>\n

I’ve discovered that there’s actually a separate fractal art section on DA with three subsections (go ahead and laugh).\u00a0 You have to click on the “Digital Art” link in the left sidebar on the main DA page which then expands into the sub-categories of which Fractal Art is one.\u00a0 It’s not as obvious as it ought to be, but I’ve always suspected that BOAS were designed to be member-friendly and not visitor-friendly.\u00a0 Members are where the money (if any) comes from.\u00a0 On the other hand, big sites like this are always a challenge to navigate because they’ve got such a wide variety of stuff on them.\u00a0 Categorizing artwork is an art in itself.<\/p>\n

Here’s another one by aparks45:<\/p>\n

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A Beautiful Fractal Christmas Holiday by aparks45 (DA)<\/p><\/div>\n

These next two aren’t fractal, but I discovered them after getting off the main road and exploring aparks45’s own gallery.\u00a0 I just love the way Santa catapults across the sky like he was shot out of a slingshot.<\/p>\n

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Christmas Holiday Snow Globe by aparks45<\/p><\/div>\n

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The Day before Christmas by aparks45<\/p><\/div>\n

The very first image in this posting, Ultimate Mandelbrot Xmas Fractal, <\/em>was posted along with this request:<\/p>\n

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And received (so far) only this response:<\/p>\n

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Negative criticism?\u00a0 On Deviant Art?\u00a0 Well, maybe SquallLion1 is an exceptional member of DA.\u00a0 I don’t ever remember seeing such honesty on a BOAS like this except when it came to criticizing Orbit Trap for its criticism.\u00a0 But I find it as fresh and energetic as these animated gifs by aparks45.<\/p>\n

While sailing between Scylla and Charybdis on my\u00a0 DA odyssey I’ve gained new insight into a place like Deviant Art as well as fractal art and computer\/digital art in general.<\/p>\n

Fractal art is:<\/p>\n