Time Created: December 2006
I’m pulling out one of my older pieces here. I made this six years ago, using a program called Apophysis.
Apophysis is a fractal flame editor. What that means is that you open up the program and mess with various settings until you find something that stands out enough to keep. The art is all created using fractal algorithms, and all it requires is someone to mess with sliders and a discerning eye. You see, 99% of the images it creates are just a mess of colors and shapes, and what the artist does is pick through them until something worth keeping appears.
This piece was not just worth keeping, it is downright beautiful.
I call it Fireflower. The “fire” comes from the colors, all the oranges and yellows glowing against the black. And “flower”, well, the shapes remind me of organic growth, especially pines, and while those don’t have flowers, “firepine” just sounds like a wildfire in the making. Besides, fireflower is an alternate “pretty” name for fireworks, which this piece also reminds me of.
I don’t do too much with Apophysis. I haven’t really touched it in six years. But for a bit there, I was delighting in the various shapes and forms that it could create, looking at one after another.
If you want to try making art that doesn’t require an expensive camera or the artistic talent to draw better than stick figures, try this program. Not that stick figures are bad, mind. There are some rather nice webcomics that use stick figures, including the excellent xkcd (which you should check out if you haven’t encountered it before.)
And, for another plus, it’s completely free.
Some types of art really don’t require much investment, actually. It can be rather nice if that’s where your artistic talents lie. Or your “I just feel like making pretty things” talents. Or even your “Oooo, Shiny!” talents.
