#void where prohibited

[lock-tess-monster]

I've been in a funk and art rut lately, can't imagine why. But this just popped into my head fully formed yesterday and was clawing on the walls to escape.

[sp00ntaneous]

'Void Where Prohibited' wooden spoon carved in Walnut wood. (Get it?)

[sparkytheandroid]

how's everybody feeling tonight. feel free to inbox me all of your fears and i will process* them one by one so that they are mine now instead of yours.

[mrvelocipede]

Fractals, on purpose

I have been thinking lately (again) (always) (perpetually) about the use of fractals in art and illustration, and wishing I could find more information about that specific intersection of math/art/design. So far, none of my searches have turned up much of what I want, and I'm finally concluding that I probably need to write it myself.

The category of thing I keep looking for and not finding is intermediate-level stuff. There are plenty of introductory What is a Fractal? kinds of things, of varying degrees of accuracy/completeness/usefulness. There is some fairly advanced and esoteric mathematics which is way out of my depth. But there doesn’t seem to be much discussion of things you can do once you’ve gotten past the initial stage of being interested in fractals and doing a little bit of exploration with some kind of fractal generator.

To start with something obvious: in order to make images intentionally, rather than stumbling onto them at random, you need familiarity with the shapes and structures of fractal sets. However fun and interesting it may be to just wander around exploring a fractal, if you are trying to make some kind of specific composition, you'll need to know where to look for the right underlying structure to use as a starting point. Fortunately, all that pleasant wandering is a good way to learn.

If you want spirals, for instance, you can usually find some in the pointy places.

You can decide if you want shapes that look like branches or bristles or lightning or leaves.

You can have a dense composition with many small things repeated at a similar scale, or you can have One Big Spiral with a lot of negative space in between the curves. If you're looking at the Mandelbrot set specifically, you can learn about the increasing-powers-of-two symmetry around the minibrots, and how the shapes change if you zoom into the filaments around a minibrot. You can go to areas that have specific patterns of numbers, if (for instance) you're hoping to do an allegory of the Four Elements or the Seven Seas or something.

There are probably still some good websites out there that explain the basic geography of the Mandelbrot, so I'm going to just skim lightly over it and say that it's a tool like any other. The principles of composition and balance and symmetry and focus and contrast are exactly the same as in any other art form. The better you learn to use your tools, the more control you have over the end result, and the more likely you are to recognize serendipitous accidents and make use of them.

And then of course there are vast numbers of other kinds of fractals. Some of them behave similarly to the Mandelbrot, and whatever principles you've learned will apply there as well. Some of them are entirely different, and have their own shapes and patterns to become familiar with. I sometimes think of the fractal structure as the skeleton of a finished image, and the knowledge of it is useful in much the same way as learning anatomy is useful in figure drawing.

[notes: the images in this post are mostly single-layer Mandelbrot zooms with smoothed iteration coloring, generated in Ultra Fractal 5.04. The map showing some places to find spirals was assembled in Photoshop from several such images.]

[thatsbelievable]

[unhelpfultarot]

Justice reversed and Two of Swords

Hmm. These seem like particularly inauspicious cards for today, and it’s freaking me out a little.

[uraharashouten]

Looking for a White Day retreat with your sweet?          The answer could lie right beneath your feet! 

This weekend, discover Karakura’s best-kept secret!

[justsmilestuffhappens]

Prompt Queue 3

1. Buck Dialogue Idea: "I don't hate you guys... I don't love you enough anymore to hate you. You've all killed enough of me inside to where I don't feel much of anything anymore."

2. dialogue idea for anyone calling Bobby out: With no due respect Captain Nash, if you were trying to teach Buckley to be better you forgot one of the cardinal rules of teaching, that the student actually knows he's being taught. What you've been doing is blindsiding that young man repeatedly, and worse still the rest of this house simply follows your lead. You don't realize the reputation you've cultivated for yourself do Captain? Well it is one loaded with comments about your unprofessionalism

3. Prompt: Eddie getting flustered watching Buck eat a popsicle at work on a very hot day in LA. (sorry but Buck's lips are sinful and Eddie is only human)

4. Prompt: Post lawsuit the team is still upset with Buck, but they aren't overly mean, just distant. Buck hates this but decides to be patient. However, months go by with no one willing to bend, so when a personnel exchange with Austin comes up Buck decides to take it. Eddie is devastated thinking Buck's leaving for good. He confronts Buck but instead of anger it's with heartbreak. Buck gently assures Eddie that it is only for a few months, and that they all need space. Eddie says screw that idea

5. Prompt: Buck finds himself alone again after everyone bails on him so he decides to just head out of his own. He happens to cross paths with this photographer and her wife and they immediately want him to model for them. He agrees. The set up is a serene underwater shoot that helps Buck with lingering feelings about the tsunami. The photos are raw and emotive, showcasing Buck's catharsis. Buck gets an invite to the art show for the photos and brings the firefam along. They are floored. Buddie

6. Prompt: Post Lawsuit Buck is still on the outs with everyone especially Eddie. When Dr. Wells violates her parole and sees a news report about Buck she decides to take revenge even though he wasn't the only person to testify. She kidnaps him. Things don't go as planned. Eddie sees him leaving with a woman and thinks nothing of it until Athena checks in and he sees a picture of her.

*As of Sept 10th.