Fractals and Clip Art

I have long collected sample clip art from Dover Publications (http://store.doverpublications.com/index.html), always intending to make use of these images at some time. With the advent of Ultra Fractal 5 (http://www.ultrafractal.com/), in 2008, using some of these samples in fractal art became not only possible, but quite easy.

One of the first Dover samples I used was a blue butterfly in a simple fractal image.

I was quite excited by all the possibilities.

Ultra Fractal 5 proved to be something of a challenge because it offered several new and complex capabilities that required study and practice.

A couple of days ago, I downloaded an image from Dover, which can be found in their publication WHAT TO DOODLE? MANGA! (http://store.doverpublications.com/0486482901.html).

The blank slate kimono seemed like the perfect place for a fractal design, but in order to do this, it was necessary to create two images with transparent backgrounds. Normally I would use Paint Shop Pro X4, but I am finding what used to be the easiest of graphics programs to use, to be less and less useful. I am of the opinion that Corel bought PSP from JASC to eliminate competition with their own graphics packages, and, although, they continue to come out with new versions, PSP gets buggier with each new iteration.

I used Adobe's Photoshop Elements 10 to eliminate the text and white background surrounding the Manga girl, and saved it, with transparency, as a PNG file.

In order to add design only to the kimono, it was necessary to create a second image, minus head, hands, feet, and that bit of hair over the collar of the kimono. Get out the eraser tool.

This second image, also saved as a transparent PNG file, is used as a mask with the fractal design layer.

Once I had my Manga girl completed, I added background and framing, to have a finished looking image.

MadUF5_0374

I also added a color adjustment layer to make the face, hands, and feet look a bit less stark.

In the Footsteps of Tom Sawyer

I don’t sleep very well. It is a fact of my life. The things that keep me up are varied, but last night, it was an image I created in Ultra Fractal more than four years ago. It is an image I call “Painted on a Fence.” I was thinking about some recent financial changes in my life, and how I might best compensate for them, when the image popped into my head.

It is primitive in many ways, but it is also one of my creations that seems to fall more in the realm of realism than in that of abstract. Granted, the last time I looked there was no blue moon in the sky… or is that a blue sun? Hmmm. Anyway, it is flowers and ferns that could very well be painted on a piece of wood. To me, that’s real enough.

You may ask yourself what this image may have to do with Tom Sawyer. I guess as I lay there trying to fall asleep the whole fence painting pointed me to old Tom and his enterprising ways.

I would truly like to make my digital art into a paying proposition. I have become fairly proficient with making fractal flowers and flowery images. To wit, an updated version of “Painted on a Fence” not so cleverly named “Painted on a Fence UF5 Redux.”

Same picture, better image. I was able to use the image import facility to add flowers I created in UF5 and rendered as png with transparency, in place of the Orbit Trap flowers in the original. I think with this kind of flexibility, there has to be a market out there for my stuff.

You can find 42 of my flowers, some fairly real looking, others totally whimsical, on Rendersity (www.renderosity.com) in Free Stuff. I believe you will need to be a member of the site to actually download these files. The ZIP contains the fractal file, which can be modified as you see fit, a preview image in jpg format, and a render in png format. You need Ultra Fractal 5 to open the fractal file. It uses features introduced in version 5, so you won't be able to open it in earlier versions. There are no restrictions on the use of these images. They may be used for commercial or non-commercial purposes.

As of now, there will be no more free flowers because I have a lead on selling some of my fractal art. We’ll see where that leads.

I started this entry back in January and finally finished it!