When you compose a fractal image, do you have a predetermined design in mind or do you start playing with parameters and let the fractal lead you to your final destination? Or maybe it's a little of both?

I sometimes have a design in mind, that never turns out in UF as ive had it imagined in my head :/ Somewhere between my head and my mousehand the image i had gets lost, or just playing with a few layer settings & changing a parameter gives an image a completely different appearance than what i had intended, but i might like it, so i keep it. A lot of my fractals( ok well most of them ) are by letting the fractal lead, and they always turn out as spirals lol. Ive tried to steer away from them at times, but to no avail. I think my UF is stuck in spiral mode ;)

yeah, but they're really nice spirals, Kim.. I NEVER have a clue what's gonna turn up on my screen.... once I finally find a direction, I may have a plan, but I rarely, if ever, get to where I thought I was going...

For me it's a little of both. Sometimes I have an image in my mind and I go out there to look for that specific kind of flame.[to make a dress for instance] Sometimes I let the fractal lead me,I just explore and at a certain moment I see something which leads to an idea. Most of the time I than take it into photoshop to make the composition an do other adjustments if neccesary.

About 75% of the time is purely random explorations --push this button, twiddle that dial (I call it 'play' LOL!).

But I do subject almost all my play results to what I call my 'Rorschach test', and if I see something neat I'll move in and do some special tweaking to develop the picture some more in the direction I want to go. Not always easy, as I'm not a math whiz, and can't always predict which adjustment will go where I want to go.
For every pic I finally render, I usually have about 10-20 parameter files saved, showing the path I took to get to the final stage.

What we (as fractalists) are doing is something that is referred to by some as "exploring" (or "noodling about" as I like to call it) in parametric hyperspace (a term I think was coined or first used by Ken Musgrave).

"Navigation" can be tricky, as one conscious or errant click of a mouse can transport you into a completely different quadrant.

While the math "under the hood" of our "fractal vehicles" is produced/compiled by earnest, keen, and laboring minds working and wrestling with an almost endless set "rules of predictability, probability and chaos", churning out a vast array of "precision parts" which when combined together create "creativity vehicle" unlike any other.

I have no knowledge of "the math", and consider myself to be like the race car driver, airplane pilot or even the driver of an automobile or any other "vehicle"--or even as a user of the very computer you are now using to read this--and do not concern myself with "how it was made", only with how (and how well) it operates.

And while my "fractal vehicle" is very "rule oriented", out here in parametric hyperspace, where chaos reigns supreme, often "the rule(s)" is/are...that there is/are "no rule(s)"...one must be ready and able to adapt and adjust with the ever changing landscape and often incomprehensible challenges.

As with other "vehicles" (creative ones or otherwise) skill, knowledge, experience AND "vision" are equally important to a successful or satisfactory experience (or outcome).

Some say, "it's all an accident"--to which I reply, "Then why is it that I seem to have so many?" "Is it because I am so 'accident prone'?" There are "accidents"...and there are "happy accidents"--or what is referred to as serendipity. And, "accident" or not...much like life, it's what you do with them or how you react/perceive them that counts. I choose to interpret them as "sources of inspiration".

Make of it what you will.

...literally...

...as for me, it literally represents the essence and reflection of the (human) creative process...

Regards

Bryan

applauding Bryan

After I "punched send", I realized that I forgot to add that often people when ask "why I do it" (as opposed to how)...I usually respond with something along the lines of, "...why wouldn't I want to do it?...just look at all the beautiful and wonderous never-before-seen scenes, motifs, colors, textures, light, and shapes I (get to) discover and play with!" ...with "play" being the operative word/idea here... Ciao Bryan

Sometimes I have very specific things in mind. When I do, it can become frustrating and time consuming. In other words, it can be a lot of work, but the feeling of satisfaction when reaching a goal is also nice.
Most times I build images as a way of relaxing. It's like taking a drive with no destination in mind. I've hit many dead ends when doing that but occasionally something nice comes to the surface.