Let's take our latest work and ask ourselves some questions : - what is the size of your (digital) canvas you have used and why have you chosen those measurements ? - did you have any idea, before starting your work, which or what image you were trying to achieve ? - When starting your work did you have a mental image of the stages, formulas, tasks you were going to apply ? - How did you decide on the composition ? - When composing the image, through how many different versions did you go before settling on the final placing of objects/fractals/flames ? - At what stage did you took a decision on the use of your colours ? - Did you pick your own colours, made your own gradients, your own lighting ? - Do you know why you have chosen those colours, or the mood they represent ? - is there a concept to the work you created ? - is the work recognisable as your own work or even style ? - have you noted the post-production steps in your technical diary ? - have you documented the discoveries you made while working on this project, in your daily diary ? These are just some of the questions you may ask yourself while working on your fractals, but believe me there are many more... Now, answering those questions and acting upon them wont make you an artist overnight, but you will at least know what you are doing and that is the first step towards becoming an artist. Neglecting all of this on the other hand means that it is the software that decides the image, and that is NOT art, your image is just a pretty coincidence and the software becomes the artist... Dirk