I'm glad the this thread moved from apo to the bigger questions about fractal art. I have a lot of respect for the players here and I appreciate what has been said so far.

About fractal art, I think that we are there. I don't see some big breakthrough happening that will get the world's attention. I don't see that someone will create an amazing image that will be hung next to the Mona Lisa in The Louvre. What it comes down to now is getting the word out. Maybe "marketing" is a better word. Print your images and get them out there next to the painters and photographers.

Just a word of honest caution to those who believe that their own art is amazing because of all the attention that is gets here and on DA. This place and DA are not real. Show your images publicly if you ever want a taste of reality. You might be pleasantly surprised, but it's more likely that you will become disillusioned. Seeing reality is OK. It can be discouraging but at least you have seen it. Don't forget that there are a few success stories too. I still believe that there is a place in the world for what we do. We just need to get it out there. Let's not give up.

And then there is apo. I have just spent the last week using apo, trying to see if there was something about it that I had forgotten. I'll bet that I have looked at over 2000 random images and tweaked the triangles on over 50. Overall, the process was painfully boring. I was looking for specific shapes that I could use in some compositions. When I found what I was looking for it did become more interesting, but looking through hundreds of images to get there made it almost not worth the invested time.

But if that process is what is good for you, good for you. Keep going.

Apo is great software. It has pulled a lot of people into the art of fractals and that is a very good thing. My point is, again, that there is more to the art of fractals than Apophysis. Hopefully, for most people, it is a means to the end and not the end.

On the one hand apo is very easy to use, on the other it is extremely complex. In fact, I am getting tired of people telling me that scripting is easy. Scripting is NOT easy. It is at least as complex as building a UF formula.

A few days ago, on the apo mailing list, I talked about confusing the feeling of discovery with the feeling of the final product. When an outside observer looks at an image, they don't care what you went through to discover it. They only see what they see in front of them. The final product is all that matters.

And I am being repetitive. Sorry :-)

Message edited on: 12/27/2005 13:09