Congratulations to daali and Nadita ! A lot of the entries were really lovely. I enjoyed doing that one :)

Until the last couple of weeks, i dont think i had posted any images here for about 6 months. I am definitely not a commentor of any proportion, in fact i rarely do it as i dont have the time to go through 4 or 5 pages of images. Yet the kind people in this gallery still made the time to leave their thoughts under my latest images, like i hadnt been away. ( thank you everyone ) Touching on the topic of your art truly moving someone, when i did finally log in here, i had probably the most wonderful and moving IM ive ever had. One of my pieces had touched someone deeply, in a different way that went beyond leaving a remark under the image. These are fantastic thoughts to get. To know that something ive made, has inspired a reaction like that inside of someone.If something of mine touches even just one person in that kind of way, it makes it all worthwhile, and makes worrying about things like the hot20 and popularity seem completely insignificant.

I suppose you could say i dont support the current guidelines. I miss the art of ppl like Brian, where, even though he included poser figures in his images, the main part of the image was always a fractal and they always tied in together. I would prefer to see images of that nature in the gallery again, yes.

LOL @ Mindy There wasnt anything wrong with the way the gallery was before. There was a diverse array of images that i really enjoyed. If i didnt like the thumb of a particular image, then i just didnt click. How hard is it to just bypass an image you dont want to look at? The fractal compositions of artists i liked, i dont see anymore because they arent allowed in here. I dont go to the mixed medium gallery, why should i have to go there when i want to look at fractals, no matter how theyve been used. That is what this gallery is for.

I dont think it was stupid Marion. I for one like it when people list under their work what they have done in the post processing part ( if any ) I like to know how they achieved the final state of their fractal. I also do it myself if i assemble a UF / Apo collaboration in Photoshop. If a technique piques my curiosity enough, ill even IM them and ask. You dont learn unless you ask questions. No, there is no need to list your PP, in fact i dont think that was really implied here. Like me, i believe Marion was just stating what she likes to see, and appreciates it when artists do it.

What do you mean start ? :P

I dont find any truth at all in this statement:
If you don't put in a comment your work never gets noticed

I am probably the worst commenter in this place. I used to go through the galleries every day and comment a lot, but with young children, i dont have much time to do so anymore. Yet the great people in this community still post comments to my work. I also used to thank people individually for their responses, but again, i dont have the time, and i dont like sending the same standard IM's to everyone, so i thank people generally under my images instead. At least that way they are aware that i still notice and appreciate each comment they leave.

I myself used to wonder about the Hot 20, and how some images made it in there when some spectacular ones are overlooked, but i shrugged it off as obviously some voters seeing something in the image that really appealed to them, but might not to me.
In any case it isnt something i worry over anyway. I post here to let people look at what ive been making, and also in the hope that maybe one of my images might brighten someones day. Not because i aim for the Hot 20, because frankly i dont give a stuff about it.
I enjoy it more if one of my fractals has really appealed to someone enough to leave a comment. We all enjoy looking at beautiful things, and beauty is in the eye of the beholder, hence why some images may make it to the hot 20 that other people dont think deserve to be there.

I also disagree with your comment on the critique of an image ( in general, as i guess sometimes you get the odd person who doesnt like criticism). Ive had several suggestions to my own works on occasions, and at all times have found them to be extremely useful and helpful.

And why there is yet ANOTHER thread on this kind of thing i have no idea, but frankly, continually rehashing it is becoming a huge yawn-fest.

oh oops i noticed i made an odd typo and i cant edit my post :/ I meant i dont know the actual SIZE of my collection. What ever posessed me to write since i do not know.

I have 268 finished images here in my gallery and on my website after 18 months of using UF & Apo. Like Rhaina, thats probably about a third of actual fractals ive made & rendered ( excluding upr's ) I render all mine in psd format, and VERY rarely render from Apo, if i ever do its in png. I burn all my upr's and image files onto cd each couple of months when my folders get overly full. Since i burn the uprs & images together i dont know the exact since of my collection but i have about a dozen cd's full at the moment. As for the 'measuring contest' well...not being male i dont need to worry about that :P

All i do when i want to put a layer from one fractal onto another, is go to the layer pallette window, highlight the layer i want to use, and drag it onto the fractal i want to use it on. However, depending on the size of the fractal im dragging the layer from, the image may appear differently on the new fractal. For example, if i have zoomed in deeply on one spiral, and then cropped/resized the image dimensions to say 500x500 but then drag a layer of that onto a fractal with the dimensions of 640x480, the layer appears differently as it fills the window to the new dimensions, thus adding more of the original fractal that was there before i cropped it. I really hope this makes sense to you LOL It might not, but i know what i mean, its just hard to explain.

Im a spiralist Whether in UF or Apo, its what i do. its my style and i stick to it because it pleases me.
I do try other styles ( spheres, abstracts ) on the odd occasion, but i come back to the spirals because i love them.
Like the others have said, i try to experiment, with different formula, texture, colour, composition etc.
Thats where my challenge within myself lies. With each one, somehow, i try to make it unique.
Yes, at the heart of each image, there is a spiral ( same old same old i suppose ) but i try to achieve a different look with each one. Whether its a different group of shapes, or bold vs pastel colours, harsh vs subtle texture etc etc, i try for something different every time.

Just touching on what Tres said, about asking for feedback.. I myself on a couple of occasions have posted an image i wasnt entirely happy with and asked for ways to improve it. And i have been given wonderful suggestions.

I believe there is ALWAYS a reason to continue to create, and that is because you love to do it.
That is my reason anyway.

I fall a lot into the excellent commenting sometimes, but that is because precisely , in my opinion, the image IS.
And along with my excellent, like Jeff, i always try and tell someone what it is that has captivated my attention in their piece.

Thats far more than my 2c ( especially in using the word different ) ;)
Kim.

Message edited on: 06/01/2004 23:59

I got a bit lost with the dimensions too.

Thank you very much ! They look wonderful i cant wait to have a play around with them :)

I agree with Tres, it is REALLY hard to come up with themes that are going to be 'compatible' with fractal software and arent going to cause too many headaches or leave people struggling.
I really like the idea of conveying emotion, thats one i didnt even think of. Silly really considering i had not long ago added a piece to my gallery using that very same topic.

#4 - 3 points #8 - 2 points #11 - 1 point They were all very beautiful, and very hard to choose from!