BackFractals Volume II is yet another collection of four 24-bit 640x480 (13") pieces of fractal artwork (QuickTime™ PICT format) ideal for placing in the "background" of your desktop with any number of shareware/commercial utilities, such as UnderWare™, the NowFun™ control panel DeskPicture™, etc. Users of 16-bit or greater screen depth will be rewared with visually arresting pieces of original fractal-based artwork—those with 256 will get a slightly grainy, but IMHO still pleasing, background image. These also make great slide-show images for your screen saver, splendid startup screens, and of course stay crunchy, even in milk. Ready-cut, easy-to-handle BackFractals are guarunteed to spice up a dull Desktop anyday! Best of all, they are FREE for any non-commercial use, and I will license them (and/or create custom artwork) for commercial use for shockingly low (or nonexistant) fees. PLEASE NOTE: these pictures are QuickTime™ compressed (JPEG method, but PICT format) and require the QuickTime™ Extension for viewing unless you have the latest super-cool version of JPEGView. Without compression, these files would be over 800k apiece.
About the Artwork:
These images were created with the assistance of Color It!™ 2.3, JPEGView 3.3 by Aaron Giles, and Kai's Power Tools version 1.1. KPT did the majority of the fractal-crunching, with Color It! used for image composition and color correction. JPEGView handled the final processing and created the darn nifty color icons and previews. Hardcore KPT users will recognize my occasional use of presets in the color gradients, which was due to two factors: one, my PowerBook 180 only has 256 colors, and two, I can't afford the Expert version of Gradient Designer (or even the upgrade to 2.0). All four pieces combine at least 2 fractals (from the Mandelbrot and Julia sets) along with numerous layered textures and gradients. I tried for soothing, hypnotic images with a sort of diffused focus, with no real central point, but a large amount of detail and color contrasts. No, I don't know the equasions or variables used—KPT is point-and-click, no number fiddling involved!
If fractals are pure math, why do I call these creations "artwork?" That's an excellent question, and I have no straight answer, but I'll try for a reasonable facimile: These "fractalscapes" are not art at the level of a Degas or a Picasso, simply due to the absence of any physical technique (or indeed reality) involved in their creation. Yet these are not just the random offspring of a simple equasion, but deliberately positioned, colored, and composed creations. In other words, though I didn't create the tools (analgous to a photographer's camera and subject) I provided the "vision" that guided the resulting image. Why am I blathering about this point? Because I want to make it clear that I feel I "own" these creations as original documents. Which leads us to:
Currently a graduate student at the University of Arizona, I can be reached at:
eilersm@swamp.gas.uug.arizona.edu
and by sn@il m@il (I dig postcards):
Michael McEvilley Eilers
1745 E. Glenn #110
Tucson, AZ 85719
The Future:
More BackFractals leaning even farther toward abstract art (and away from fractal-based images,) more transparency, masks, and the inclusion of text and scanned images. No large-size (16" or 19") images planned, unless heavily requested, as they would be too large to post. Suggestions, input, and cogent critiques are greatly encouraged and appreciated. Way in the future—a PowerMac-based PowerBook 500 series, and the latest version of KPT, as well as 16-bit video. Then, watch out!
All trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.
