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ChaosFissure In reply to TheBeesKnees-1985 [2016-01-07 13:54:52 +0000 UTC]

This timelapse is probably the most useful tool I have showing my entire process: www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHdf8j… .  If you're looking for a tutorial, Painting a Fractal, Part 1  is probably the most useful I have at the resource.  I'm always open for questions though, so if there's anything you'd like to know more about, go right ahead and ask

For the most part, the concept is simple: I try to create structure, but then play around with the structure and break it apart more naturally.  Normally I only use a few key transforms in the base shapes (three or four transforms of linear, spherical-types, and textural like horseshoe)) and everything else is a detail-based transformation.  The final transformation also very important to introduce shape and motion, and I nearly always use Curl for that, as it's pretty curvy and versatile.

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ChaosFissure In reply to sondrian [2015-12-21 07:19:59 +0000 UTC]

If I may ask, why does this stand apart from other abstract work?  I always enjoy understanding what people take out of my artwork, and I would be curious to hear the rationale behind your statement.

Abstract as it may be, I want what I create to capture the essence, emotion, and atmosphere of a scene in the most convincing way that the medium allows me. Part of it, perhaps, is that I'm using abstract out of necessity -- I'm not good at drawing,  nor have motivation to start for various reasons -- so I'm limited to creating the fantastic scenes my mind wishes to explore using the tools and skills I do have.

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sondrian In reply to ChaosFissure [2015-12-27 03:28:58 +0000 UTC]

Hey! Thank you for replying! I would be happy to answer your question.

Your art stands out to me because it tells a story. There is always something in the image that speaks out beyond "wow, look at all those colors". This one "Ashstorm" speaks to me of a violent conflict of moving forces. Like the phoenix that you mentioned, there is vast destruction, but also rebirth. It is a display of power on a cosmic scale, and evokes a sense of wonder and mystery.  Its like I'm staring back into the void of the past, watching nebulous titans clash. In the cataclysmic chaos, there is something new forged, something grander emerges. Beyond that, its hard to say. That's how your art is; Like a fine seasoning, it's so subtle, and yet if that special something wasn't there, that sense of grandeur and depth, then it would just be another colorful picture such as clog the galleries of art. That's the best way I know to describe why I like your art. Its abstract, but so close to landscapes and grand vistas. I am always happy to see a new posting here in DA. 

You may not be able to draw, but by thunder you can paint.

Thank you for sharing your art.
-Daniel

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ChaosFissure In reply to sondrian [2015-12-28 19:31:19 +0000 UTC]

I'm elated that my artwork has such an impact, and very much appreciate what you've written.  My mind constantly wishes it could live out the impossible - and art is a way for me to explore worlds and at least shape a world into something fantastic in the process, while ensuring that the more wild parts of my creativity still have a chance to surface after the workday.  I thrive on stories with an epic scope, or epic sense of scale, and comprehend them through my own emotions...and try to capture these in what I create.  My artwork must provide me with a story, or inspiration for stories, that I can engage with.

In the event you haven't seen this, perhaps a timelapse of one of these things might be interesting - www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHdf8j… .  I work entirely in a digital medium, and feel that I can manipulate and explore the medium in a very intimate way.  How I create something -- seeing how the progression goes from start to finish -- is even more interesting than the finished product to me, as there's a lot of potential that can still be explored.

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sondrian In reply to ChaosFissure [2015-12-30 01:51:12 +0000 UTC]

That was a neat video. You should post more of them. Also, nice choice of music, I love chronotrigger.

I know the epic bug all too well....I basically do the same thing with music.

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ChaosFissure In reply to sondrian [2015-12-30 07:23:55 +0000 UTC]

The only problem with posting videos like that is...I don't know what will work and what won't, and could have a bunch of days where nothing much happens with harsh jumpcuts from one day to another.  I don't have very great video editing software to handle production of these either -- and might as well break down and get Creative Cloud for AE if I decide to do these more seriously.

Chrono Trigger has amazing music.  And some people do some pretty funky and smooth remixes of it.  I'll pass on some Zorsy because I've been listening to this and the Kefka jazz arrangement he worked with today -- www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmbjkA… and www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH1usp… respectively.

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sondrian In reply to ChaosFissure [2015-12-31 21:00:04 +0000 UTC]

Hey, we can all only do what we can do. Its tough to make videos, or do anything really, without the correct software. I don't mean to put any sort of pressure on you to post more videos, I just wanted to let you know that it was neat to watch you work. That and the programs you were using were completely incomprehensible to me. I had no idea what was going on or how it worked but I thought that it was pretty interesting.

Also, I love Zorsy, I found him on Youtube years ago with his cover of "Eternal Harvest". Amazingly talented kid. I hope he goes far. Kefka has such a great theme. I think I prefer the piano collections solo piece the best, it just reeks of madness. That being said, I heard "Dancing Mad" live in Chicago performed by Distant Worlds and that was pretty awesome.

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ChaosFissure In reply to ArtCrusade [2015-12-16 13:55:27 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for your kind words about my artwork! I will keep making artwork as long as I have the desire to do so, and I don't foresee stopping anytime soon...however I will be quieter than usual in uploading stuff the next few weeks due to holidays and everything else going on.

I love the energy in this myself. It's what drew me into this while I was working on it, and what helped me determine how to frame and balance the composition at the end

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ArtCrusade In reply to ChaosFissure [2015-12-16 18:27:58 +0000 UTC]

Keep on it!

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ChaosFissure In reply to Azarathian-Mage [2015-12-12 16:39:00 +0000 UTC]

I can't say I'm familiar with that character.  Do you mind sharing a bit of backstory or reasons for the similarity?

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Azarathian-Mage In reply to ChaosFissure [2015-12-12 22:17:56 +0000 UTC]

Well, you might want to sit down for this, then. Before I get started though, a bit of general backstory: Chandra is what is referred to as a Planeswalker, immensely powerful magical beings capable of traveling between dimensions (planes). Each Planeswalker has their own respective spark, and each spark activates in it's own unique way. I will explain this down below.

(What follows this bit in parentheses here is one of a few variations of her origin story. This is the one I know, though, so this is the one I'm putting, albeit a bit shortened.)

She was born on the plane of Kaladesh, in the city of Ghilapur. Her parents were both inventors, amongst many others in the city. (If you've ever played Bioshock Infinite, think of that city, just much more advanced and much less racist.) She's quite impulsive, brash, and all around violent. Because she's not as skilled in engineering as her parents, she decides to be a courier for her parents underground dealings. This means that she is delivering the controlled substance Æther (used to the power the machines strewn throughout the city) that her parents are trafficking to those in need of it. One day, the city guard confronts her while she's doing a job for her parents, gets in a scuffle with them, and unlocks her fire magic, which is strictly illegal on her home plane. This causes her family to leave the city, journeying far out into the wilderness, where she can practice her fire magic in relative peace. The guard eventually tracks them down, though, burning the village her parents are staying at to the ground while she's out in the forest, then framing it on her. She fights her way through the guards, trying to save the village, but by the time she gets close enough to do anything, the village is too far gone. At this point, she surrenders, and they take her back for prosecution. As she's about to be executed her spark ignites (literally, in this case XD), causing a massive wave of fire to ignite around her, sending everyone flying back and teleporting her across dimensions, to the monastery known as Keral Keep, on the plane of Regatha. There, she studies with the monks and hones her magic and self control.

It goes much, much further after that, but that's a basic synopsis of her origin story, and also why this reminds me of her. (Not to mention that random cloud of flame looks like a phoenix, one of which she has as a pet/familiar.)

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ChaosFissure In reply to CaptainElsa [2015-12-12 04:00:02 +0000 UTC]

I should hope so, with as verbosely as I droned on about a phoenix in the description XD

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ChaosFissure In reply to Daveyburr [2015-12-12 04:17:57 +0000 UTC]

I'm glad that you enjoy it ^_^  For many reasons, the phoenix stands out to me as the de facto mythic creature of inspiration (I guess because I have a thing for fire and that indomitable will), and it has wound its way into a few of my pieces of artwork.

Unlike Frozen Feathers , which was inspired by Articuno, this was inspired by a story in my own mind.

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ChaosFissure In reply to Martynes9N [2015-12-11 13:59:54 +0000 UTC]

Thank you ^_^ Sometimes I make things that I think are really cool, sometimes not so much. This was pretty...well not cool, but hot XD

Why do I combine the software?

1) Apophysis' interface for starting out on ideas is much more fluid.  Chaotica's editor isn't that fluid yet.
2a) Apophysis allows me to inject a gradient into a fractal. Chaotica's palette system isn't that useful to me most of the time.
2b) UltraFractal is where I design gradients, as it has a good gradient editor.
3) Chaotica renders incredibly fast compared to Apophysis.  This not only means I can see previews of the fractal, with a good level of detail when working on effects, but it also means I can spend 30 minutes rendering something rather than guess how much time would be correct and start all over if I misjudged it.
4) Chaotica's "Shaders" randomization tests color spreads much more effectively than manually doing so in Apophysis. I nonetheless manually tweak everything, but it exposes ideas much more quickly than I would having to bruteforce the same things.
5) Chaotica doesn't cap gamma in the internal editor nearly as much as Apo.  I go between 2 and 64 in the gamma range in Chaotica, but Apophysis caps the editor window to 5 or something silly.  I don't know who initially worked or marketed high-gamma fractals, but I know I was doing that very early on since Chaotica allowed it.
6) Chaotica's Gaussian blur is very handy for depth, and there's not a suitable replacement in Apophysis that I have.

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Martynes9N In reply to ChaosFissure [2015-12-11 14:17:12 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for sharing your secret

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ChaosFissure In reply to Martynes9N [2015-12-11 15:49:17 +0000 UTC]

It's hardly secret, people only need to ask

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ChaosFissure In reply to ThoughtWeaver [2015-12-12 04:21:29 +0000 UTC]

Thank you  I'll say that the blurred part going from the bottom right to the middle right of the image seems like a rock formation of some sort, and I spent a lot of time aligning it and the formation on the left side, which is partially obscured by the watermark, to seem like elements of a scene that were zooming by.

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ChaosFissure In reply to Skyhornet [2015-12-11 15:52:19 +0000 UTC]

Dark magic and the power of chaos!

As mentioned in the description, I used Apophysis and Chaotica to make this piece of artwork. You'll need to be slightly more specific, as I don't know what in particular you're looking for in an answer :3

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Skyhornet In reply to ChaosFissure [2015-12-12 06:51:03 +0000 UTC]

How did you make the ART.

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ChaosFissure In reply to Skyhornet [2015-12-12 16:32:13 +0000 UTC]

I made the art using the programs I listed.  I have a fair number of resources and tutorials linked on the left side of my profile page which you can look at, and the best tutorial would be the "Painting a Fractal Part 1."  Or if you want timelapse, there's www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHdf8j… , but that's where the dark magic and chaos I mentioned comes into play.

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ChaosFissure In reply to lyc [2015-12-11 13:43:52 +0000 UTC]

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ChaosFissure In reply to AlytheFairy [2015-12-10 23:22:59 +0000 UTC]

Thank you  There's something about fire -- and phoenix -- that I find myself ceaselessly inspired by.

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AlytheFairy In reply to ChaosFissure [2015-12-11 01:58:09 +0000 UTC]

Fire is fascinating!

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