Fractal art

"Fractal art is a form of algorithmic art created by calculating fractal objects and representing the calculation results as still images, animations, and media." Wikipedia

The aesthetic beauty and diversity of fractal shapes inspired numerous artisis who created a new genre in art: Fractal Art. As the original fractal shapes were two-dimensional, so where the first fractal works of art. Presently there are several programs which are used for creation of artistic 2D fractal pictures, most notably Apophysis.

Sometime back in 2007 two members of Fractal Forums, Daniel White and Paul Nylander, proposed a method to generate 3D shapes which resemble fractals. Although, to the best of my knowledge, there is no mathematical proof that these shapes are indeed fractals, they look and behave like ones, and are commonly referred to as fractals. A new name was coined for the new 3D fractals: Mandelbulb.

Soon after the discoveries of White and Nylander, Jesse from the Fractal Forums developed a rendering program for the new 3D fractals: Mandelbulb3D. This program is used nowadays by many artists, including me, to create beautiful works of art. Probably the most active hub for 3D fractal artists is Deviant Art.

Mandelbulbs look fascinating even when rendered in 2D. But when I first saw the mandelbulb pictures, it occured to me that their 3D presentation would be even more magnificent. With this in mind I developed a workflow which renders a Mandelbulb to a 3D lenticular picture. In such pictures one can see the Mandelbulbs in their full glory.

Gallery: A few mandelbulbs rendered with Mandelbulb3D