Artist's Notes for "Gibraltar"

Gibraltar is a true fractal image, created with Fractal Explorer Version 1.23b4.
The coloring was slightly adjusted using CompuPic, a graphics program. No other manipulations were used.

The landscape form is a good form to force the human element into a fractal image. Everyone knows what to expect from a landscape, and it is a formal category in most art genres. 

The overall composition of this image conforms to most of the rules of landscape art. The image is split by the horizon line at 2/3rds, pushing the most abstract portion of the image to the bottom of the frame. A large portion of the image is sky, which is smoothly and simply colored.

The horizon line is slightly curved, the deepest part of the convexity toward the heaviest portion of the image. 

The composition is generally quartered: The upper right is all sky colors, the upper left is the realistic mountain forms, and the lower quarters are occupied by two separate abstract sections. 

The lower quarter abstract sections are divided by what looks like a sort of large oil paint brush stroke, forming a transition area between the two abstract sections and provides its own visual interest. The left side of the abstract portion is pointed curves, whereas in the right side is layered and well-defined elliptic shapes. This dynamic is also enhanced by the transitional brush stroke, running vertically through this area.

The genuine fractal nature of this image can be seen in the repeating patterns at several sites in the image. The most obvious is the layered epileptics in the lower right abstract portion. Another repeating pattern is found near the upper left portion, in the 'sand dunes' by the 'beach" area. This 'beach and dune area' also inserts a traditional perspective to the image, as does the lower right abstract portion with its sloping, straight lines leading to the weighted center of the image. The dune perspective follows the same direction as the other perspective elements, but at a more acute angle, thus complimenting and reinforcing a traditional perspective element into the composition.

The overall color scheme of the image is balanced upon the white part of the brush stroke and its adjacent abstract lightened element, which also leads to the weighted center of the image. I am not satisfied with the coloring of the image, (some persistent green) although more time was spent on the coloring than the generation of the image, which also took a very large block of time to explore and tweak. 

The abstracted Gibraltar rock and its looming shadow gives weight to the upper portion of the image and helps to balance the composition. This shadow outline also extends to the lower image, slightly offset at the horizon line. This again helps to unify the composition, as well as the continuation of the sky color across the shadow, which produces an atmospheric effect, like a thin layer of fog in the air.

One can imagine that the brush stroke element appears to be undersea mountains or cliffs. As the brush stroke breaks the horizon line coming from the bottom of the image it enters into the solid, angular Gibraltar form, disintegrating immediately into a digital effect that gives the small Gibraltar form its detail, its cliffs.

The overall feeling from the image is one of mystery, of hidden things. The fractal abstract forms in the lower right section helps to enhance this mystery with its orderly, yet unexplained presence. The image is proud, conveying a sense of dynamic solidity. Thus the title: Gibraltar.

The image has a dynamic balance. The two abstract sections fall upon themselves at the center of the image where they rest on the brush stroke. The apparent perspectives push out the center of the image, while also giving a sense of distance to the background elements.

Each section of the image is vital to the success of the overall image. 

I believe the image succeeded because of its adherence to tradition compositional rules, the fractal elements present, and the color scheme that compliments the subject matter of the image.