Mandelbulbs
Ever wondered what it would look like if you took a Mandelbrot set and made it 3D? Me neither, actually (see next paragraph about ugly-colored fractal art). However, apparently it’s harder than it sounds (to someone like me who knows little about such things.) Anyhow, Daniel White, David Makin, and some other mathematicians came up with a way to do it, and the result is a set of stunning images, some of which I’ll post here to whet your appetite, but more can be seen at Mandelbulb: The Unravelling of the Real 3D Mandelbrot Fractal. (Scroll down to get past the mathy stuff).
Besides their 3D magicality, these images are compelling to me as an artist because they’re colored so beautifully. Most ‘Fractal Art’ is made unattractive to this painter’s eye because of the garish, unsubtle colors applied to it. No offense, fractal mathematicians out there, and I respect your mad skills in math, but your sense of color tends to be gauche, unsophisticated, heavy-handed, inelegant…okay, I’ll stop. But these Mandelbulbs are different. They’re gorgeous. I want to climb inside these places and explore!
Images credit: Daniel White. Click thumbnails to view full size.
