I know many people don't know exactly what a fractal is...I first saw them when I was in college, but didn't really start exploring and creating them myself until recently. Unfortunately, the answer to the "what in the world is a fractal anyway?" question is not a simple one, but as I'm no mathematician, I will keep it basic.

The term "fractal" is an abbreviation for fractional dimension. A line has one dimension, a plane has two dimensions, and a cube has three dimensions, but a fractal falls somewhere in between--therefore, it's a fraction of a real number, or "fractional." Fractal geometry is a reflecton of nature--mountains, trees, clouds, rivers, and seashells are all examples that have fractal forms.

One feature of fractals is that they are fragmented and "self-similar," which means as you look closely at a small segment of a fractal, the basic shape will repeat itself, smaller and smaller. If you took a magnifying glass and found a tiny section of fractal and blew it up to full size, you could then pick out another tiny area and magnify it...and the detail would be as crisp and varied as the original. Look at the examples below:

Now, those magnifications might not be that interesting, but you can see that the forms stay similar to the original and the detail continues to be sharp, even at such huge magnifications. However, the most exciting thing is that fractal forms are similar, but not always identical. So, by exploring various areas and different formulas in fractals, you can find great shapes.

Computers & Fractals

Because fractals are based on mathematical calculations, computers are a vital part of creating and exploring fractals. Some fractals can take millions, if not trillions, of calculations! Now that computers have become widely available and can keep up with these types of calculations, fractals have gained more popularity.

There are many different fractal software programs available today. For more details on where to locate some of these programs, visit my software links section.

Fractals as Art

One point of debate among some artists and others who do not create fractal artwork is the artistic merit of fractals, given that the calculations are performed on a computer. I can only say that computers use the data they are given by humans, and it takes a great deal of artistic skill to explore and manipulate a fractal formula to create unique pictures with color, line, balance, and aesthetic appeal.

It can be compared to taking a digital photo in one sense...you get the perfect setting, lighting, subject, angle, etc. and frame your shot. In the case of fractals, it takes a lot of time and work to get the right "shot" and then the computer does the tedious work of actually calculating the distance and depth of each pixel, the color formulas that you've chosen to color your artwork, etc. to create a flattened version of the infinite fractal that can be seen on screen.

Personally, I fell in love with fractals at first glance and enjoy creating them every day!

To read more about the unique artistic nature of fractals and the skill & creativity involved in creating them, read Kerry Mitchell's fantastic articles, The Fractal Art Manifesto and Of Fractals and Art as she has expressed my sentiments far more eloquently than I ever could.

To learn more...

If you'd like to learn more about the nature of fractals, I've assembled a list of links to various websites. Some are very technical explanations from math departments and some are in layman's terms. I hope you learn more from them than I am able to give in this basic explanation. Enjoy!