Digital Art; that phrase always sparks strong reactions in the art community. On one side there are those that claim that digital manipulation is not “art” as the work is done by computers not a person. On the other side are those people who claim that digital artists are true artists and the computer is just a tool. Just as a photographer uses a camera to capture images, a digital artist uses the computer to help him/her create and manipulate images. While anyone can take a picture, not everyone has the “eye” to capture a great image. The same is true for digital “art.” Most everyone has access to a computer and thus has the ability to create digitally manipulated images. The vast majority of these images fall short of the term “art” though many of them strive for that nomenclature. While I hate to use the term artist to describe myself or art to describe my images, I am proud of the images I create using various programs and techniques that I have learned over the years.
I am a chef, by training, and have only come to the world of digital art in the last few years. I have also been an avid amateur photographer since I was in high school. I was a hold out when digital cameras first appeared on the scene but finally gave in and made the switch. It wasn’t long after that that I received my first copy of Photoshop and my love for digital manipulation blossomed.
As I explored the world of digital art I soon came across images that captivated me with their depth and complexity. These, of course, were fractal images and it is these that make up the majority of my work nowadays. I work in various fractal rendering programs though I have a fondness for Apophysis. Using the visual interface, I can spend hours tweaking and fine tuning the complex mathematical equations used to create these complex images. Late at night I often find myself lost in the convoluted swirls and wisps of one of my images as I work on making it “just right.”
I hope you enjoy looking at these images as much as I have enjoyed creating them
Peter Martin
