\section{Making Art More Accessible}

As we have shown so far, fractal algorithms are fairly easy to understand with a college level background in mathematics.  Because they are so interesting to explore and manipulate, fractals are a favorite area of exploration for programmers.  So naturally, there are many programs available, for free and for a price, that will help a user explore the world of fractals.  These programs are easy to understand even without a background in mathematics, and they continue to attract the interest of many users.  These programs, coupled with the Internet, have fueled the formation of online communities of fractal creators who call themselves artists.  Fractal artists display and even sell their works on their web sites, and link their pages together to form communities of fractal artists.

With the abundance of web pages written by fractal artists and enthusiasts come many tips, tricks and tutorials for creating fractal art.  A few examples of these can be found in Section \ref{sec:references} on page \pageref{sec:references}.  The beginning fractal enthusiast will find an abundance of advice on how to get started and how to find good-looking fractals, although the advice is, of course, biased toward the view of the authors.  

The abundance of fractal programs, along with the Internet as a showcase and learning tool, have attracted many people to try their hands at this new form of art.  They feel that it's a lot easier to create art using fractals than with more traditional methods such as paint or pencil.  This is especially true for people who feel they have no skill for drawing.

\subsection{The Art Question}

It's the very fact that fractal ``art'' is more accessible that brings up the question addressed earlier, of whether fractal art can, indeed, be considered a true form of art.  After all, if this art can be created by experimentation with random parameters plugged into a certain fractal formula, is it art?  If a computer program happens to choose parameters for a formula that result in a beautiful image, is the program an artist?  And if, as suggested above, it's very easy to get started as a fractal artist, with easily available fractal programs and tutorials, can the resulting images really be considered masterpieces of fine art?

Charles Vassallo attempts to address some of these questions in his remarks about fractals and art [Vassallo 1999].  Vassallo is physicist by trade, though he has been experimenting with Markus-Lyupanov fractals since the early 1990s.  His fractal images are vivid, swirling objects with a decided three-dimensional quality.  Along with showcasing his art, his web site holds his writings on questions related to the subject of fractals and art.

He advocates that pictures of the Mandelbrot set are of dubious artistic value, because they are discovered rather than developed through conscious manipulation.  He calls the Mandelbrot set a ``virtual amusement park'', in which the explorer searches around to find new and exciting images.  It seems that he is more interested in fractal art forms that require conscious development, such as his Markus-Lyupanov fractals.  He makes the point that, when the explorer begins to craft his own formulas and deliberately form his images, then he is becoming more like an artist.

Janet Parke also has some opinions related to the questions above.  Parke is the winner of the Fractal Art contest hosted by Fractalus.com, and was also the winner of an Award of Excellence in Toray's Digital Creation Awards contest.  Her art is primarily created through exploration of the Mandelbrot set, with careful use of the extensive features of Ultra Fractal.  She creates intriguing works of art using the layering, fading, and coloring capabilities of Ultra Fractal.

In her essay, ``Fractal Art -- A Deliberate Approach'', Janet explores questions about the validity of using technology to create art.  She stresses that art is the creation of beautiful products through intentional, conscious work.  This purposeful creation is not present when an amateur enters random parameters into a fractal program.  She then outlines her unique method for creating her fractal art, which involves the careful manipulation and blending of as many as 12 different layers to create her fractal art.

So, while fractal art may attract many amateurs because they find it easy to get started, this does not mean that just any person can create fractal art.  This is obvious when one looks among some of the galleries posted by fractal artists on the Internet.  Quite a few galleries are wholly uninspiring, with images that show different levels of artistic skill and expression [Parke 2000].  But among some artists, such as Vassallo and Parke, one can see a distinct style and similarity to all of their pieces, which seems to suggest that they are true artists.

\subsection{A New Artistic Paradigm}

This seems to suggest that fractal artists share qualities with artists of more traditional media.  Not everyone has the skill to be a fractal artist, even though fractals may provide an easier medium for artistic expression than a canvas.  By the same token, some artists may find that fractals provide an ideal stage for their talents.  In the same way, photography opened the door to an entirely new kind of art.  Like photography, fractals provide a new entry point into the world of art that requires different skills than traditional artistic media.  It provides a different road that artists can follow to reach the same destination: the creation of beautiful works of art.

Janet Parke shed some light on this subject in an interview she gave after winning the Toray Award of Excellence for her work.  She said that, before she began to explore the world of fractals, she didn't consider herself an artist at all.  She didn't have the dexterity to create more physical forms of art through painting or drawing, although she was exploring her aesthetic ability by choreographing ballet.  When describing her style of art, she said, ``In essence, the formulas become the artist's paint and brush, and, like the way a photographer needs a camera to capture his scene, the fractal artist needs a computer to perform the millions of calculations required to render the image.''

Fractals, like photography, painting, and drawing, are just another tool that can be used to create art.  In the hands of an artist, fractals can be used to create beautiful artistic pictures.  They provide a new avenue into the world of art, making it accessible to artists who might otherwise never discover their artistic ability.

