A poem while you're waiting

I'm currently working on another Amigurumi character. The concept for this one is Waldo. Y'know, the guy from Where's Waldo fame. It's almost done, but don't know when I'm going to get the chance to actually finish him and put the final touches on him (glasses, walking stick, etc).

Meanwhile, I've always got a poem to post....


Indolence


Obliquely reads effulgent light
And canters to contingent plight
If e'er thy soul might yet proclaim
It's bastion to such childish blame.

Indeed that spectre's last remorse
Might e'en shade such weakened force.
And yet beside such congenial anchor
Forbare within ones eminent rancor.

 *  *  *

Consider sunlight's ardent inquisition
Or one's pulchritudinous supposition
If that considered spurious blight
Would speak evocative of its might.

In this convulsive evocation
Engendered 'neath some provocation
Ambling, sauntering gray concourse
And at such caterwaul, there endorse.

 *  *  *

About contentment there disposed,
To be about substantial woes.
And in that self recrimination
Might an adverse desecration

Such to be a value stated
Or else in darkness unabated
That it, all fortifications falter
Considered offerings at thine alter.

 *  *  *

To be eclipsed by midnight rays
And shielded from unknown malaise
Or yet benighted quarreling fires
Defrocked midst expectorating mires.

Might that wondrous bold considering
Of this suppurating, mindless bantering?
Thus the darkened chorus condemned
And by conflagration, from it stemmed.

Fractal Flames

In the simplest terms, fractal images are a geometric patterns composed of the same or nearly the same pattern (a triangle made of smaller triangles). Flames are a "class" of fractals with certain specific characteristics, specifically the use of color and shading and the way the pattern is repeated. To create fractal flames, however, you don't need to be a mathematician, but understanding them helps to appreciate them. These Flames were all created using a free-ware program, Apophosis, that I have been using for years. It never ceases to amaze me when I take the time to look at some of these images.

A Considered Iteration

This Ain't Your Ocean's Coral

(click on an image to see it at full size and take a second to look at the detail)

Terragen

As indicated recently, in the past several years, quite a few others have stepped into the environement rendering arena...a few have even entered the public domain such that you don't need to shell out hundreds of dollars to use them (as a dabbler, rather than a professional user, I'm not prepared to pay for a professional license).

Although scaled back from the commercial-use product, Terragen is fun to play with. As a romantic at heart, it's no surprise that I have an apprication and love of sunrises and sunsets, so much so that it is what I've elected to do here. These two renderings are of the same scene, one with cloud layers, the other without.

Late Afternoon (Terragen render without cloud layer)

Late Afternoon (Terragen render with cloud layer)

Bryce

I love computer rendering software Bryce was one of the first I ever used.

I was first introduced to Bryce in 1995 and fell in love with the program's capacity to create realistic renderings of nature (mountains, lakes, canyons). The software was such that settings could be tweaked to make pseudo-nature scenes, surreal images that approached photo-like quality. It came with many pre-packaged textures and the interface was such that a novice could put together something impressive with a minimal of effort.

Software of this sort is quite common nowadays, but at that time it was something fairly new.

I was not the only one to have discovered Bryce and there were a few BBS's dedicated to the sharing of those images. Within a couple years, the internet was inunndated with user-created Bryce rendered images which could be graded and rated. They came out with guidelines to help users avoid coming off as amateurs, and the number one rule to avoid getting low ratings was to avoid (at all costs) using the checkered texture as it was the most often used and tell-tale sign of a newbie (aka n00b).

More for giggles than anything else, I created this image as a direct contradiction to rule number one. I personally think the checkered texture and its variations are pretty cool, actually.

The Chekered Texture Rocks!

Digital Doodling

I've been a fan of digital art for many years. There is great potential to do some truly awesome work if you know what you are doing. Knowledge coupled with good tools is a great thing. Unfortunately, I have not quite grasped the digital painting landscape yet.

 I have an iPad and some very good tools, but I have yet to master them. I see what they can do, just don't quite get it... yet. I will continue to work on them.

These are two rather simple "doodles" (well, one is a doodle, one is a sketch). There's something about faces that I've always felt compelled to draw (especially the eyes; Oh! the eyes I could show you that I drew in my high-school notebooks!).

So. With the tools at my disposal, I intend to continue to refine and perfect my digital finger painting (no pun intended...alright, the pun was intended).