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Falling Grace in Golden Years



http://www.fractalforums.com/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=5689

Source image available here: http://playful-geometer.deviantart.com/#/d31kraz.  Description there reads:

This image was created to decorate a polyhedron called the Rhombicosacron http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Rhombicosacron.html.  A picture of the finished sculpture appears in my Flickr gallery http://www.flickr.com/photos/playful_geometer/5263400741/. 

I first started out with a fractal image from Gnofract4d included in the download.  Then in the GIMP I did a "Color to alpha" on the brightest brownish yellow color and slipped a background of a brighter orange colour to give it more contrast.  I took an Apophysis flame I found in DA user ~Fractal-Impact's flame pack http://fractal-impact.deviantart.com/art/Apophysis-Mix-Flames-Pack-3-67999609 (the one named "hears") and layered it on top, making that layer "Addition" mode.  The layered GIMP file is included in the download.

It all sounds pretty simple, and in a way it was, but my biggest challenge in creating an image is not how it looks in a box on the screen, but how it looks when it is the skin of a polyhedron.  Actually, only the upper right half of this image will appear on the shape.  The image ends up getting mirrored in 3 places and so I have to use my imagination to make the leap from 2D to 3D.  To get a satisfying result takes a lot of tinkering...

Interesting, as we get deeper into fall, the colors of my fractals are changing with the leaves.  I think I have been subconsciously influenced by the huge downpour of golden leaves out my window.