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Art: Fractals — My Process

Posted by Aibird on June 18, 2017
Posted in: Art, Author. Tagged: , , , , . 1 Comment

Note: I’ve been off and on ill, so am starting to get back on my feet. I hope to start regularly posting again soon. Without further ado, here’s a piece I’ve been working on lately.

I have posted with my poetry fractals I created. So I wanted to go over a bit on how I create these. I always start with a base design in my head of what I’d like to recreate in fractals — this is often an abstract design, but sometimes I’ll have a set of colors and themes that I want to cover. (I especially do this when I create a piece for a friend. I think of all the attributes and identities that make them who they are, and then try to create a fractal that best represents that sum.)

Fractals are basically painting with math and programming algorithms. The program I use is Apophysis 7.x, but I also use Chaotica.

A big difference between the two programs is how the geometry part of fractal design is done. Apophysis uses triangles, which can be manipulated across a coordinate plane (Cartesian coordinates are used). However, Chaotica uses vectors in a Cartesian plane — each variation is two vectors that can be oriented in any direction within that plane.

Although Chaotica tends to have a more polished feel to some of the finished designs, I can’t render the full resolution I want without paying for the entire program. (Which I simply don’t have financial resources for that yet.) However, Apophysis 7.x is a free program, so that’s the primary one I utilize and the one I will describe within this blog.

I add in very little of my own programming to adjust the fractal as I use the program to do most of that. Both Apophysis and Chaotica have a wide variety of features to help artists fine-tune and diversify their designs. Below is a highlight of some of the features I utilize to create my designs:

When I start a fractal, I will either start with a blank flame or with a starter flame. Whenever Apophysis starts up, it automatically loads up a list of incredibly random starter flames. Most are nonsensical and I ignore them, but some make for great starting points. I take that starter flame and reset the geometry of all the triangles, then I look through the variations and variables the starter flame used and adjust them more to my vision.

To adjust that starter flame into the vision for my design, I open up the Apophysis Transform Editor.

  • Triangles are the color-coded based on the flame transform. The top row gives me a lot of options on what type of transform I want to create and if I want the transform linked to any existing triangle transforms.
  • Next, I go to variations. I have some add-ons that give me a total of thirty variations. Once I pick them, I select the “hide unused variations” so I could focus on the ones I was using for this piece. The right hand side, where the tabs are, lists all the different aspects that can be altered to create a fractal.
  • Variables is where I fine-tune the variations selected.
  • Xaos gives me the option to adjust the paths between the two transforms, and the weight of those paths.
  • Colors lets me fine-tune the color palette.
  • Transform is where I can adjust coordinates — there is also an option to use Cartesian or polar coordinates for the transform.
  • Triangle is where the placement, size, angles, and other attributes of the triangles are adjusted.
  • Weight field provides me with the option of having a transform be prioritized (weighted) more than others, so its variations have a larger impact on the render.

This editor also has a preview box in the upper right corner, so I can get an idea if my adjustments are coming closer to my vision.

Apophysis editor

Once I have created my fractal, I then wait for the render to complete in the program’s main display screen to verify. Then I go to my next step, which involves the Adjustment Feature in Apophysis 7.x:

apophysis adjustment

Adjustments do not alter the fractal design like the editor does, but does affect how the fractal is presented.

  • The Camera tab lets you zoom in and out from the fractal. Adjust its position in space — to move the fractal up or down use X-position and to move it left or right use Y-position. Rotation is pretty straightforward as it just rotates the fractal in a 360 degree arcs.
  • Rendering tab allows me to adjust the Gamma, Brightness, Vibrancy, Gamma Threshold, and Background. To see some definitions, check out the glossary here.
  • Gradient adjusts the colors in a multitude of ways. The color palette is a wide spectrum, and by rotating the spectrum, a different set of colors may become more prominent depending on where you are in the spectrum.
    • The hue, saturation, brightness, and contrast all adjust the look of the image.
    • The frequency and blur options affects the colors in the palette – how often certain colors appear and how much they blur into each other. Use too much blur, and the color palette ends up one muted color.
  • Image size adjusts the size of the image. I often set it for 2000 by 1600, so that I can easily scale up to my preferred render size of 6000 by 4800 (best for printing).
  • I love playing around with the Curves feature as that can cause other interesting changes to the appearance by altering the relationship between brightness and contrast and highlights.
  • Adding some perspective can give them a more 3D look.
  • Scale relates to zoom, but focuses on the fractal, why the zoom sliding scale focuses on a coordinate in space.
  • Depth blur differs from some of the blur variations in that it applies to the entire image rather than just one transform. Add in too much depth blur and strange spherical artifacts or smudges may develop, which could assist with a design or make it worse.

There’s other interesting features within Apophysis that can diversify the type of fractals. For example, I sometimes use Apophysis’ mutations feature, which are randomized alterations for the geometrical paradigms of my variations. This can be helpful if I’m feeling stuck and can’t get the geometry of the transform to render into the right visionary idea.

Sometimes I’ll go into Photoshop after I render an image in order to overlay several different renditions of the same fractal to get a manipulated one that has more of the features I wanted in the final design. Other times, I may combine several different fractals into one image to create a scene and Photoshop is useful in merging the different fractals seamlessly.

If I do a raw fractal, that means I didn’t do any manipulation in Photoshop.

So that’s a basic run through of some of the stuff I do when I create fractals! Feel free to ask any questions. Just be aware, this post isn’t meant to be a tutorial. It is just to explain some of the features I use the most when creating fractals in Apophysis 7.x and the basic design process I use.

Expressing oneself is a revolutionary act

Posted by Aibird on July 27, 2015
Posted in: Art, Author, Philosophy. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

My partner, who is an artist, discussed with me the other day the types of artists. There is the artist who is creating art with an agenda, who is often a political activist and their medium is art. But then there is the artist that simply creates art to express themselves. My partner discussed how modern art today is focused more on the statement said through art, where it becomes a metaphor for some type of political agenda. As much as this is celebrated, it also causes tension and frustration for those that seek to simply express themselves through art. Often times, those artists are criticized for not addressing the issues of today, and it seems that people often don’t appreciate the aesthetics of the piece and instead seek out hidden meanings. This was a valid point, but I added that expression and the aesthetics of a piece is in of itself the revolutionary act. Sometimes people forget that in their search for hidden meanings and metaphors.

One way to really see this is in the discussion on race and art that was hosted by the Art Center this past weekend. Dread Scott and John Sims were the two artists giving talks that day. As I listened to how they created their work and what influenced them, I noted a discernible and interesting difference. Dread Scott presented himself more as an activist artist, while John Sims presented himself more as an artist expressing himself through various art mediums.

Dread Scott discussed the political aspects that influenced his work and how he creates art in order to challenge the viewer into re-imagining the world in which we live into something radically different. He examined the past and reinterpreted it into the issues of today, for in regards to race, there is a lot of parallels with the past that are still sadly prevalent today. This examination of the past within the present was incorporated through a variety of mediums — painting, screenprinting, photography, installations, and performance. His hopes and dreams for a better future was realized in his activism in communities and in his art that deliberately challenges his viewers to interpret the world differently.  Much of his work held deeper meanings and metaphors concerning the history of race relations in America, but he also created works that could only be interpreted in one way such as the lynching flag of the early 20th century updated to reflect police brutality today. His activism and art were coupled together, a vehicle for his ideals.

John Sims, on the other hand, discussed how his art originated as an expression of his thoughts, interests, and emotions.  He began his discussion with how he was a math artist, and how he expressed his thoughts and contemplations about the nature of math and art into artistic forms that utilize mathematics. Much of his math-art explored aesthetically pleasing iterations of mathematical ideas. He organized conventions and classes to show others the relationship of math and art. This was part of an expression of himself but also a desire to help others find new ways of expressing themselves and the world around them. He spoke of how people, especially women and people of color, are often told they cannot do math, and so he sought to circumvent society’s programming — to re-ignite the enjoyment of math and art. It started from him expressing himself and evolved into the activist realm.

The latter half of his presentation swerved into him confronting the reality of the Confederate flag in the south, particularly Florida, and the intense emotions it caused. In order to process these emotions, John Sims took the confederate battle flag and began to transform it through the use of his math-art techniques. He found new ways to deconstruct the flag through color alterations and to display it so that it echoed the memory of the brutality in which the flag was birthed. This personal journey started with somewhat aesthetically pleasing color alterations and evolved into more abrupt (and for some jarring) expression of complex emotions. Through this expression of his emotions, he created a project that challenged Southern ideology regarding the flag and its relation to race. During this journey, John Sims interacted with the issues of race in society today, to really grapple with it on a personal level, and in turn to help others in their own journeys with these same issues. This act of expression was revolutionary — just as much as Dread Scott’s more activist art was revolutionary.

Both challenge society and the racist norms of our time, but they started at different places and took a different path to that similar end point. Often times, people will focus so much on the former — those who are activists that use art as a medium, that they often fail to see the power of the latter — those who use art as expression. In marginalized communities, the expression of oneself is the revolutionary act; it is a challenge to society. This is because society perceives their agency as a threat to order and often punishes those that try to freely express themselves. So, through the act of expression, the artist becomes a revolutionist. This is why expressing oneself can speak to the issues of our times just as powerfully as any activist act. It is this tension between expression and ideas that creates a visceral reaction in the viewer, one that births discussions such as this. Art is revolutionary no matter its birthplace, whether it be in political ideology or in the emotional realm.

Des Moines Art Festival

Posted by Aibird on June 29, 2014
Posted in: Art, Author, Blogging. Tagged: , , . 2 Comments

Every year in June, the Des Moines Art Festival takes over the downtown area with hundreds of artists from all over America (the US and Canada).

Des Moines Art Festival (Volunteer Local is the source of image).

Over a thousand artists apply every year, but only around 130 to 150 make it into the stalls that surround Sculpture Park in Downtown Des Moines. Because of the veracity and determination of the Des Moines Arts Festival Team, this has become one of the biggest and most prestigious in the nation. That’s no small feat, and it took years of hard work.

This year, I perused the hundreds of stalls, pausing to examine in detail the gorgeous displays of arts from a variety of genres. The diversity in art forms left me astounded, and I noticed this year there was a multitude of people who were used the mixed media form — seamlessly forging several different styles of art into one piece.

One artist, Martina Celerin, used yarn and string to craft intricate 3-D sculptures of nature — the trees popping right out of the wall, and the details were spectacular; the patterns on the bark of the tree, the shades of green in the grass, the mossy dirt. A few pieces had a bicycle or a person sitting in the grass.

Another artist, Audrey Heller, took tiny little figurines and placed them in all sorts of environments; a very unique perspective in photography, and again, I found myself conversing with the artist, eager to learn how they created such masterpieces.

In the center of the art fair, there was a long line of booths for emerging Iowan artists, and there I had a lovely chat with Judy Long, an illustrator who drew entrancing paintings of women, their hair flowing as if the wind itself moved them. It’s always a joy to see up and coming artists, still finishing up their degrees or just emerging in the art market. I’m told by the artists, that it is hard to make it into the festival, and they have to showcase their art before the committee, where a vast majority are not selected due to the limited space.

When I could, I stopped to chat a bit with the artist. To hear some of their tale, and to dig into the heart of their art, some were quite open and eager to discuss such intricacies, and others seemed tired, no doubt due to the long weekend, which was often studded with storms. Because of the storms, I was only able to attend the festival today, on Sunday, so I missed a lot of the musical performances, indie film showings, and artist demonstrations. Instead, I just perused the stalls, amazed at the paintings, drawings, etchings, fabric, and sculptures. Each booth held a different view of humanity and our universe – a snapshot into the minds of the artists who created the beautiful pieces.

I gathered quite a bit of business cards from the artists, and plan on placing them in a scrapbook. It was an idea I came up with while talking with a lovely lady, Katie Robleski, who manipulated light to bring a clarity to her photographs — a unique perspective done naturally with no photoshopping whatsoever. Her and her husband used flashlights and strobe lights of various colors to illuminate a section of the building or area they were photographing and then took the photo over a very long exposure. This eliminated anything that moved quickly, allowing only the light and static objects to appear in the final result. As we discussed her use of light in the photos, our conversation turned to apocalyptic tales we enjoyed due to how a lot of their photographs were taken in old, abandoned buildings. As I left her booth, it hit me that I could do this every year — take these business cards and put them in the scrapbook. Someday when I have more money, I can contact these artists and maybe ask for a commission, or simply buy one of their pieces. Until then, I’ll just have to admire from afar.

Nourishing our Creativity

Posted by Aibird on March 1, 2014
Posted in: Art, Author, Blogging, Poetry, Writing. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes’ book inspired this essay; I then posted it in the LegendFire Nonfiction forums for critiques, and this is its final resting place. Enjoy.

Nourishing Our Creativity

From the depths of our souls, the waters of creativity flow in an unceasing river, invigorating our psyche and our life when expressed. The moment of expression gives substance to the creativity within our minds, and how that expression happens depends upon the interests and abilities of the person artist, writer, scientist, designer, chef, ect. There are countless ways we can express our creativity, but there are also many ways our creativity can be stifled, the river blocked and saturated with pollution. Such pollution may be due to others or ourselves, where we allow negative and vindictive thoughts to belittle our own creative talent or else we may try to reason our way out of expressing it with claims that we’ll do it another day. Stifling that creativity can lead a person into a listless feeling, where they may feel depressed, frustrated, unheard, lonely, angry, torn, and/or lost.

How can we combat that? First, recognize there is a problem and why you may be feeling such negative and/or painful emotions. Explore what may be causing the blockage in your creative river. Is it yourself that’s stopping the flow? Or can outside factors be contributing to the blockage? One’s environment and social circles can very easily influence our psychic health, which in turn can either nurture or pollute the creative waters. There is numerous ways our environments may wreak havoc with our psychological health: lack of social support, discrimination, harassment, abuse, overwhelming pressure at work or at home, negativity and belittlement from family or friends or coworkers or bosses, inability to afford the basic needs for survival. Some of these factors may be outside our control, but even then, not all hope is lost, for there are ways we can cleanse the pollution from our creative waters. For those factors outside one’s control, try recognizing those factors and the fears and worries that may accompany them. Next seek other people who provide support through encouragement and active nurturing of yourself and your creativity; this can come in the form of compliments, providing a safe place to create, providing constructive feedback that uplifts not degrades. Then provide time in your day where you can sit and create, even if its only for five or ten minutes, and just focus on expressing your emotions in a tangible way through creative outlets such as writing, art, games, cooking, research, music, dancing — whatever expression works best for you.

Other factors in one’s environment can be remedied by changing that environment. Sometimes it’s possible to seek a job that provides a more supportive and nurturing environment, one that celebrates the individual and provides constructive feedback that aims for improvement. A stifling job environment is one that routinely discourages the person, providing negative feedback that tears down their work and offers little in ways of improving it, belittles the person and degrades their creativity (or self) as worthless. Such a job should be avoided and dropped if it is reasonably possible to do so. Never stay in such a negative and demeaning environment, no matter how good the pay. You are worth more than that, and no one deserves such negative and demeaning treatment. By changing your environment directly, this may help dismantle some of the blockage within your creative river, and once you find or create that nurturing environment, you will find the strength to be able to tackle the rest of the process yourself. It’s hard to nurture our creativity if our environment is constantly barraging us with negativity and poison; such words and actions can seep into our psyche, far more than we may realize.

Always look for resources that can help you transition to a safer, more nurturing environment and group of people. These resources do exist, and although they may be hard to find, its worth it in the long run, for then you can use these resources to help create your own supportive environment and group. If resources are scarce, try creating your own resources, and try finding people to help you in this endeavor; by creating the resource yourself, you are powering through that blockage and freeing your creative river yourself. However, there are many situations where such an action may not be possible for a person, so do not tear yourself down if you find that you simply do not have the strength or energy or ability to power through the blockage on your own and create those resources you seek. Very little people have such fortitude, and there is nothing wrong about it. We are all made differently and composed in very different ways. Recognize your strengths and limits, and although it is good to push against our limits at times, also recognize when pushing your limits becomes destructive. The drying up of the creative river can be a sign of this; pain, anger, frustration, depression, fear, loneliness are also signs of something wrong with your life. Take the time and energy to explore what may be causing such symptoms, and do not be afraid to seek help from others. There is only so much you can do alone. Human beings are social creatures, and thus, the people around us can be incredibly helpful in nurturing our psyche and creative river. Those same people can also be a force of destruction, and thus evaluating if they are destructive or nurturing is also incredibly important to your psychological health and the health of your creativity.

The art of creating involves time and commitment, and these are perhaps two of the most important actions you can take. Give yourself permission to create, and then take that initial step to begin the process. Once you begin, don’t fear failure. Recognize it as a learning step and a chance for you to better your creative expression. Failure can be healthy as long as we recognize that everyone fails, that failure is not proof that our work is worthless and will do no good. On the contrary, failure provides us with information on how to improve our ideas and create anew. Be wild, and when failure happens, tell yourself that you can do better and you can succeed. Don’t let the doubts and fear of inadequacy throttle your creativity and growth. It helps, in such times, to be around people who are nurturing and supportive, people who see your creativity as a wellspring of potential. These people can help you pass through your failures and come out the other side wiser and more experienced than before.

Remember, as much as the above techniques are important, the most important action you can take with your creative expressions is to stay with it. No matter what happens in life, stay with that creative impulse, and remember, “it is essential, even though often painful, to put in necessary time, to not skirt the difficult tasks inherent in striving for mastery. A true creative life burns in more ways than one.”(1) If you find it hard to stay with it, try providing support to others, and through that encouragement of others, you may find a little nagging voice telling yourself that if they can do it, why can’t you? Also, be willing to recognize when you may need help, and don’t fear asking for it. Your loved ones and those that see the potential and good in your creativity will be eager to help you nourish it and clean it of its pollutants. Remember, that you are not alone in your journey, and that it is good to create, good to express yourself through your art, whatever form that may take.

Our environment, the people in our life, and our own mind can all either pollute or invigorate our creative river. As humans, the need to create is a necessary component to life and our wellbeing, and that river of creativity flows deeply within all of us. It’s as important as any other part of our life, and it also needs nurturing and protection to keep it healthy and flowing. So take the time to examine your wellspring of creativity; recognize the factors that may be polluting it and actively work, seeking help as necessary, to healing that aspect of your psyche. Remember that expressing your creativity is good, is valuable, and holds worth. The more you give substance to your creative ideas, the better you become at your art, and the more it enriches and invigorates not just your life but those around you.

Bibliography:

1: Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D, Women who Run With the Wolves, (New York: Ballatine Books, 1995) pg. 317.

Before I die, I want to…..

Posted by Aibird on November 6, 2013
Posted in: Art, Writing. Tagged: , , , , , . 3 Comments

In June, my town held an Art Festival, where artists from all over the Midwest came to show their wares.  A friend of mine convinced me to join her and a mutual friend for a walk around the festival to see all the various mediums of art.  Over by the food vendors, and slightly offset from the main thoroughfare was a large cubical chalkboard with the words: “Before I die, I want to…..”  Chalk sat in trays near the middle or bottom of the chalkboard. By the time we discovered this, hundreds of other people had written their wishes in various hues of the rainbow.  I choose a bright blue and a purple and wrote my own wishes: ‘to publish my novels’  and ‘to take a space walk’ and a silly one from my childhood: ‘to be the first person on Mars.’

 

Today I discovered the artist who created this project:

 

The art installation reminded me that there’s a lot to life, and sometimes when we’re caught in the bustle and hustle that is our society, we are too busy rushing forward to do everything as soon as possible that we miss the little details that add great beauty to our lives. This installation reminded me of what it is I truly wish I could do with my life; even if right now, achieving those dreams may be hard.  Sometimes, when caught in the rush of societal expectations, our own criticism of our activities, and the expectations and criticisms of others can burn through our hopes and determination to try for our dreams. We may start to feel beaten down, like maybe we’re not capable or smart enough or worthy enough to achieve what we wish we could do or have.

Installations like this remind me that such thoughts and societal pressures are wrong. We are capable, and we just need to find the strength and the network of supportive people to help us find our way toward achieving a dream or at least making our life better, more bearable, and perhaps even carving a slice of happiness in our little corner of the world.  It’s possible to achieve that, but sometimes we just need a little reminder. 

 

And it’s why I try for National Novel Writing Month each year, even if some years I didn’t make it to fifty thousand words.  The point is trying and not letting societal pressures or our own criticism wear me down until I stop trying.  It’s worth the hard work, and by the end of this month, when I finish this novel, I’ll feel that elation of having completed it. The fact I finished that project gives me hope and ambition to keep trying and eventually I’ll finish more and more, until I have a huge pile of finished projects, where I can edit and polish and maybe even be published. I can become a published author, and the only way to do it is to just keep writing and trying my best to learn and improve as I go.

It’s possible to achieve my dream. All I really need to do is continue to write whenever I can, and continue to tell myself that no matter how hard and unreachable a dream may seem at times, I still have time and that time is the present.

 

As an update on my progress, I am currently at 15% of 50,000 words. A good start for the first week of November! If I keep at this rate, I may finish this story a few days before the deadline, which would be awesome! All I need to do is write at least two thousand words a day to keep at my current pace.  This way, if I start to lose momentum in later weeks, I’ll have a buffer and it won’t hurt my progress too much.  That’s the hope at least.

Also, when I attended my Regional meeting and kick-off events, I was given an awesome gift bag of items to provide inspiration (and Kleenex for those days where I just want to weep with frustration at having written myself into a corner), and a envelope full of writing prompts to help jerk me out of any writing blocks I may encounter.  I don’t know if I’ll attend any of the other meetings, mostly because circumstances in life have forced me to relocate temporarily, so now the meetings are an hour away, but if I am in town for one, I’ll probably stop by to provide some inspiration to fellow writers and hopefully receive some myself.

At the very least, I can attend some on-line ‘write-ins’ chat sessions with not only those in my region, but also fellow writers at LegendFire, the writing forum I help moderate.  So there’s lots of support for this project.  That helps a lot in the long run, I think. Having other writers tackle this challenge with you, so that way you can cheer each other on and remind one another that yes, this is possible.

So, for those of my readers who are tackling this challenge: Yes, this is possible and you can finish in time. Just keep writing. Just keep writing.

Or as Dory from Finding Nemo says:

justkeepswimmingImage credit: gifsoup.com

Writing, swimming, they’re all the same, right?  Just keep at it.

Paper Mache Project Completed

Posted by Aibird on October 23, 2013
Posted in: Art, Elivera, Science, World Building. Tagged: , , , , , , . 3 Comments

Here is the final pictures of the paper mache project:

I apologize for the fuzzy aspect to the pictures. They were taken with my phone camera.

Also, I tilted the globe so you can see the north and south poles more clearly:

 

Image10062013214749I am looking down at the globe toward the northern hemisphere and the continent of Vera.  To the east, you can see half of the continent of Ratomae — the desert on the western side of its continental divide.  The continent of Vera is intersected by a mountain range, mostly due to the plate tectonics in that region.  Also, most of it is covered in forest with deserts at the equator that intersects the southern peninsulas at the bottom of the image. The forests of Vera are huge, where the trees can grow to a kilometer tall in places. This is partly because Elivera is slightly smaller than Earth, and slightly less massive, which gives it a lower surface gravity. Other factors come into play to allow for the huge growth of the trees, but that’s already discussed in my world-building posts, so check those out for more information!

Image10062013214804Here is the Isutobek islands. This is my first mistake: those islands are too large. They should be ten times smaller. Something to repair for my next attempt at this project.

Image10062013214812The other side of the Isutobek islands (ugh! too big!  But nearly impossible to fix after I painted them), and the rest of Ratomae, the eastern side of its continental divide.  I also made sure to take this picture looking down on the eastern side of the northern hemisphere, that way you can get a good look at the northern ice cap.  There is a continent under the northern ice cap, but there is nothing but ocean under the southern one.

Image10062013214849I put the globe on the table, and titled it so you could see the southern hemisphere better. This is the continent of Egoni.  Here is my other minor error.  The southern ice cap shouldn’t quite touch Egoni’s southern shore, but I drew it too far down and didn’t realize it until after I painted the ocean around it. It was too late to fix then.  Also, note how mountains encircle the top and sides of the continent.  There are huge, deep canyons in these mountains, and at the bottom of the canyons there is crevices and fissures, that lead to underground caverns.  Winds blow through these canyons at upward of 200 km/hr, so if you’re in the canyon or near it, you can hear what sounds almost like musical notes. This is due to the winds hitting the fissures and the holes in the ground, similar to how you’d play a flute.

Image10062013214858Turned so you can see how close Egoni is to the continent of Kefutji.

 

Image10062013214912The continent of Kefutji, which is a highly mountainous region — a lot of tectonic movement in this area, not just collision of plates, but also lots of hot spots.  There’s marshes, forests, and highlands as well as cold grasslands to the south.  It’s probably the only continent on this planet with the most disparate climate zones.

Image10062013214930I tipped the globe upward even more so you could see the entirety of the southern ice cap and how it overflows onto the southern shores of Kefutji.  The globe is also tipped slightly to the reader’s left, so it’s not entirely straight up and down.

Image10062013214951The ocean between Kefutji and the southern most peninsula of Vera.

Image10062013215001The ocean between the southern tip of Vera and the start of Egoni.  The globe is straight up and down at this point.  No tipping at all, thus the equator should be in the center of this image.

And that’s it!  It was a fun experiment.  What I learned:

  • Glue-based paper mache is simply not porous enough. It took multiple coats of acrylic paint to produce the color hues I needed.  Also, the paint scrapes off easily, so I have to be very careful with its stand.  I may take some fishing wire, create a slim net with it, and set the globe in that, so it can be hung and less chance of the paint being scraped.
  • Styrofoam base for this is too scratchy and porous to handle paint, so something has to be layered atop it for this to work.
  • Self-hardening clay is more porous than paper mache, so may try that as a possible fix.

It’s a relief to see it finished, and I must admit, it’s fun to show to others.  For a first try, it turned out alright.  Now I know what works and what doesn’t, and I have ideas on how to improve this project for when I try this again.  My hope is to create a more detailed and better version of this planet, and then I’d like to create a model of its moons (both are fairly small), and a few planets in other solar systems that the people in my novels have colonized.  It’ll probably take me quite awhile, but I’ll be sure to update here when I start on this.  For the moment, I’ll return to some basic map-making with paper and pencils, and working on finishing some of my current writing projects.

Paper Mache Planet Update!

Posted by Aibird on September 23, 2013
Posted in: Art, Elivera, Science, World Building. Tagged: , , , , , , . 3 Comments

Finally! I have succeeded in determining a way to paint my planet. This is the first batch of paint — it will need at least two if not three coats of acrylic paint – and there is some pieces of continent in the southern hemisphere and three islands in the northern hemisphere that have yet to be painted.

I’m using dark blue for ocean. A turquoise for rivers and lakes (big enough to see from space obviously). Dark green for forest. A basil-like green for grasslands. Dark yellow for desert. Brown for mountains and hills (not sure how to specify between the two yet), and bits of red for hot spots such as volcanoes. I have overlapped areas as well since forests, deserts, and grasslands can appear in mountain ranges and hills. You can see this most prominently on the Vera continent in the second picture below, where the forests overlap the mountain range that cuts the continent in half. I thought about adding texture to the mountain ranges and hills, but I’ve yet to determine a method that would work for what I have in mind.

For the most part, this is just a proto-type to give me a sense of scale and help me determine ways to improve this idea for future planet projects. It’s useful also to just have a globe I can touch when it comes to writing about the world itself. Without further ado, here is the pictures. I’ll be sure to do an update when I’m finished with the piece!

Note: All of these pictures focus heavily on the Northern hemisphere since that hemisphere is nearly finished (the islands in the third picture are not fully painted yet.) When I finish the southern hemisphere, I’ll do an update with those pictures.

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