Fractal Dimensions:
The Digital Art of Eric Hammel
Volume 1
FRACTAL DIMENSIONS:
The Digital Art of Eric Hammel
Volume 1
by Eric Hammel
The concept behind fractal geometry is extremely difficult to explain . . . but
easy to see and enjoy. Eric Hammel, a professional author of military history
books, is unable to explain fractals in a way that will be clear to anyone else,
but most mathematicians can’t explain fractals in language most people can
understand. The simplest explanation is that fractals are graphic representations
of high-order mathematical formulas that repeat patterns to infinity.
Don’t get hung up on the math. It’s really all in the seeing. Eric Hammel’s
five Fractal Dimensions volumes are each filled with one hundred examples
representing many types of fractals. The differences between and among fractal
artists using the same array of fractal-generating software is the same as the
differences between and among all portrait artists or between and among all
landscape artists using oil paint, chalk, watercolors, charcoal, even fingers.
It all comes down to the unique mind’s eye the artist brings to the game and what
he does to improve or transform the art once the fractal-generating software has
been sufficiently exploited.
For all that, all a lay person really needs to appreciate fractals in their infinite
varieties is a collection of fractal art to peruse, to get lost in for awhile, and their
own preferences for art. No two fractal artists will see or exploit the same fractal
formula the same way. What we offer here is simply what one fractal artist has
been able to see, and what he alone decided he wants to share.