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The Fractal Alphabet by TaraRoys The Fractal Alphabet by TaraRoys
Full view is a necessity...

This is the sort of thing I would have absolutely adored as a kindergartener. I have a dream that one day, all grade-school classrooms will be decorated with exquisite mathematical chaos, inspiring their impressionable young minds, raising a new generation of math-magicians and fractal-philes. There will be fractal fairy-tales and chaotic coloring-books- Listen! The teacher's reading aloud from a book called "The Fractal Alphabet"-- I think she just reached the letter M...

M is for Mandelbrot

There was a man named Mandelbrot
The sort of sot who thought a lot
He thought by day and through the night
He sat and thought by candelight

And then he said “I’ll tell you what,
I think I’ve got a sort of thought
A thought I ought to give a shot
And so I will, said Mandelbrot

The thought was thunk by Mandelbrot
To make a complex planar plot
He saw the sort of set he’d got
And stared at what his work had wrought

Chaos, causing mass confusion!
Mystery and math illusion!
Fractures in fantastic fusion!
Swirling in the set solution!

Mandel sat and thought a bit
And said how should I handle it?
It’s broken in a billion bits
So fractal is a word that fits

And so all fractals started there
But we’ve found fractals everywhere
With fractal trees and fractal hair
And fractal breeze in fractal air

Since Mandelbrot got fractal fame
And thought he’d play the chaos game
And give the world a fractal flame
Why, math has never been the same!

So if you think as Mandel thought
And wonder ‘bout the which of what
Remember our dear Mandel’s set
You’ll never know what you might get!



Now, children, storytime is over...your homework is to go back to your computers and a Serpinski Triangle...

Made with Apophysis 2.02, lots of patience, and an odd sense of humor.
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:icondebdj:
debdj Featured By Owner Dec 5, 2011
you *are* a master! :nod:
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:icontararoys:
TaraRoys Featured By Owner Dec 5, 2011
Thank you!
Reply
:iconwi6791lly:
Wi6791lly Featured By Owner Jun 16, 2011
Okay that is a very cool idea!
Reply
:iconchara-thru-charis:
Chara-thru-Charis Featured By Owner Jul 4, 2010  Hobbyist General Artist
thats brilliant I love it
Mandelbrot would be proud
Reply
:iconcoffeetoffeesquirrel:
CoffeeToffeeSquirrel Featured By Owner Jun 16, 2010   General Artist
Featured in my journal :iconcheerplz: [link]
Reply
:iconguagapunyaimel:
guagapunyaimel Featured By Owner Mar 1, 2010
i love your poem,,
have u ever send it to Mr. Mandelbrot??
i think u should,, :D
he will be so honored..
Reply
:iconkrigl:
krigl Featured By Owner Aug 4, 2009
Sorry to be fave-bombing but this is just too cool...:)
Reply
:iconseltaya:
seltaya Featured By Owner Sep 9, 2008
I love that poem, its hilarious!
Reply
:icontsukinohikari20:
TsukinoHikari20 Featured By Owner Jul 16, 2008
Oh wow, this is awfully clever!!! :clap: Well done!
Reply
:iconhoustonaxl:
houstonaxl Featured By Owner May 27, 2008
Very Original Idea! Great job!
Reply
:iconr4v1:
r4v1 Featured By Owner Oct 23, 2007
Ive seen this on an external site... never thought it would be here on dA :+fav:
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:icontararoys:
TaraRoys Featured By Owner Oct 23, 2007
Really? Where?
Reply
:iconr4v1:
r4v1 Featured By Owner Oct 23, 2007
can't remember now, it was quite a while ago...
sorry.
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:icontararoys:
TaraRoys Featured By Owner Oct 23, 2007
Thanks anyway. :)
Reply
:iconcthulhuparallel:
CthulhuParallel Featured By Owner Apr 4, 2007
Heehee. Well done. I would definitely want to go to that school as well. Much is lacking in the spirit of mathematics nowadays, and it wasn't until my freshman year of college that I forced myself to "love the math behind art."

I'd post the poems in both sections...and let the devs decide :P
Reply
:iconpink12:
Pink12 Featured By Owner Feb 28, 2007  Professional Traditional Artist
that is insane how long did it take you???
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:icontararoys:
TaraRoys Featured By Owner Feb 28, 2007
Oh, only four days. The poetry that goes with it took longer to write. Check out my sig for the link. Glad you liked it!
Reply
:iconpink12:
Pink12 Featured By Owner Mar 1, 2007  Professional Traditional Artist
wow thats pretty fast cause i just now started messing with the software... you must really know what your doing :XD:
Reply
:icontararoys:
TaraRoys Featured By Owner Mar 1, 2007
Nowadays I know what I'm doing. When I made the alphabet, I just went through several hundred random batches and moved triangles around until I got something letter-shaped. It was a really random process.

Btw, if you like, I can point you to some really good Apophysis tutorials. They're great for beginners. :)

Anyway, Apophysis was made for messing around. Have fun!
Reply
:iconpink12:
Pink12 Featured By Owner Mar 1, 2007  Professional Traditional Artist
hey i gotta few questions about it though when i downloaded it it wouldnt let me save and it started freaking out and it wouldnt even X out.. did it do that to you
Reply
:icontararoys:
TaraRoys Featured By Owner Mar 1, 2007
No, I didn't. It's a really really big file, though, so that might be why your computer is freaking out.
Reply
:iconpink12:
Pink12 Featured By Owner Mar 2, 2007  Professional Traditional Artist
ok i downladed version 2.02 and i havent had any problems out of it
Reply
:iconlyinryan:
LyinRyan Featured By Owner Feb 8, 2007
That's one of the coolest things I've seen in a while!! Great job!!
Reply
:icontararoys:
TaraRoys Featured By Owner Feb 8, 2007
Thanks! I enjoyed making it. :)
Reply
:iconlyinryan:
LyinRyan Featured By Owner Feb 8, 2007
You're so welcome!!
Reply
:iconshylershy:
ShylerShy Featured By Owner Feb 3, 2007  Hobbyist Photographer
Thats really cool...Great job!
Reply
:icontararoys:
TaraRoys Featured By Owner Feb 4, 2007
Thanks!
Reply
:icongosiekd:
gosiekd Featured By Owner Feb 2, 2007
Good job!!! Very nice!!! :clap:
Reply
:icontararoys:
TaraRoys Featured By Owner Feb 2, 2007
Thank you very much!
Reply
:icongosiekd:
gosiekd Featured By Owner Feb 2, 2007
Welcome :)
Reply
:iconhyruwen:
hyruwen Featured By Owner Feb 1, 2007  Hobbyist
That's just awesome! What's even more awesome is that you didn't do any post-manipulation to it!
Reply
:icontararoys:
TaraRoys Featured By Owner Feb 1, 2007
Yep! It's all apophysis! :)
Reply
:icondroid24747:
Droid24747 Featured By Owner Jan 28, 2007
That is sooooooooooooo awesome, it's not funny! Frickin' sweet!
Reply
:icontararoys:
TaraRoys Featured By Owner Jan 29, 2007
Thanks!
Reply
:iconlittlepersonofdoom:
littlepersonofdoom Featured By Owner Jan 28, 2007
that is pretty fanastcial.

Mandelbrot is...ahh just about one of the most awesome people ever.

Don'y knos if you have read Chaos but it is one of my favorite books ever. Cause I am just that awesome...ish.

I have a rune project due in a few days for English, wonder if I could do the same kind of thing as this but with the runes by then?

hmmmm...
Reply
:icontararoys:
TaraRoys Featured By Owner Jan 28, 2007
No, I haven't read chaos. I just read a lot of fractal textbooks. Who's chaos by?

And this alphabet is how I taught myself to use apophysis. It took me two or three days playing with random variations. If the runes are symmetrical, I would use the bilateral option under forced symmetry in the options menu. If they're not, then just play.

Now, the poems took me another two days to write- (see the link in my sig. ) Putting together the stupid webpage took longer than everything else combined. :)
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:iconlittlepersonofdoom:
littlepersonofdoom Featured By Owner Feb 8, 2007
It's by James Gleick and is really fantastical. I adore it. I did manage to get the Runes, roughly, but it took about 7 hours and my teacher loved them so why complain? =)
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:icontararoys:
TaraRoys Featured By Owner Feb 10, 2007
:)
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:iconqygen:
Qygen Featured By Owner Jan 28, 2007
Very interesting!!!! :+fav:
Reply
:icontararoys:
TaraRoys Featured By Owner Jan 28, 2007
Thanks!
Reply
:iconqygen:
Qygen Featured By Owner Jan 28, 2007
Sure thing :thumbsup:
Reply
:iconwatsisname:
Watsisname Featured By Owner Jan 27, 2007
Simply outstanding in every sense. All the letters are so unique and very well created. My personal favorites are the A, W, and V for their symmetry and intricate designs. :)

What especially impressed me was your poem, it's so clever and wonderfuly written. Obviously took a lot of thought and work! Instant :+fav: and a big salute! :salute:
Reply
:icontararoys:
TaraRoys Featured By Owner Jan 28, 2007
Thanks a lot! I really appreciated it. Actually, after I finished this, I went and wrote up poems for the rest of the letters- the link is in my sig. You might enjoy them. :)
Reply
:iconphoenix75:
phoenix75 Featured By Owner Jan 26, 2007
I LOVE THIS! Very clever of you. :heart:
Reply
:icontararoys:
TaraRoys Featured By Owner Jan 26, 2007
Hehe! I had fun making it. Actually, if you want to see the poems that go with it, visit my fractal poetry website. [link]
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:iconphoenix75:
phoenix75 Featured By Owner Jan 26, 2007
Thanks. :heart:
Reply
:iconzjyslav:
Zjyslav Featured By Owner Aug 31, 2006
Great idea and great job. :+fav:
Reply
:iconbeatlefreak:
beatlefreak Featured By Owner Aug 14, 2006
This is such a wonderful concept :D and lovely fractals.
Reply
:icontararoys:
TaraRoys Featured By Owner Aug 14, 2006
Thanks!
Reply
:iconbeatlefreak:
beatlefreak Featured By Owner Aug 15, 2006
You're welcome :D
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