Thanks guys!
Crystal,
I really love how you made it look like an X-ray film--was that intentional?
No. I had no intention of making it look like an X-ray, but I suppose it does a bit.
Jah,
At some of the closest level of shape detail, I am left wondering amazed at where the line between your intention and my perception in shape recognition lies.
That is just what makes Alchemy so damned cool. You get a kind of pattern recognition feedback. You do accidental things that produce all kinds of shapes that your brain sees things in, and then you can go in and develop those things further. It takes you in all kinds of directions that you might never have gone in if you did everything perfectly intentionally. Actually, nothing in this whole piece was intended from the beginning. I just played a bit, saw something I liked, pulled it out, enhanced it, saw something more, pulled that out, etc.
It is a little like evolution. You have mutation and selection. You have a random factor and a selective process. And you are converging on forms that your brain likes. Honestly, I think this is probably the most effective algorithm for creating beautiful things. Doing things purely intentionally isn't nearly as effective in this regard.
Actually though, contrary to the ideas of the software's designers, I think Alchemy should have an undo function. Undo allows this selection process to work even more. You can do a random thing and then keep it if you like it and reject it if you don't. This way, over time, the changes trend toward what your brain likes. I think having an undo function is one of the major things that sets digital art apart from traditional art. In Alchemy though, I find myself painting over accidents that produced undesirable results, trying to restore what I had before that big circle landed on my cool shape. This wastes time. I think they should have an option in a menu to have an undo or not, your choice, because if you look at the Alchemy forums, there is a lot of disagreement about it. Let the people who want it have it. Those who think it is a bad idea can turn it off.
But who knows, maybe having no undo affects my process in ways that I don't realize, maybe helping me to loosen up and not get too attached to the state of the painting at any given moment.
Of course, I can save my progress in Photoshop and then try something. But undo gives you a more immediate ability to try random things and keep or reject them.
WeeDie,
Hermes, I envy the movements of your mouse
Actually, it is a tablet pen, but thanks!
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