Fractals - Paradox and More!

A friend was recently introduced to Zentangle. After seeing some of our tangles for the first time, he wrote:

Your tangles remind me of the simple rules that drive fractals. Amazing complexity emerges from simple strokes.

Fractals can be thought of as non-integer dimensions. Like 3.5D. Zentangles can be a path to bringing higher dimensional reality into 3D form.

Our friend included a link to a YouTube by Duncan Brinsmead from which this frame was taken:

In his video, Duncan uses computer scripts that create the same pattern we call paradox. 

Notice in the image above as the lines get shorter, the width of the step from line to the one next to it also shortens. This subtlety makes for a beautifully curving spiral. We named this pattern "paradox" because by drawing only straight lines in a certain sequence, you automatically get beautiful curves.

Duncan's YouTube, "Simplicity to Complexity" (below) is full of familiar tangles (like Carole Ohl's tink) and inspirations for new tangles. Many patterns in this video look like they would be fun to deconstruct and then reconstitute with pen and paper in a Zentangle way.



Duncan is a principal scientist with Autodesk and shares more beautiful computer generated patterns on his blog, Duncan's Corner. We look forward to setting aside some time to enjoy them all.

In exploring his blog, we learned a new word: Emergence. Duncan describes emergence as "a fascinating phenomenon where complexity can emerge through iteration of simple rules or processes." We think "emergence" is a good description of many Zentangle tangles and also the Zentangle process. Wikipedia's page on Emergence is an interesting read.

Enjoy!

Thanks to our friend for sharing this inspiring resource and thanks to Duncan for creating these videos.

Click image for larger view and YouTube image for beautiful patterns. For more info on paradox, type "paradox" in the search field in the upper right on this page.