Project Educate: My Interview with Zueuk

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:iconzueuk: Our Resident Apophysis Guru


Zueuk is a renowned Apophysis expert and program coder. :worship:
He gave us the Apo 3D 'Hack' and has recently announced the exciting
release of Apo 2.08 beta! (Download can be found here: sourceforge.net/project/showfi…) :w00t:

Peter hails from Russia and is a highly respected source of amazing fractal
knowledge... and of course, is himself, a brilliant Artist! ~ It is my pleasure
to bring you, my recent interview with him for "Fractal Week".
(*Here are some of my faves of his phenomenal artwork)

Melt the Ice by Zueuk Cataclysm by Zueuk Count Fractula by Zueuk The Imperfect by Zueuk Alien Lotus by Zueuk Hybrid by Zueuk
Fractal Fusion by Zueuk Firefly by Zueuk Julia in 3D by Zueuk Dreamflow by Zueuk


_______________________________________________________________________




:iconsophquest: ~ How did you choose your ScreenName?</i>

:iconzueuk:  Oh, that's easy to explain... to someone with russian/english keyboard. :) You see, if I type my name "Peter" while in russian keyboard layout, it will look (in Cyrillic letters) like some strange word "Зуеук" - transliterated to English, letters this will be "Zueuk" :D Funny enough, if I type "Zueuk" in Russian keyboard mode, it will be "Ягугл", which in Russian sounds like "I am google" :giggle:




:iconsophquest: ~ What 1st attracted you to Fractal Art?</i>

:iconzueuk:  Strangely enough, it was Ultra Fractal. And some great UF artists like rougeux. :salute: But then UF turned out to be "not my type" of a program... fortunately. :D




:iconsophquest: ~ Who has been your biggest Influence to become an Artist?</i>

:iconzueuk:  This is a strange question. First of all, I'm not sure I became an artist. :confused: Well, I've always been creating things, was it programs, music, graphics, or somethings else... Maybe I've been an "artist" all the time? :painter:




:iconsophquest: ~ Have you had any Art Schooling?</i>

:iconzueuk:  No :|




:iconsophquest: ~ Have you had any Mentors that you've learned from?</i>

:iconzueuk:  No, I am self-taught :reading:





:iconsophquest: ~ What kind of Fractals do you Admire?... and Why?</i>

:iconzueuk:  Flawless. Many fractals tend to have some glitches - just as a result of their fractal nature - and I work hard to eliminate or reduce them to minimum. So I like to see the same in others' works :)




:iconsophquest: ~ From What/Where/Whom do you draw Inspiration?</i>

:iconzueuk:  From everywhere. But the most reliable source is exploring new possiblities - with new plugins, or new features of the program. :pc:




:iconsophquest: ~ When starting a piece, how do you approach it? (Concept, Style?)</i>

:iconzueuk:  Normally, I start a piece having a particular idea in mind. Then I experiment a lot, and sometimes even end up with a totally different style. :D




:iconsophquest: ~ What are your favorite Plug-Ins? Settings?
What Plug-ins do you think work best together, for best results?
</i>

:iconzueuk:  I'll try to answer two questions at once. :) I can name several variations I use the most:

linear
julian
curl
bubble
gaussian_blur
radial_blur
pre_blur


All of them work well together. And only one of them is a plugin, but not for long. :)




:iconsophquest: ~ Do you have any thoughts on Composition?</i>

:iconzueuk:  Yes I have, but... I'm not sure I can explain them here in english :confused:




:iconsophquest: ~ What is your average Render Time?</i>

:iconzueuk:  About 1 hour for desktop-sized renders, 6-8 hours for print-sized.




:iconsophquest: ~ What are your most common render settings and why?</i>

:iconzueuk:  Normally I set resolution 2 times larger than final image, that is... if I want to get a 1920x1200 wallpaper, I render at 3840x2400, with oversample = 2 or 4 (if memory permits) and quality = 2000-4000, depending on the particular image.




:iconsophquest: ~ Do you have any Post-work and/or Framing Tips?</i>

:iconzueuk:  I don't do any post-work, except brightness/contrast correction. In Apophysis, low-quality preview of the fractal is often a bit darker than final high-quality render, or - some (unwanted) details that were barely visible on the preview become too visible on the high-quality final render. In this case I use "curves" adjustment to increase contrast and/or make dark things even darker.




:iconsophquest: ~ How do come up with the Titles for each piece?</i>

:iconzueuk:  This is a mystery better left unknown :slow:




:iconsophquest: ~ Do you belong to any Fractal Clubs: Why?</i>

:iconzueuk: The best club I'm in is our Apophysis developers & testers team. :crash: Why? Because I just can't leave it! :shrug:




:iconsophquest: ~ Do you show your Artwork outside of dA?</i>

:iconzueuk:  Not really :hmm:




:iconsophquest: ~ Do you have a Personal Quote about Fractals?</i>

:iconzueuk:  No. :confused: I could compose something, like... hmm... "If history is repeating itself - is it a fractal?" ...But I won't :o

:iconsophquest: :lol:




:iconsophquest: ~ What do People think of you being a Fractalist?
Are they supportive? (Family, Friends, Co-workers)
</i>

:iconzueuk:  Well, my family is kinda proud of it. :D But most people just think that fractal art is something from another world. :alien:




:iconsophquest: ~ How important are Faves and Comments to you?</i>

:iconzueuk:  They are important of course. Especially for someone who lives in a distant and not-so-civilized place. :hmm: I am very glad to know that people like what I do, and I really appreciate their support. :thanks:




:iconsophquest: ~ What are 3 Goals you have about your Artistic Future?</i>

:iconzueuk:
   1.) Explore the possibilities of the existing fractal program(s) :pc:
   2.) ..And expand them by writing some new one(s)! :crash:
   3.) And maybe actually sell some prints? :buymyprints:




:iconsophquest: ~ What are 3 of your best Tips for someone getting started?</i>

:iconzueuk:
   1.) Knowledge is power. :mwahaha: Knowing what "sin", "cos", or "complex numbers" are - really helps!

   2.) Triangles and variation values are not the only thing you can tweak in the transform editor. There are also variables, weights, color settings... And there is going to be even more in the next version. :plotting:

   3.) Be in control. Experiment: make things, and analyze how you made them. It is easy to make "something" in a program like Apophysis, but the goal is to make something you wanted. :)




:iconsophquest: ~ What are your 3 favorites from your own fractal gallery? And why?</i>

:iconzueuk: This is a difficult question. :) But, maybe if I wanted to hang 3 of them on my walls, I'd choose...


Blob Space by Zueuk "Blob Space" - for galactic colors :diny:

Constellation by Zueuk "Constellation" - for obvious fractalness :deviation:

Ceremonial Shield by Zueuk "Ceremonial Shield" - for expensive complexity :sherlock:





~ Now, on a more personal note… :D





:iconsophquest: What is your favorite Book of all time?</i>

:iconzueuk:  I've read too many great books to name only one of them as "favourite" :reading: Maybe I could name some authors from my :+fav: SF&F genre like: Roger Zelazny, Fritz Leiber, Henry Kuttner... Terry Pratchett of course... and that's just a tip of the iceberg! :library:




:iconsophquest: ~ Favorite Song?</i>

:iconzueuk:  "Everything" from Jean-Michel Jarre :stereo:




:iconsophquest: ~ Favorite Movie?</i>

:iconzueuk:  I don't like movies that much. Books are much better. :)




:iconsophquest: ~ Favorite Food?</i>

:iconzueuk:  Books are the best food for my brain! :chew:




:iconsophquest: ~ Favorite thing to do for Fun?</i>

:iconzueuk:  I can't imagine that doing some "favourite" thing repeatedly could be fun. :D

:iconsophquest: ;)






:love: Thank you, Sincerely Zueuk for taking the time to answer my questions and participating in
Project Educate: Fractal Week! The whole of the Fractal community truly appreciates what you do
for all of us.

:rose: Sophquest
© 2008 - 2024 Sophquest
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Golubaja's avatar
Awsome interview. :iconzueuk: is one of my fractal gods since ever here on dA, his art is simply stunning and his knowledge almost endless.
:love: