Creative Roots
As a nearly broke college student with a busy schedule and an aptitude for learning and the arts, I was intrigued when I found a lens about how to make money by creating products on Zazzle.com, a print-on-demand retail store.
I immediately began exploring ways to create digital images that were not entirely difficult for beginners so I could quickly build my storefront and get noticed. This lead to a love affair with fractal art. I found a freeware program online and, with the help of an online tutorial, I began creating products almost immediately. After just a week of working with this program, I created over 75 products. Talk about a Grand Opening!
Since then I have experimented with a host of different programs and I even created a blog about my experiences. I still have a very far way to go in creating digital art, but I have already been able to do more than I thought was possible. I hope you enjoy my designs as much as I have enjoyed creating them!
What you'll find here
Since I offer hundreds of products at my Zazzle gallery, this page showcases just a small selection of some of my favorite product selections. Be sure to check back often because from time to time, I will be featuring sales that you do not want to miss out on!
I immediately began exploring ways to create digital images that were not entirely difficult for beginners so I could quickly build my storefront and get noticed. This lead to a love affair with fractal art. I found a freeware program online and, with the help of an online tutorial, I began creating products almost immediately. After just a week of working with this program, I created over 75 products. Talk about a Grand Opening!
Since then I have experimented with a host of different programs and I even created a blog about my experiences. I still have a very far way to go in creating digital art, but I have already been able to do more than I thought was possible. I hope you enjoy my designs as much as I have enjoyed creating them!
What you'll find here
Since I offer hundreds of products at my Zazzle gallery, this page showcases just a small selection of some of my favorite product selections. Be sure to check back often because from time to time, I will be featuring sales that you do not want to miss out on!
Award-Winning Products
Zazzle gives away several awards including "Today's Best", "Most Viewed" and "Hottest ______ of the Day". When a product wins an award, the Zazzle Team place an award ribbon on the right hand column below the customization features. Below is my most recent award-winning piece. It earned "Today's Best" on May 16, 2008.
This one earned me my first award- the title of "Today's Best" on May 4th, 2008.
This one earned me my first award- the title of "Today's Best" on May 4th, 2008.
Keychains
Magnets
Mousepads
Mugs
Postcards
Postage Stamps
Posters & Prints
Stickers
Ties
Featured Zazzle Storefronts
This is a list of some of my favorite Zazzle stores. Shop around a little and you will be sure to find something you love too! Be sure to look the whole list over. It's in alphabetical order, so you never know what you might find! I'll also be updating this list as I find more favorite stores, so if you like my list, be sure to bookmark this page and check back for updates.
- Amber Moon Creations
- Talk about a design artist! This grandma knows how to create some breathtakingly beautiful images. Do not miss out on the products she has to offer!
- ArtGiftz by Aquavel
- This store hosts a beautiful display of gifts for a wide variety of tastes including everything from fractal art to humorous illustrated prints.
- Arctic Tale
- If you loved the movie and wondered where you could get the gear, here's what you've been looking for! A portion of the proceeds will benefit the National Geographic Polar Fund to help save the polar bear population.
- Ashley's Creations
- This Up-and-Comer Zazzler has a lot of potential! She's got great designs already available and some more in the works.
- Cheerful Madness' Gallery and Products
- Nathalie Jean-Bart has a talent for cartoon illustration and showcases her work on her fun and spunky products. With hundreds of products to choose from, you are sure to find something you like from her gallery.
- ElenaInd Italian Style
- Italy is synonymous with style and ElenaInd is working out of- you guessed it! Italy! Her works are especially perfect if you are looking for something soft and romantic, perhaps an anniversary card or some wedding invitations?
- Floating Lemons
- Unique illustrations on a variety of fun products including greeting cards, posters, t-shirts, postage stamps and much more.
- Fun T-Shirts
- This is an absolute Zazzle favorite. With hundreds and hundreds of products available, you will want to bookmark it and become a repeat customer.
- Hot Moms Club
- This is a fantastic storefront that has even caught the eye of celebrity moms like Jenny McCarthy! Lots of spunky products catering to hot moms all over in attempt to redefine motherhood.
- Irony Designs Family Fun Shop
- This shop has lots of cute products with something for everyone in every kind of family. Great resource for that last minute gift!
- Jamiecreates1
- AMAZING artist! Lots of cartoon style designs and really fun images. You do not want to miss out on some of her original work before you have to pay way more for them!
- Little Critter Wear and Things
- Yep, the same Little Critter from the books you read when you were young has a storefront on Zazzle! Be sure to grab your gear because it's only available on Zazzle!
- Mama Mirabelle's Merchandise
- National Geographic Little Kids has created this Zazzle store to sell their official merchandise. If your little one is a fan, you don't want to miss out on grabbing your gear!
- Polka Dot Designs
- This line is created by the 10-year-old daughter of Jamiecreates1. This is just small proof that digital art talent can definitely run in the blood! Keep an eye on this girl- she's definitely going places!
- Rachael Tallamy: Surreal & Fantasy Art
- If you are into surreal and fantasy art, this store is a goldmine with literally hundreds of beautiful, inspiring products to choose from!
- Schmeer here...
- This Zazzler designer has a humorous take on life. He's very talented and witty- a combination that warrants at least a virtual stroll through the aisles of his store.
- Seasonal Latitudes aka That Swimming Lizard
- This storefront offers lots of great products featuring photography of flora, travel scenery, wildlife, and more! Every item purchased through this gallery will make an automatic donation to a well-deserving charity!
- Serious Fun Studios: Fractal Art Images by Scott Bricker
- For those of you who enjoy fractals (like me!), you'll love this storefront! All fractals, all the time!
- Shadowchaser
- Absolutely amazing photographer of nature! If I could, I would escape into one of her photos like in Mary Poppins!
- Silent Ranks Shop
- For those of you who have been supporting the troops stateside, this shop is for you! Lots of gear to show your support- perfect for snapping some pictures with and sending to a sweetheart or son overseas. They can use a reminder of your encouragement as they continue to fight.
Fractal Art Demystified
Fractals are formed by taking multi-dimensional geometrical equations relating to infinity and equating them to a colorized image. Fractal art takes the image and zooms in, manipulates and edits the image to find the beauty in infinitesimal math.
While it may at first incredibly intimidating, I am living proof that anyone can do fractal art if they choose to take the time to learn. After just a week of playing around on my own, I learned enough of the basics to have a fully functional online store with over 100 products featuring my own fractal art designs! While I cannot guarantee everyone will have those same results, I can confirm that you will never know what you are truly capable of until you try!
While it may at first incredibly intimidating, I am living proof that anyone can do fractal art if they choose to take the time to learn. After just a week of playing around on my own, I learned enough of the basics to have a fully functional online store with over 100 products featuring my own fractal art designs! While I cannot guarantee everyone will have those same results, I can confirm that you will never know what you are truly capable of until you try!
How Fractal Art Stacks Up Against Other Art Forms
"Do you know how to carve an elephant out of stone? Well, you simply carve away everything that doesn't look like elephant."
I'm not quite sure where I heard that, but it makes a good point. The truth is that all art forms boil down to the eye of the beholder. Some may argue that fracal art, especially from computer-generated fractals are not worthy of being called art because there is no "creation" involved. But I believe that art is not as much creation as it is communication. Photographers do not create their subjects, they capture them in a way that portrays a message to their audience. Sculptors and painters may appear to be "creating" an image, but it is useless if it does not move someone or communicate some basic message. Fractal art is the same way. If you were to go into a computer-generated program and save every frame you came across, it would not be art- there would be no subject to highlight, no message to present, no higher meaning. However, the process of overlooking certain frames in search of the one that speaks to you and capturing it in the most vivid detail at the right saturation and hue is most definitely an art form. It's akin to photo-shoot with a mathematical subject.
I'm not quite sure where I heard that, but it makes a good point. The truth is that all art forms boil down to the eye of the beholder. Some may argue that fracal art, especially from computer-generated fractals are not worthy of being called art because there is no "creation" involved. But I believe that art is not as much creation as it is communication. Photographers do not create their subjects, they capture them in a way that portrays a message to their audience. Sculptors and painters may appear to be "creating" an image, but it is useless if it does not move someone or communicate some basic message. Fractal art is the same way. If you were to go into a computer-generated program and save every frame you came across, it would not be art- there would be no subject to highlight, no message to present, no higher meaning. However, the process of overlooking certain frames in search of the one that speaks to you and capturing it in the most vivid detail at the right saturation and hue is most definitely an art form. It's akin to photo-shoot with a mathematical subject.
How to Get Started in Fractal Art
There are many different paths to a beginning in fractal art, but the most basic is a fractal art program and either general curiosity and determination or a tutorial to guide you along on your first awkward steps.
I have tried multiple programs available and, while there are many good ones, the one I suggest most highly for beginners is Tierazon. This program is a FREE program, which is perfect for beginners, and you can use the online tutorial to help you along. The tutorial itself is not very extensive, but I have found the program to be fairly user-friendly and once you have played with it a while, you should be able to capture some pretty beautiful works! Just remember to not be discouraged by an ugly screen- it's your job to find the beauty in it! Just keep plugging away at it and you are sure to find several beautiful images along the way.
I have tried multiple programs available and, while there are many good ones, the one I suggest most highly for beginners is Tierazon. This program is a FREE program, which is perfect for beginners, and you can use the online tutorial to help you along. The tutorial itself is not very extensive, but I have found the program to be fairly user-friendly and once you have played with it a while, you should be able to capture some pretty beautiful works! Just remember to not be discouraged by an ugly screen- it's your job to find the beauty in it! Just keep plugging away at it and you are sure to find several beautiful images along the way.
Digital Design Blogsphere
When I decided to take this journey of exploring the world of digital art, I thought I would blog about it as a way of sharing with the world my journey.
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- bendoodlyn bendoodlyn Sep 15, 2009 @ 12:39 am
- Your designs are absolutely intriguing...gorgeous!
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- James-Falconer James-Falconer Sep 10, 2009 @ 9:26 am
- Some great fractal products, excellent . . . the first postcard and the first postage stamp are my favourites!
See my Fractal Lens, NEW today!!. Beautiful Fractals
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- OnlyFunStuff OnlyFunStuff Sep 9, 2009 @ 11:01 am
- Love your fractal art, great lens too. rated 5*
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- tokyobabydoll tokyobabydoll Nov 6, 2008 @ 1:17 am
- interesting, not something you see eveyrday
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- amanda amanda Oct 22, 2008 @ 9:11 pm
- Very nice site ,im a new fan
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by cherangelry
I am a lover of learning. With a degree in psychology, I am currently a grad student in the Occupational Therapy Program at East Carolina University (... (more)
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