I often explore abandoned buildings for fun, profit and inspiration:
However, these days to get a unique pitch of inspiration, instead of just breaking into abandoned castles, or doing drugs like those "cool kids" from DARE commercials... I slap some math into Mandelbulb software, render it and mutate the result, until something wacky comes out!
If you have no idea what Mandelbulb is, go here:
mandelbulb.com/about/ The most interesting thing about Mandelbulb is that the 3d fractals it produces are literally INFINITE - the 3d space spirals on forever, occasionally folding into itself like a mobius loop.
This effect can create great perspective references for "infinite" cities:
Alien planets:
Or any kind of sci-fi scene, really:
I use the Navigator window to fly around the render gawking at the odd angles in the perspective/objects.
Often, it provides me with an experience of an environment that exists out of normal space-time where perspective can twist at random, where a little tweak can mutate, merge or fold one infinite object/plane/angle into another.
I dream of an integration of Oculus rift with Mandelbulb for a true experience of a 3D space that can fold into itself!
Born too early to go to space? Well at least we can get to explore infinite space created in Mandelbulb.
Eventually, my exploratory flying inside a random Mandelbulb render gets me to an interesting view and I use it as a matte for a painting.
The results speak for themselves:
