Entropy Paradox: Post-artwork Evaluation

“Scientists have often been baffled by the existence of spontaneous order in the universe. The laws of thermodynamics seem to dictate the opposite, that nature should inexorably degenerate toward a state of greater disorder, greater entropy. Yet all around us we see magnificent structures—galaxies, cells, ecosystems, human beings—that have all somehow managed to assemble themselves.”

- Steven Strogatz

"Entropy Paradox" is perhaps one of the most (if not the most) geeky artworks I have ever drawn, if one takes into consideration the science that inspired it. Well, just look at the title, for heaven's sake. I do admit, though, that I fared better in Chemistry and Biology than in Physics, and the irony of it is that I enjoy Quantum Mechanics and Relativity more than I enjoy the Newtonian stuff. Heh. But enough of that.

I did mention two blog posts earlier that I intended to stick with two objectives in this artwork: [1] no stock images, and [2] stay true to the original sketch. Sticking with [1] was a success. Apart from the fractals, which were rendered with the aid of Apophysis, everything was pretty much drawn by hand or using paths. As for [2], compare the two images below and judge for yourself.

DevART version is a lot better, but it's concealed behind a mature tag.

Minor changes here and there, but it's pretty much the same... right?

Going with the "paradox" theme, I inserted a lot of "contradicting" elements in the artwork. Flat-surface versus depth-oriented, living versus inanimate, flowing versus rigid... you find it. But the main contradiction was perhaps... well, order versus disorder. After all, that's what the physics is all about. The problem was how to pull it off. In the end, I decided to intersperse fractals with hand-painted figures. Fractals, with their mathematical iterations and whatnot, somehow contrast with free-form painting, which in turn may not follow "the rules" so rigidly.

So here are some of the non-brush fractals used (and yeah, I know they're not so sophisticated -- I'm just an Apophysis rookie):

It's hard to see this one because I used it as a texture for the wings.

And on a closing note, if those rune-like markings on my signature got your eye, be aware that I did not invent it. It's Baybayin, a form of ethnic script in the Philippines. I could already write it well even though I am still rather slow in reading them. Like Japanese hiragana and katakana, Baybayin is spelled by syllable.

Read more about it in its Wikipedia page (unfortunately, you have to know Tagalog in order to understand the samples). You can download Baybayin fonts here. The downloadable files contain instructions on how to work the fonts, so no worries there.