i use gimp with g'mic as a plugin.

this one comes from three textures i made very quickly, all with g'mic. the first is a 'crazy texture' render, the second is a blurry random gradient, the first is a 'rectexture' thing. i used 'ultrawarp++++' on the gradient, 'kaleidoscope layer cake'-ed the 'crazy texture' and then 'auto-gnarl'-ed it, and then i blended the gradient with with two copies of the now messed-up 'crazy texture' (linear light, then multiply), then i took another copy of the warped gradient, inverted its colours, took parts of the 'rectexture', used it as a mask for the inverted warped gradient, and stuck it on top of the screwed up 'crazy texture'.

i just ask myself 'okay, what the fuck happens if i try doing this or that, and what can i get it to do without spending too much time on it?' sometimes i change my mind halfway through or think of something else to add. all the descriptions titles and descriptions i make are afterthoughts, usually stories that i hastily thought of.

sometimes i become so indecisive that i make montages. when i do that, i usually put 4 different versions of the same thing together (but it can be any number - i usually pick 4 because it preserves the aspect ratio when it put it in a grid, and because that's the lowest whole square number that isn't 1).