EyeTwists - About the Artist

Hi! I'm Bill Kincaid, a digital artist from the kneehills of the Appalachians. The works on this site are entirely the creations of me and my Macintosh.

Notwithstanding the tongue-in-cheek comments of a close friend, these pieces are not the result of flashbacks from too many Seventies-era hallucinogens. Rather, they reflect a combination of my interests in fractals and chaos theory, the interplay of pattern and color, and advances in computer graphics technology.

I first encountered computers while majoring in Mechanical Engineering at N. C. State University in the early Seventies; suffice it to say that those early days of Fortran and Cobol had nothing whatsoever to do with graphic arts– what I remember most clearly is standing in line with a stack of punch-cards at the Computer Center, waiting for an operator to process my crude programming.

Then, in 1980, a college friend bought an Apple ][+, mostly because he was a mainframe programmer and systems analyst who wanted a "toy" for home use. I spent many nights at his apartment, learning all I could about this fascinating new technology. He soon purchased a new IBM XT for compatability with his professional work, and then traded me the little Apple for a '61 Volkswagen Beetle.

Now that I had the ][+ at home on my desk, I began to experiment with computer graphics in a more serious fashion. I purchased such graphic powerhouses such as Terrapin Logo, PrintShop, and Beagle Graphics; I subscribed to A+ and InCider magazines. One magazine printed a freeware Mandelbrot set generator (you just typed in the code!) which I expanded and experimented with in AppleSoft Basic. The 1 MHz 6502 with a whopping 48k of memory could generate a simple fractal in only a few hours! Even with an upgrade to 64k and a 128k RamDisk card, speed was abyssmal, but I was learning what each variable in the equations controlled.

System upgrades have taken me through the Mac Plus, ][si, ][ci, Centris, Performa, PowerMac 601, G3, and G4 machines. Modern hardware and software have reduced iteration times from hours to seconds. A return to college in the Nineties netted me a degree in Advertising and Graphic Design; the end result of all this education and technology is here in my galleries.


	*About the Artist* Hi! I'm Bill Kincaid, a digital artist from the kneehills of the Appalachians. The works on this site are entirely the creations of me and my Macintosh. Notwithstanding the tongue-in-cheek comments of a close friend, these pieces are not the result of flashbacks from too many Seventies-era hallucinogens. Rather, they reflect a combination of my interests in fractals and chaos theory, the interplay of pattern and color, and advances in computer graphics technology. I first encountered computers while majoring in Mechanical Engineering at N. C. State University in the early Seventies; suffice it to say that those early days of Fortran and Cobol had nothing whatsoever to do with graphic arts– what I remember most clearly is standing in line with a stack of punch-cards at the Computer Center, waiting for an operator to process my crude programming. Then, in 1980, a college friend bought an Apple ][+, mostly because he was a mainframe programmer and systems analyst who wanted a "toy" for home use. I spent many nights at his apartment, learning all I could about this fascinating new technology. He soon purchased a new IBM XT for compatability with his professional work, and then traded me the little Apple for a '61 Volkswagen Beetle. Now that I had the ][+ at home on my desk, I began to experiment with computer graphics in a more serious fashion. I purchased such graphic powerhouses such as Terrapin Logo, PrintShop, and Beagle Graphics; I subscribed to A+ and InCider magazines. One magazine printed a freeware Mandelbrot set generator (you just typed in the code!) which I expanded and experimented with in AppleSoft Basic. The 1 MHz 6502 with a whopping 48k of memory could generate a simple fractal in only a few hours! Even with an upgrade to 64k and a 128k RamDisk card, speed was abyssmal, but I was learning what each variable in the equations controlled. System upgrades have taken me through the Mac Plus, ][si, ][ci, Centris, Performa, PowerMac 601, G3, and G4 machines. Modern hardware and software have reduced iteration times from hours to seconds. A return to college in the Nineties netted me a degree in Advertising and Graphic Design; the end result of all this education and technology is here in my galleries.


	A few personal notes: I live in a quiet suburb with my wife of 27 years, two daughters, 6 1/2 cats, and one old dog (riding on the Harley with me above). I ride a Harley-Davidson Tour Glide, a Triumph Trident, and have a basement full of old BSAs. Other hobbies include music (listening and playing bass), genealogy, and a life-long love of fantasy and science fiction. As you can see from the photos, I'm a big guy who tends to trash desk chairs with alarming regularity. I hope you enjoy the art.