We have also made fractal analyses of some graphics of Dürer, Rembrandt and Picasso. This article was also published in Fractals. (L. Nyikos, L. Balázs, and R. Schiller: Fractal Analysis of Artistic Images: From Cubism to Fractalism, Fractals, 2, 143-152 (1994)) Our initiative was the following: since fractal objects are found so often in nature (eg., trees, clouds, mountains), our eyes must be aware of fractal symmetry even if we are not conscious of it. The question is whether fractal symmetry can be found in graphics, as well.
A line drawing is not a fractal. In small scale it is one-dimensional (we see the lines), and in large scale it is two-dimensional (since there is more or less always something on the surface). The two pictures on the right are examples.
The two pictures on the left, for example, are fractals. The fractal dimension of the face is 1.58, of the seated woman is 1.81 (i.e., a fraction), actually in the whole scale-domain. We can find something similar in the graphics of Picasso, Rembrandt and Dürer. It is obvious that the aesthetic quality of the pictures has nothing to do with the fractals or other elements of symmetry. The fractal nature is perhaps in the hand of the painter, or it is perhaps characteristic of the chosen medium; in any case, it implies a high level of complexity.