Q stands for Qualia, meaning the quality or feeling of perception. We experience the taste of chocolate, the color of a sunset or the essence of a pentagram each as distinct qualia. Some philosophers believe qualia are precisely what differentiate conscious beings from mindless machines. Qualia and consciousness are inextricably entangled.
Scott Onstott created Q to enable you to explore pure geometry for the purpose of experiencing its qualia yourself—a feeling that many describe as "sacred", but curiously without the typical baggage associated with such a state of consciousness.
Scott simplified Q to focus on geometry itself, purely for the experience of it. By focusing on the qualities geometry itself, rather than being by distracted by its quantitative uses, you can directly experience why geometry is widely considered the universal language.
He does not want anything to get in the way of drawing as a transformative transpersonal experience so Scott stripped Q down to its essentials. In other words, he made Q is as simple as possible, but not too simple.
"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." —Leonardo da Vinci
Q is for experiencing the sacredness of geometry. You use Q because you plan to explore your inner world through the universal language, rather than using it to draft floor plans representing something in the outer world, for example.
Q is really special in just how intuitive an app it is. Q is almost as easy to use as a compass and straightedge but it’s faster and literally a million times more precise than pencil and paper. However, like paper, Q is exclusively a two-dimensional affair.
Q has lines, arcs, circles, ellipses, polygons, text, images, blocks, layers, properties, dimensions, selection and modification tools. Q has no “command line” and its tools are generally more qualitative than quantitative, although numbers can be entered if desired.
You can import images and trace over them in Q. This is a direct way to analyze and understand geometry in architecture, ceramic tile patterns, stained glass, fine art paintings, crop circles, corporate logos and much more. By tracing geometry over (or adjacent to) images, you effectively see through the eyes of the designer. In my opinion, there is no better way to understand a design than to draw it yourself.
For Scott, drawing with Q is not only relaxing but it is always interesting and an exciting outlet for creativity. He hopes you will fall in love with Q the way he has!
"Mighty is geometry; joined with art, irresistible.” —Euripides
Why not use Q to make geometric art or even draw your own coloring book? Drawing is at least as fun as coloring! You can print out your drawings and color them for even more fun.
"Only gradually did I discover what the mandala really is: formation, transformation, eternal mind’s eternal recreation." —Carl Jung
The source code of Q is released under the
GNU GPLv3, a popular Open Source license. Q's source code is included along with convenient binary installers for Mac & Windows computers, which are available to all who enroll in this course.
That means you are free to extend Q if you are a serious programmer, but you don’t have to program anything or deal with source code to install and use Q.
Q is a greatly simplified subset of QCAD Community Edition, an open source computer-aided design system. Q's source code requires a C++ compiler and Qt, a cross-platform C++ open source framework. The LGPL Open Source license under which Qt ships with Q confers various rights to you as the user, including the right to recompile the Qt source code and libraries for your platform. To do that follow the documentation shown on the
Qt website.
Most of the time, people employ geometry in the service of making everyday things. For example, geometry is used in the form of plans to design everything from industrial products to cars to buildings.
"As to the usefulness of geometry, it is as certain that no curious art or mechanic work can either be invented, improved, or performed without its assisting principles." —Benjamin Franklin
Q is not CAD software for generating architectural, engineering or design plans. For these quantitative jobs, compare QCAD, AutoCAD, BricsCAD, ZWCAD, DraftSight, Vectorworks, and more. All of these CAD programs have far more tools and features than Q, which is not suited for quantitative geometry.
Q’s native file format is DXF (Drawing eXchange Format, 2000 version). This older industry-standard format is widely supported in numerous CAD, 3D and illustration programs so it is easy to exchange drawings made in Q with other programs.In addition to the vector DXF format, you can also export raster images and PDFs from Q to share your work. So if you do want to take your designs made in Q to the next level, it is certainly possible. For example, Scott designed his
Golden Ratio Calipers using DXF files to drive the laser-cutting machine which manufactures its precise components.
Q has a built-in Library Browser stocked with my royalty-free sacred geometry drawings in Q’s native DXF format. Many are classics that have been known for hundreds or perhaps even thousands of years. Some are more recent and a few are Scott's personal explorations in geometry and art.
The Library is meant to serve as inspiration. An effective way to learn is to copy the masters. Draw what they drew. Uncover the geometric basis of great art and design.
Let the geometry work on you in ineffable ways. Maybe you will discover something new using Q?
"The squaring of the circle is a stage on the way to the unconscious, a point of transition leading to a goal lying as yet unformulated beyond it." —Carl Jung
Studying and replicating the drawings in the library is an effective way to learn sacred geometry. Some of the drawings in the library are featured in Scott's
documentary films and
blog—additional sources of sacred geometry knowledge to discover.
The included course videos (5 hrs 22 min) teach you step-by-step how to use Q. No experience with drafting or CAD programs is required. Q is not about measurements and quantities, it's about the qualitative aspects of geometry. Anyone can do it!
There is no wrong way to draw and there is no test, so don't fear. This is not the geometry class from your school days, but something far more interesting!
