I feel like all the little blue lines are like springs, gushing water out of the earth, but who knows. It is a bit of a long shot. I did have fun with the colours though, and playing around with other uses for the bubble-cylinder-hyperbolic combo.
How long? I'd say I worked with it for half an hour, then had to wait about 25 mins for it to render. The fun thing about fractals is that if you are careful, extreme detail isn't that difficult to do.
Thats just how the program is. My fastest renders are about 8 mins and my slowest are an hour and 15 mins. Most people seem surprised as to how fast I get it done. Many people have to render for 2-5 hours (Depending on size quality, ect)
It is somewhat complex. If you just go in and press buttons or change parameters you will get messy clouds and lines (some might look nice though). I made a few tutorials on how to use it a few weeks back. I takes time to get used to, but not too hard to learn.