Clik here to view.
Integrating Drawings and Generative Artwork: Masking
I am becoming increasingly interested in combining hand-drawn artwork with generative art techniques. There are many ways to do this, but I want to focus on a simple one today: masking. The basic...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Randomized Approach to Circle Packing
A few months ago, I got really into circle packing. The goal of circle packing is basically to cram a bunch of circles into a space as tightly as possible. This is actually a well-explored area of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Isohedral V Breakdown
This is a breakdown of Isohedral V, one of my recent works. The Isohedral series is inspired by the set of isohedral tilings. In short, these are tiling patterns that only use a single shape to form a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Working with Color in Generative Art
Color is something that many generative artists struggle with. It can be frustratingly difficult to get right, and there are no simple rules that work 100% of the time. I highly recommend that you...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Utilizing Random Number Generator Seeds
Most generative artwork heavily utilizes randomness, making the output of each run unique. That's usually a good thing, but sometimes it's useful to be able to regenerate exactly the same image. For...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Guide to Simulating Watercolor Paint with Generative Art
I've gotten many requests to explain the technique behind my "watercolor" generative artwork. My approach is similar to the techniques I described in Generating Soft Textures. The algorithm is not...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Aesthetically Pleasing Triangle Subdivision
Triangles are a natural shape to experiment with in generative artwork. Mesh grids of triangles are especially common. One common approach is to use something like Delaunay triangulation to create a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tips to Improve your Generative Artwork
If you're getting started with generative artwork, I'd like to offer you some advice to help improve your work. I've listed some of the major stumbling blocks I see beginning generative artists make,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Intellectualism Has Hampered Generative Art
“We can hardly imagine giving up the intellect. To be an intelligent person has been the thing from the beginning. But the intellectual way and the inspired way are two different ways. If you are an...
View ArticleClik here to view.
9 Tips to Execute Generative Art with a Plotter
Updated May 30, 2020In this essay, I’m going to give you my top tips to executing generative art with a plotter. As a long-time generative artist, most of these findings are a result of my own...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The New Site
Hey friends, welcome to the new version of my site! I’m so pumped to finally have this all in order. This has been a long time coming, and there are a few new things about the site I'd like to point...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Reflections on Five Years of Making Art Through Programming
I recently passed the five year anniversary of when I started making generative art. This was also approximately when I decided to get “serious” about making art. It’s hard to take an exact count, but...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Code Goes In, Art Comes Out
This talk was given at Clojure/conj 2018, and focuses on some of the interesting questions around practicing generative art. [A transcript, lightly edited for readability, follows]Welcome y'all. Thank...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Flow Fields
Flow fields are incredibly powerful and flexible tools for producing interesting curves. They are one of the main tools I've used in my own generative art over the last few years, and I find myself...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to Hack a Painting
This talk was given at Strange Loop 2017, and describes a watercolor-inspired generative art algorithm that I created. [A transcript, lightly edited for readability, follows]Thank you very much for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why Social Media Is an Emotional Challenge for Artists
Social media presents emotional and mental challenges for contemporary artists. It is undeniably an important avenue for sharing your artwork and artistic process, almost essential if you are not...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Color Arrangement in Generative Art
Many aspiring generative artists find color to be one of the most difficult aspects of their work. On top of the standard color-related challenges you’ll find in any medium, in generative art you...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Importance of Generative Art
Generative art may feel like a technical excursion with little relevance to our daily lives. What can a computer program have to say about the human experience? Sixty years ago, in the infancy of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Rise of Long-Form Generative Art
There's a new art form on the rise. Generative art has existed since the 1960s, but the new on-chain generative art platforms are pushing the medium in an exciting new direction. While many of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
On Sketching (and the Life-Cycle of Artistic Ideas)
I find that many gardening metaphors apply to artistic creation. For example, harvest season is not a year-round event. First you prepare the soil, then plant the seeds, and then care for the plants...
View Article