Recitation5: Processing Basics——Leah Bian

In this week’s recitation, we drew an image in Processing based on an already existing image as a motif. The image that I chose, designed by Josef Albers, is titled as “Concealing”. It can be divided into several quadrangle and triangles, which can be easily achieved in Processing. I love the contrasting colors and the exotic retro tones in this image. It is abstract, bringing people visual impact. While at the same time, the picture looks neat with the parallel lines and the intersection points. With a closer look, we can discover its implicit algorithm.

0
“Concealing”, Josef Albers

I separated the motif into several color lumps and started programming from the outside in. To achieve the visual effect of scraping the oil painting with a scraper, I used the stroke function and set the color of the border as white. Everything went well at the beginning, what I needed to do is just to make some adjustments of the colors. However, as more and more shapes were added, the coordinates of the points became confusing for me. Therefore, I decided to write down the coordinates of the points on the draft, and ensured that the extension lines of the shapes were parallel to each other based on a simple estimation. In addition, to let the shapes blend into their surroundings in color, I increased the transparency rate of some shapes, making the whole picture looks more harmonious.  After I finished the first version of my “painting”, I found that the green part at the bottom of the picture occupied too much space, making the picture looked unbalanced. So I added a yellow right triangle based on my own creative ideas, without breaking the pattern in the original picture.

This is my final sketch:

0
final sketch

My creation is similar to the motif in the overall pattern and the colors. However, since the sizes of the shapes are different from the original image, I made some modifications to enhance the sense of balance in my creation. Drawing in Processing is quite interesting, providing me with a new way to realize the creative ideas. It is precise, neat, and has great potential. I am looking forward to learning more about it.

The codes are attached below:

0
code

Reference:

“Concealing” (motif): https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/147

Leave a Reply