Algorithmic art.

Algorithmic Art and Kittens.

I want to try to explain once and for all what it is I'm doing with my Procedural Painting series. There is alot in the actual process of planning and creating the work and I have tried to write the rules of my algorithm down. The only part of the algorithm I have previously written down have been the tables I use. The tables are at the bottom of the 'Pseudo code'.

Procedural Paintings the 'pseudo code.'

Before we start on this please remember all of the random variables are calculated by rolling dice.

This is an example of the 'code' I have used for my paintings in version 2.0. Each version has a different set of coding rules. I have stripped back some of the complexity of the 'code ' because the first draft was horrible to look at and just unreadable.

The first thing is to decide how many paintings will be in the series version. For that I roll 1d6 ( I roll 1, 6 sided dice) and consult table 1. Then I roll the dice that has been chosen. That will decide the number of painting s in the series.

For V2.0 I decided to use coloured grounds on each of the canvases. So for each canvas I rolled 1d8 and went to table 2.

Each painting consists of Layers, Stages and Steps. The Steps have 3 sections to them:

1. Direction -which can be either 4 points of movement or 8 (see table3)

2. length – which is calculated using table 1 and rolling the specified dice for the value.

3. Thickness of brush stroke – see table 4 details of each brush stroke, its length, direction and thickness.

The stages are either linked together or separated based on an odds evens roll. Each new start point for a stage is a random point on the border of the painting. At each new start point of a stage the opacity and tonal values of the paint is randomised.

When all the stages in a layer have been completed a 'Fill' layer is introduced. The fill layer is made from a random number of rectangles, the properties of each rectangle are randomised. 

The next layer and its stages and steps are painted over this, and so on until the last step has been followed.

Over the course of a painting mistakes will happen, I might misread a line and paint a step right 5cms instead of left. If this happens I follow the steps to the end of the stage for both the mistake and the correct series directions. The mistake is dry-brushed to highlight it as different.

I hope that is manages to clear up some of the process. If you need more clarification then please ask away.

D6	1	2	3	4	5	6
Table 1	d4	d6	d8	d10	d12	d20

d8	Table 2
1	Red
2	Orange
3	Yellow
4	Green
5	Blue
6	Purple
7	White
8	Black

Table 3
1d4	Odds	1d8	evens
1	Up	1	Up
		2	Up Right
2	Right	3	Right
		4	Down Right
3	Down	5	Down
		6	Down Left
4	Left	7	Left
		8	Up Left

Table 4
D6	Brush size
1-2	1
3-4	6
5-6	12

I lied about the kittens. No kittens here.

…Scapes

My ‘…Scapes’ project had two main aims. My first aim was to produce work. Quite embarrassingly, as simple as that. I set out in 2012 to get back into creating artworks I felt both passionate and proud of. My main problem was I didn’t know where to start, in fact I had too many starting points. I needed something to ground myself and focus my tangential thoughts. I realised that I didn’t feel comfortable painting landscapes, I found the vastness of the natural world intimidating, so what better place to start than with a subject matter I would normally avoid.

The idea I hit upon for ‘…Scapes’ was to paint each work using a different hue and to keep the works monochromatic. I also chose to work in glazes as I had never used them before. I really enjoyed working on the landscapes. A lot more than I thought I would. I look back on the series and can see how far I have come and how they have helped me focus my concerns.

I will revisit the landscape again, but in a different way. I want to get to know Sheffield the city first how it has formed its secret places and histories. The use of landscape once again reminded me of the importance of growth and change in my art.

Day one.

Well hello world. I guess the first lot of visitors I get here will already know me, but feel free to grab a refresher. So the big question is ‘Who are you?’ I’ll try not to bore you with details. If you want specifics they can be found in the bio tab currently found to the right of this one.

The answer is that it’s not about me, it’s about my work, my art. What is my art about then? Well its still forming but I have such sights to show you. I hope we can travel a while together on this twisting track, who knows where we will end up. We will play with layers of meaning and translation, make, break and willfully misuse coding languages, pull the digital into the plastic and back again, explore and reimagine the works of artists I love. I’m dizzy with excitement and can barely keep track of my ideas. I want to tell you everything but I can’t write that well…but I can show you.