This is the second lab for computational art (CS1) using Processing where students write a program that creates a scene that explores composition to convey story or mood. The goals for this lab are:
- Use a variable to control scale and position of a sketch component
- Alter and explore the role of scale in a sketch’s composition
- Practice using transforms (translate and scale) in a sketch to control scale of a portion of your design
- Apply your knowledge of the 2D coordinate system in order to appropriately scale and translate a portion of your design
- Study the composition and coloring used by the artist, Blexbolex
- Copying composition and color to practice design
As with prior lab assignments, I recommend having students set up a Pinterest account to share their creations. This provides students an opportunity to pin reference art (which I tie into the research phase of the engineering design process) and to pin final results and share their work more broadly with friends and family.
See the course syllabus and website (links below) for more information.
This lab is both interdiscplinary and meaningful and relevant to students, because they see how programming can be used to create expressive art. This lab is graded by an in person demonstration of their final art piece to the instructor or TA. Within the confines of the assignment, students are allowed to chose their own source art (from Blexbolex).