Self-Portrait
I tend to avoid literal representations of myself when creating work. But there is always fragments of myself within each of my pieces.
After working with basic and stagnant shapes, I was interested in the use of movement. The first idea I had was creating a fluid moving blob, which seems to be a reoccurring theme in my practice. I was able to find a great representation of what I had in mind: (Perlin Noise Loops: Blob Loop). I had a difficult time understanding how the code worked but was able to use the idea of constant motion using a single shape to work on my portrait.
image: side by side comparison of Perlin Noise Loops: Blob Loop and the start of my code for the portrait based off the Coding Train Episode 2.4: random() Function lesson
After watching the Coding Train Episode 2.4: random() Function lesson I learned how to use the random function to create dynamic movement with shapes. The image of a scribble came to mind and worked on applying what i’ve learned to a bezier.
image: first rendition of the code used for self portrait based off the Coding Train Episode 2.4: random() Function lesson
Once I got the purple stroke to move in a scribble motion, I moved on to create a white, smaller and tighter, scribble in the portrait. When I attempted to mimic what I did for the first purple one but smaller dimensions the way it looked was not how I pictured.
I then thought using a shape might add an extra layer, it didn’t. It add more chaos and what I was aiming for was a more fluid like motion. I realized that one of the reasons I could get the line or shape the way I intended is because the background is set to draw and this is what allows the purple stroke to be animated.
image: code for failed attempt to visualize my idea of a white, smaller and tighter, scribble
video: a black background with a white hand drawn scribble in the center / created with after effects
A question I have yet to answer is “how could I add a scribble like the animation above into my portrait with code?”
As of now the self-portrait I landed on is the simplicity yet chaotic movement of the single purple stroke.
