pyconar-talk VS weird

Start by copying some existing example code and running it locally, then edit it and see what changes. Comment pieces out, look at the results. Change magic numbers to understand the effect. It probably has some calls to a random number generator in it; add more calls to the random number generator.

There are lots of examples bundled with Proce55ing, on Shadertoy, on bl.ocks.org, on ObservableHQ, on Jared Tarbell's website, in the Coding Train vlog, etc. My own repo of examples using Python and PyGame is at https://github.com/kragen/pyconar-talk, but I've also done examples like http://canonical.org/~kragen/sw/dev3/tweetfract.html with (you have to click on the invisible to see it) and http://canonical.org/~kragen/sw/dev3/plotiir.html. Start with small things.

There's probably some kind of awesome example repo out there for deepdream ANN stuff but I don't know what to recommend.

But that's just where to start. Once you're doing stuff you'll want to understand what you're doing and learn about more techniques (algorithmic, software design, and interfaces to libraries and devices) so you can expand your range. There's lots of resources out there (Tarbell in particular has given an hour lecture you can find on YouTube about what techniques he finds useful) but I can suggest:

∙ Many instances of the same thing that differ by incrementing a variable. For example, you can create 64 particles that move from point A to point B at successive points in time 30 milliseconds apart, or at the same point in time at 64 different velocities, or 64 Bezier curves from point A to point B that start at 64 angles evenly spaced around a circle.

∙ Adding randomness to things. Adding randomness to pixel colors gives you "graininess"; adding randomness to object positions gives you spatial dispersion or, if the randomness varies over time, jittering; adding randomness to the angles of different objects gives you visual variety.

(to be continued)

I like the drawingbots discord server, and this blog: https://inconvergent.net/#about, also follow #plottertwitter

processing.org/ or p5.js are both excellent tools with lots of documented examples to help get going.

I'd also recommend the pen plotter community, which is heavily involved in generative art but also enjoys physically plotting the art with robotic tools. See https://inconvergent.net/ for examples, there are many others.

Weird: Generative Art in Common Lisp\ (5 comments)