Here is another one similar to something on my todo list. "curved line cubism". This one has a vague cubist feel. There are lines that run through the image. There are similar colors on each side, but no continuity across the them. The lines are curved, suggesting a flow, but not the usual straight lines, squares, circles you would expect in a cubist painting.

I have a long list of art ideas. Well, it is more like a large collections of scattered notes. The notes take many forms, a sketch or line drawing, written descriptions, mathematical formulas, algorithm flowchart, images classified as "needs more work", photos or other art from the internet that I find interesting. If I were more organized, several of the ideas that could be grouped under "simulated paint flow", and this image is one, "non gravity simulated paint flow".

OK, there is some gravity here, the flow appears to be from the upper left. But for the most part there is no uniform flow direction.

So, at some future date, I planned to start with a much less detailed mental picture of something like this image, and work on creating an algorithm. I have some ideas where to start, but the confetti algorithm is certainly not one of them. Chopping and shuffling is the opposite of the goal, in this case I want smooth mixing.

When I completed this one Confetti #24, the detail in the diagonal boundary separating the top left corner is very close to the flow idea. So a little exploratory side trip seemed justified. The low iteration fractal stretches and distorts the confetti squares, turning them into little rivulets. It is a delicate balance. Too few iterations and they are still rectangles, and in some cases parabolic sections. Too many iterations and they turn into fractals.

I am going to revisit this in the future, and it will have a different and cooler name. "Non gravity simulated paint flow" is just for my internal notes. Although, maybe if I say it often enough…

Here I mix in a low iteration fractal.

What does that mean? A fractal image requires a large number of iterations to get the stars, spirals, tendrils and fireworks to appear. When a fractal is not iterated enough, you may see a vague start of those features, but also flat areas that just scream "this is incomplete". So no one would post a low iteration fractal as a finished product, and if they did, they would not call it a fractal. However, these low iteration fractals do work well with the confetti algorithm. The incomplete fractal is more complex that a simple geometric rendering of circles, lines, and waves. They provide a rich new collection or possible starting points for the confetti algorithm.

I am running out of words. I try to say something interesting, rather than just stating the obvious.

I am trying out different palettes, and mostly working on the overall shapes. More large waves and swirls. Most of the confetti / chopping is low volume, small displacement, with small areas of high mixing.

Organic Colors #3

Could almost be a village and foothills.

Organic Colors #2

Sometime the quiet colors just work. This one starts with an overall impression of gentle waves or hills. Then as you look closer you see the chopped color blocks. But now they are slightly different hues and shades. The individual pieces of confetti does not stand out as it does with a palette of bright primary colors.

Organic Colors #1

Ok, another subtitle, even after I said I would not do that.

At an art gallery, the paintings, especially the old masters are almost always muted unsaturated colors and limited palettes. There may be a boring explanation for this, the colors faded over time, or that was the only paint available to the artist. I like that it was the artist's choice, and that it shows remarkable confidence and restraint.

I like palettes with high contrast black and white, and with saturated primary colors. Art school would say that I overdo it. However, compared to most modern art on the internet, I think show much constraint. Sometimes I like to get a little outside my comfort zone, and work with muted palettes. If nothing else, just for variety, but also as exercise to avoid letting the bright colors become a crutch.

White Desert #4

White Desert #3

Why the two titles? I want to keep the classification by the main algorithm, what I have been calling Confetti. The current subset are clearly related, a high degree of mixing and mess, partially bleached away with a mostly white palette. But if I start grouping by core algorithm plus palette plus some kind of entropy measure, well that gets too much to keep track of. I may tackle that later, but today I am too lazy.

White Desert #2

This one suggests an aerial image of an alien planet.

White Desert #1

The Confetti algorithm and its variations are designed to transform an otherwise clean and simple image into something messy and chaotic. I mentioned in Confetti #10 that as I was trying different variations the results were too messy. Imagine the lower left here being the entire image. I switched to an almost all white palette, leaving just enough "dirt" to keep it interesting. It provides a nice contrast to the denser mess on the left.

One more in the minimalist geometric abstraction detour.

I have been comparing pixel-first and object-first algorithmic art, as well as making comparisons to fractals. As with fractals, a pixel coordinate is converted into a complex number then through a series of calculations on that number, a color is determined. Because of that, like fractals, you could say that this image is infinite, is extends forever is every direction, and this is a view of one rectangle. You can pan and zoom to find other interesting area. I said "you could say that", I consider the bounding rectangle to be an essential part of the image / algorithm. But that is just semantics.

When I say "fractal like" in this case I mean specifically escape-time fractals, the 'normal' kind, not the ifs fractals or flame fractals I mentioned yesterday.

Not much to say today, obviously, bigger and fewer objects.

I already had program code for pixel first algorithmic art for the fractal art. So it was and easy choice for the first step into algorithmic art. Not all fractal art is created with a pixel-first design. Ifs fractals and flame fractals are types of fractals that are created object-first.

I am still using the messy algorithm I described yesterday, Confetti #10. I greatly reduced the number of squares, but kept them small, and removed the requirement that they fill the canvas, while painting the untouched areas white. The big step is the last one, less is more.

This is a side trip. I have plans to explore minimalist geometric abstraction in the future. I did not expect to approach it from this direction. It was a nice surprise to find it here.

I defined two types of algorithmic in Confetti #9. So far I have been using a pixel-first algorithm. It will be easier to work on geometric abstractions with an object-first design.