Generative Art January
On the seldom chance that I come across it and have free time, I’ve been inspired by generative art that uses functions, code, and principles of data visualization to create beautiful things. I also find it a great way to practice fundamentals of coding.
Here are my very few contributions to “Genuary”, and code to replicate them.
Prompt: Increase the randomness across the Y-axis (pictured above)
Here, I used groups of four points, each arranged around central coordinates across a y-axis, and added a nudge in a random direction to each of the four points, with the nudge increasing with the central y-coordinate. I then used BSplines around each group of four to create “circles” around the invisible anchor points, creating the effect pictured above. Then I slapped on a color gradient, just for fun.
See the code!
#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
library(tidyverse)
library(ggforce)
n <- 20 # set number of circles
cols <- 14 # set number of columns
plot <-
# make base grid
data.frame(group=1:(n*cols),
basex=rep(c(1:cols),each=n)*4,
basey= (1:n)) %>%
# generate randomness
mutate(
x = lapply(basey/2, function(x)
{y = rnorm(4, basey, basey)
x*c(-1, 1, 1, -1) + y}),
y = lapply(basey/2, function(x)
{y = rnorm(4, basey, basey)
x*c(1, 1, -1, -1) + y})
) %>%
unnest(cols = c(x,y)) %>%
# add randomness to base grid and expand
mutate(newy = y + basey*10.5,
newx = x + basex*3.8) %>%
# plot
ggplot(aes(x=newx,y=newy,color=(newy),group=group,fill=(newy))) +
geom_bspline_closed(show.legend = F,alpha=.7,size=.8,fill=NA) +
coord_equal(expand = T)+
theme_void()+
# flip plot
scale_y_reverse()+
scale_color_gradient(high="#40556b",low="#67b5af")+
theme(panel.background = element_rect(color="grey20",fill="snow",size=.5),
plot.background = element_rect(color="black",size=.3),
plot.margin = margin(.55,.55,.55,.55,"cm"))
ggsave(plot, filename = here::here("R Projects","genuary19_3.55.png"),dpi=300)
#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prompt: Do anything with these 5 colors
Woah - no limits! Here, I developed two styles of randomly generated designs that change with each run (as new random numbers are selected).
First, a modern-art-inspired piece using some geom_ribbons with random slopes behind two groups of randomly generated data points fitted with geom_bspline_closed functions creating curved objects, with fill colors randomly selected for each object out of the five.
See the code!
#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
library(tidyverse)
library(ggforce)
# set some parameters
pal <- c("#264653", "#2a9d8f", "#e9c46a", "#f4a261", "#e76f51")
nrow <- 10
ncol <- 7
npoints <- 13
# create and print plot
{set.seed(1)
p <- ggplot()+
# add a triangle
geom_ribbon(aes(y=c(0:(ncol+1)),
ymin=sample(10,1),
ymax=(runif(1,0,3)*c(0:(ncol+1))),
x=c(0:(ncol+1))),
fill=pal[sample(1:5,1)])+
# and another
geom_ribbon(aes(y=c(0:(ncol+1)),
ymin=-5,
ymax=(runif(1,-2,-1)*c(0:(ncol+1))+nrow),
x=c(0:(ncol+1))),
fill=pal[sample(1:5,1)]) +
# add curved shapes
geom_bspline_closed(aes(x = sample((0-2):(ncol+2), npoints, replace = T),
y = sample( (0-2):(nrow+2), npoints, replace = T)),
fill=pal[sample(1:5,1)],
color=pal[sample(1:5,1)],
n=1000) +
geom_bspline_closed(aes(x = sample(1:(ncol-1), npoints, replace = T),
y = sample( nrow, npoints, replace = T)),
fill=pal[sample(1:5,1)],
color=pal[sample(1:5,1)],
n=1000) +
# add a frame
geom_rect(aes(xmin=0.5,
xmax=ncol+.5,
ymin=0.5,
ymax=nrow+.5),
color="grey20",
fill=NA,
size=1)+
scale_fill_manual(values=pal) +
scale_color_manual(values=pal) +
theme_void() +
theme(panel.background = element_rect(color="grey20", fill=pal[sample(1:5,1)],
#fill="white",
size=1
),
legend.position = "none",
plot.background = element_rect(color="black",size=.3,fill=pal[sample(1:5,1)]),
plot.margin = margin(.55,.55,.55,.55,"cm"))+
coord_equal(xlim = c(0.5,ncol+.5),
ylim = c(0.5,nrow+.5),
expand = F)
print(p)
# remove the pound signs below to save the plot
#ggsave(filename = here::here("p.png"),
# width = 4.6,
# height = 6.1,
# dpi=300)
}
#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Second, a geometric collection of geoms using coordinates randomly sampled from a 7x10 coordinate plane.
See the code!
#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
library(tidyverse)
# create some parameters
nrow <- 10
ncol <- 7
pal <- c("#264653", "#2a9d8f", "#e9c46a", "#f4a261", "#e76f51")
nsquares <- 25
ncircles <- 12
ncircles2 <- 15
radius=.5
# make plot
#----------------------------------------------------
{set.seed(7) # change seed number for different random data
plot <- ggplot() +
# add random squares
geom_rect(aes(xmin=sample(ncol, nsquares, replace = T),
xmax = sample(ncol, nsquares, replace = T),
ymin=sample( nrow, nsquares, replace = T),
ymax=sample( nrow, nsquares, replace = T),
fill=sample(pal, nsquares, replace=T))) +
# add random circles
geom_circle(aes(x0=sample(ncol, ncircles, replace = T),
y0=sample(nrow, ncircles, replace = T),
r = radius,
fill= sample(pal, ncircles, replace=T),
color=sample(pal, ncircles, replace=T)),
size=2) +
# add smaller random circles
geom_circle(data = data.frame(x = sample(ncol, ncircles2, replace = T),
y = sample( nrow, ncircles2, replace = T),
color = sample(pal, ncircles2, replace=T)),
aes(x0=x,y0=y,r=(radius-.2),color=color),fill="transparent",size=3) +
coord_equal(xlim = c(0.5,ncol+.5),
ylim = c(0.5,nrow+.5))+
scale_fill_manual(values=pal) +
scale_color_manual(values=pal) +
theme_void() +
theme(panel.background = element_rect(color="grey20", fill=pal[sample(1:5,1)]),
legend.position = "none",
plot.background = element_rect(color="black",size=.3,fill=pal[sample(1:5,1)]),
plot.margin = margin(.55,.55,.55,.55,"cm"))
print(plot)
#ggsave(filename =here::here("plot.png"),
# width = 4.6,
# height = 6.1,
# dpi=300)
}
#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------