Step 1: sketch my geometric portrait ( Shapes - form )
Step 2 : Add colours
Step 3: Start coding
First attempt :
https://editor.p5js.org/anikaki/sketches/mWhLvfkJn
Comments on the making process : I was astonished by how many times I would cmd + click on the preview panel to select, drag and move a shape. I am not used to create art using code.That is sure! I also took many hours to experiment and find the colours that I felt were expressing my self portrait.
I realised that synthesizing using code takes a lot of time, and if you don’t have a clear picture in your mind of where you want to get/ what you want to design, then you can get overwhelmed with the possibilities… It is still very creative as a process though since you can experiment with different shapes and their position. If you make a mistake in the coordinates then the outcome may surprise you ! This is what happened when I was trying to recreate the angles of my face./ my facial characteristics…
Things I don't like about my piece : It is off centered!! I fill like the whole synthesis needed to be a few pixels down on the y axis. But I can fix it if I change the canvas size. (I keep thinking that It would be way easier to do in Adobe Illustrator … )
Things I do like about my self portrait : although it is clearly not a representation of my how I look, I believe it captures my playfulness, abstraction and my structured personality .
Comparison + final thoughts : Did you notice how my hair “flies” in both pictures??
Before I can answer this question I had to ask my self, if computation really applies to my interests in the first place. It is a question/ subject that I've never quite asked my self since I always believed that I am a creative, a designer and not a programmer! But my intense Architectural Engineering studies messed up with my head, with how I structure my time, how I approach a project and how I see the world. In order to keep up I had to become very organised, prepared, and addicted to perfection. After more than 10000 hours spend in CAD, I can now appreciate the joy of mathematical perception, the possibilities that it offers and the perfection and solutions that it leads to. In addition, I am amazed by how well computation works when combined with an everyday purpose or with creative thinking. In the end I truly believe that computation does indeed align with my current state of mind and future work.