Week 1: Self-Portrait

Portrait Concept

For my self-portrait, I decided to create a cartoon-esque representation of myself, with a background that evokes the feeling of entering another world in the viewer. The expanding circles in the background represent a portal, implying that the portrait is a view into another world. Aiming to give a sense of exploration, I wanted to add layers of interaction where the eyes follow the viewer’s cursor. The wandering of the eyes with the viewer are there to represent the curiosity of the character as they enter another world exploring their surroundings along with the viewer’s cursor. Combining the concept of dimensional portals, exaggerated cartoon features, and interactivity expresses my interest in making a portrait that feels alive and dynamic. The work aims to combine a static drawing with an experience where viewer becomes part of the artwork with their movement.

Code that I am Proud of  

//necklace
  fill('white');
  let necklace = [
    [210, 415], [220, 425], [230, 434], [245, 437],
    [260, 437], [275, 437], [289, 428], [294, 415]
  ];
  for (let bead of necklace) circle(bead[0], bead[1], 10);

  fill(125, mouseX, mouseY);
  let innerBeads = [
    [215, 420], [225, 430], [237, 437], [253, 437],
    [267, 437], [283, 434], [292, 423]
  ];
  for (let bead of innerBeads) circle(bead[0], bead[1], 10);

One of my priorities while coding is to keep my code clear and concise, as it ensures that later if there are any edits to be made I can easily identify the exact area that I need to modify and edit it with ease. While creating the circles for the necklace at the start I was creating one by one using the circle() function, which was taking a lot of time and was starting to look pretty repetitive, especially with all of them sharing the same size. At the start I decided to create a size variable to avoid having to change the size in every line if I wanted to change it. But then I realized that I was still repeating the circle() function, so I decided to create an array of the coordinates of each bead and creating a loop to place a circle in each of them. The resulting code was what I am particularly proud of off due to its efficiency and clarity.

Self-Portrait

 

Reflection

As my focus for this assignment was to get comfortable with the use of code for the purpose of drawing, I spent majority of my time experimenting with functions and made different stylistic choices without focusing too much on the concept and the story behind the work. For future assignments and projects I’d like to look into how to use the code to deliver a message or a story, which in turn would lead to me adding more interactivity and complexity to the piece as there would be a more clear path I am following while working. In particularly, I’d like to focus on adding an element of animation to a piece to give it life and create a more engaging feel to it.