Author: Amna AlHosani

The first time watching Casey Reas speech, I had so many thoughts. But one main point I kept thinking about is how the author focuses on artists using randomness to create art that represents history, biology, or society, but none of these works seem to connect with deeper human emotions. So then I kept thinking about this, and I asked myself. Does randomness restrict personal expression?. For example, the artist said, “We used a little bit of randomness and a lot of sort of decision-making based on how we wanted things to feel.” From my point of view, this quote shows how randomness keeps art from being predictable, leading to unexpected results that might move the piece away from personal emotional expression. So, this makes me question whether relying too much on randomness prevents personal expression since the process seems more about handling the chaos of the system than about conveying intentional emotions. The reason I focused on this part of the video is because I always thought of art as a form of personal expression that reflects the artist’s emotions, thoughts, and experiences. So, when too much randomness is involved, it feels like the artist loses control over that emotional connection, letting the system or algorithm take over, which could overshadow the personal meaning and emotional depth behind the work.

However, watching the clip for the second time, I decided to think with an open mind. For example, does the unpredictability in art lead to more innovative pieces that lead to deeper stories?. Casey Reas mentioned a few artists who used randomness to create works with meaningful messages. For example, he talks about a project visualizing cancer cell communication. “Everything is structured and ordered, and randomness is used slightly to determine the position and the scale of these individual clusters.” In the example, randomness plays a role in producing a lifelike representation. The artist used randomness to decide where the protein clusters would go and how big they would be, which reflects the natural unpredictability of real biological processes. As a viewer of this artwork, I felt as though it captured the chaotic nature of cellular interactions. So, in this case, I think that the randomness added depth in the art piece, which in a way made me feel connected with the processes of life in a way that a pure structured system or algorithm might not be able to. Overall, while at first randomness may seem to get in the way of personal expression, it nevertheless lets artists make works that reveal deeper truths about nature, society, and the human experience in ways that pure intention or structured systems might not be able to just by using unpredictability in some part of the art.

REFRENCES:

Reas, C. (2012). Form+Code in Design, Art, and Architecture.

Retrieved from the weekly PowerPoints: https://vimeo.com/45851523

CONCEPT:

Creating this self portrait was a tough journey. My concept was to create a cartoonish version of myself whilst including specific features like my curly hair, and other basic features (eye lashes, rosy cheeks, lashes, lips, eyebrows etc) that would make the portrait come together. Anyways I wanted to also keep it simple since by focusing on implementing the basic shapes so I could get familiar with it, since I’m still new to this. Moving on, for the background I wanted to stick to a specific color that would match the aesthetic of my portrait which is bluish-purple. However, as you could tell I couldn’t decide on just one color, so I went with a rainbow background that changes as you move the mouse around the screen which I’ll explain more about below.

HIGHLIGHT:

i have two highlights in my  code. The first one is the background. The background was a bit of an accident. I wanted to do strips of different shades of blue but i kept being indecisive about the color and changing it. So then I went to look for inspirations in peoples blog and that’s when i stumbled on Noura alhosanis idea. However i changed it up by using different shapes, colors and sizes so it could go with my theme. Also, I looked into the class resources and came across a YouTube video, that helped me understand variables and the use of it. Here’s a snippet of the code:

let x, y, r, g, b;

function setup() {
  createCanvas(400, 400);
}

function draw() {
    print(mouseX + "," + mouseY)
  
  //background
  background(mouseX,mouseY,100, 7)
  r = random (0,255)
  g = 0
  b = random(0,400)
  x = random(0,700)
  y = random(0,400)
  noStroke();
  fill(r,g,b,100)
  square(x,y,50)

The second thing I’m proud of is my hair. The reason for this is because it was so time consuming to perfect the curly hair look which includes the placing for it, the layers of circles to create volume, and different type of shades to add depth into it. I’m proud of how it turned out because it brought my portrait together.

REFLECTION:

However, as much as I’m proud of the hair, it was still a real challenge. First It was tricky figuring out the placements, but as I kept messing up , I figured out the print mouseX and mouseY function which helped. But with that function it was still really time consuming. So, for next time i would like to find an easier method that won’t make me want to pull my hair out. Now, does this portrait look exactly like me? Well…not quite. It’s my first attempt, so I focused more on capturing basic features by using the basic shapes we used in class. But that’s something I want to work on next time which is making the portrait more realistic. Overall, I had fun with this project, and I’m already thinking about how I can improve.

Here is the overall code:

let x, y, r, g, b;

function setup() {
  createCanvas(400, 400);
}

function draw() {
    print(mouseX + "," + mouseY)
//background
  background(mouseX,mouseY,100, 7)
  r = random (0,255)
  g = 0
  b = random(0,400)
  x = random(0,700)
  y = random(0,400)
  noStroke();
  fill(r,g,b,100)
  square(x,y,50)
  
  
  //FACE SHAPE
  strokeWeight(0)
  fill(255,204,153)
  ellipse(200,200,105,150)
  
  //LEFT EYE 
  strokeWeight(1)
  fill(255)
  ellipse(180,180,14,10)
  
  //LEFT EYES LID
  strokeWeight(1)
  fill('#B98B7B')
  arc(180,180,15,25,PI,0)
  
  //LEFT PUPIL
  strokeWeight(1)
  fill('rgb(98,26,26)')
  circle(180,180,8)
  
  //RIGHT EYE
  strokeWeight(1)
  fill(255)
  ellipse(220,180,14,10)
  
  //RIGHT EYES LID
  strokeWeight(1)
  fill('#B98B7B')
  arc(220,180,15,25,PI,0)
  
    //LEFT PUPIL
  strokeWeight(1)
  fill('rgb(98,26,26)')
  circle(220,180,8)
  
  //left eye brows
  stroke('rgb(48,5,5)')
  strokeWeight(4)
  line(173,160,188,160)
  
  
  // Right Eyebrow
  stroke('rgb(48,5,5)')
  strokeWeight(4)
  line(210,160,225,160)
  
  //left eye lashes
  strokeWeight(1)
  stroke('black')
  line(174,178,174,172)
  line(176,177,176,172)
  line(181,176,181,172)
  line(186,178,186,172)
  line(179,177,179,172)
  line(184,177,184,172)
  
  //right eye lashes
  strokeWeight(1)
  stroke('black')
  line(213,178,213,172)
  line(216,177,216,172)
  line(221,176,221,172)
  line(218,176,218,172)
  line(224,176,224,172)
  line(226,176,226,172)
  
  
  //down lip 
  strokeWeight(1)
  fill("rgb(213,67,67)")
  arc(200, 240, 30, 15, 0, PI);
  
  //upper lip
  fill("rgb(195,42,42)")
  arc(200, 240, 30, 15, PI, 0)
  
  //LIP LINE
  arc(200, 240, 27, 1, 0 ,PI)
  
 //NOSE
  noFill()
    arc(200,210,13,10,0,PI)
  line(200,188,194,210)
  
  //body
  fill('rgb(39,39,133)')
  rect(150, 295, 100, 200,40)
  
  //left arm
  noStroke()
  fill(255,204,153)
 rect(140, 320, 20, 120, 40)
  
  //right arm
  noStroke()
  fill(255,204,153)
  rect(240, 320, 20, 120, 40)
  
  //left sleeves
  noStroke()
  fill('rgb(39,39,133)')
 rect(140, 320, 20, 50, 5)
  
  //right sleeves
  noStroke()
  fill('rgb(39,39,133)')
 rect(240, 320, 20, 50, 5)
  
  //neck coller
  noFill()
  strokeWeight(10)
  stroke('rgb(31,31,91)')
  arc(200, 295, 20, 30, 0 ,PI)
  
  //left sleeve coller
  noFill()
  strokeWeight(7)
  stroke('rgb(31,31,91)')
  line(140,370,160,370)
  
  //right sleeve coller
  noFill()
  strokeWeight(7)
  stroke('rgb(31,31,91)')
  line(240,370,258,370)
  
   //neck
  noStroke()
  fill(255,204,153)
  rect(190, 260, 20, 40,10)
  
  //V neck
  strokeWeight(7)
  arc(200, 270, 27, 78, 0 ,PI)
  
  //chin
  noFill()
  strokeWeight(1)
  stroke('black')
  arc(199,265,16,10,0,PI)
  
   //jaw
  strokeWeight(5)
  stroke('#461C0D')
  line(158,247,187,276)
  line(241,247,212,276)
  strokeWeight(3)
  line(188,277,212,277)
  
  //cheeks
  noStroke()
  fill(225,0,0,50)
  circle(169,219,15)
  circle(231,219,15)
  
  // HAIR (Left side)
  strokeWeight(4)
  stroke('rgb(54,7,7)')
  fill('rgb(54,7,7)')
   circle(140, 230, 20)
  circle(135, 225, 20)
  circle(130, 220, 20)
  circle(140, 225, 20)
  circle(140, 240, 20)
  circle(151, 243, 12)
  circle(153, 260, 20)
  circle(140, 260, 20)
  stroke('rgb(71,18,18)')
  fill('rgb(71,18,18)')
  circle(143, 250, 20)
  circle(134, 173, 20)
  circle(135, 135, 20)
  circle(130,130,20)
  circle(136,140,20)
  circle(139,143,20)
  circle(146,149,20)
  circle(146,139,20)
  circle(131,157,20)
  circle(143,162,20)
  circle(137,185,20)
  circle(136,201,20)
  circle(123,173,20)
  stroke('rgb(54,7,7)')
  fill('rgb(54,7,7)')
  circle(126,187,20)
  circle(119,203,20)
  circle(169,126,20)
  circle(161,135,20)
  circle(182,135,20)
  circle(159,149,20)
  circle(118,149,20)
  circle(150,174,20)
  circle(139,211,20)
  circle(142,193,20)
  circle(147,116,20)
  circle(164,273,20)
  circle(178,285,20)
  circle(143,300,20)
  circle(124,269,20)
  circle(137,274,20)
  circle(132,286,20)
  circle(221,289,20)
  circle(233,297,20)
  circle(248,298,20)
  circle(263,292,20)
  circle(268,275,20)
  circle(165,269,20)
  circle(174,301,20)
 stroke('rgb(71,18,18)')
  fill('rgb(71,18,18)')
  circle(153,127,20)
  circle(165,108,20)
  circle(187,120,20)
  circle(182,103,20)
  circle(177,114,20)
  circle(124,248,20)
  circle(121,228,20)
  circle(129,240,20)
  circle(146,279,20)
  circle(160,291,20)
  circle(241,283,20)
  circle(257,278,20)
  circle(233,273,20)
  circle(225,284,20)
  circle(175,276,15)
  circle(238,267,20)
  circle(243,275,25)
  circle(220,278,10)
  circle(158,305,15)

  
  
  
  //HAIR (RIGHT SIDE)
  stroke('rgb(73,24,24)')
  fill('rgb(73,24,24)')
  circle(260, 230, 20)
  circle(265, 225, 20)
  circle(270, 220, 20)
  circle(260, 225, 20) 
  circle(260, 240, 20)
  circle(250, 243, 12)
  circle(248, 260, 20)
  circle(260, 260, 20)
  circle(257, 250, 20)
  circle(272, 173, 20)
   stroke('rgb(67,9,9)')
  fill('rgb(67,9,9)')
  circle(270, 135, 20)
  circle(275, 150, 20)
  circle(280, 165, 20)
  circle(275, 205, 20)
  circle(260, 210, 20)
  circle(270, 210, 20)
  stroke('rgb(54,7,7)')
  fill('rgb(54,7,7)')
  circle(270, 175, 20)
  circle(255, 190, 20)
  circle(265, 205, 20)
  circle(252,263,20)
  circle(254,162,20)
  circle(254,173,20)
  circle(262,149,20)
  circle(246,134,20)
  circle(277,188,20)
  circle(269,259,20)
  circle(243,149,20)
  circle(268,162,20)
  circle(273,233,20)
  circle(275,246,20)
  circle(258,127,20)
  circle(201,127,20)
  circle(219,131,20)
  circle(230,138,20)
  circle(197,106,20)
  circle(208,110,20)
  circle(231,117,20)
  circle(217,119,20)
  circle(244,117,20)
  stroke('rgb(73,24,24)')
  fill('rgb(73,24,24)')
  circle(220,102,20)
  circle(236,102,20)
  circle(236,129,20)
  
}