Mathematics and Digital Art, Fall 2017

Week 1

 1 Wed, 23 Aug Download the course syllabus. If you'd like to read more about the conferences mentioned in class today, click on Finland or Waterloo. Click here to watch some animated fractal movies using Processing. You'll be making movies like this in the second half of the course! Homework: Experiment with colors using these handy color sliders. Read Day002 of my blog, www.cre8math.com: Josef Albers and Interaction of Color. Here are a few links to other websites with color codes: color-hex and ColorHexa. Let me know if you find any other good ones! 2 Fri, 25 Aug Here is the Processing code to download and get working. Just copy and paste the code into a new Processing document. Spacing is important, so make the margins are all exactly the same as the original! Homework (for real RGB values, round to the nearest thousandth): Convert $(250,69,227)$ to hexadecimal and real RGB values. Convert #FEDCBA to integer and real RGB values. Convert $(0.627,0.486,0.918)$ to integer RGB values and hexadecimal. You would to use an integer RGB color code, but you don't want any red in it, so you set the R value to 0. How many possible colors could you use? You color in a unit square with lower left-hand corner $(0,0)$ and upper right-hand corner $(1,1)$ so that a point $(x,y)$ is assigned real RGB values of $(x,1,1).$ Describe what the square looks like. Click here to see what the square looks like. You color in a unit square with lower left-hand corner $(0,0)$ and upper right-hand corner $(1,1)$ so that a point $(x,y)$ is assigned real RGB values of $(y,0,0).$ Describe what the square looks like. You color in a unit square with lower left-hand corner $(0,0)$ and upper right-hand corner $(1,1)$ so that a point $(x,y)$ is assigned real RGB values of $(1-x,1-x,1-x).$ Describe what the square looks like. You color in a unit square with lower left-hand corner $(0,0)$ and upper right-hand corner $(1,1)$ so that a point $(x,y)$ is assigned real RGB values of $(1-y,1,0).$ Describe what the square looks like.

Week 2

 3 Mon, 28 Aug Download the Processing code for the assignment on Josef Albers. For Wednesday, read Day011 of my blog on on randomness and texture. For Friday, create your first digital artworks! First, choose the dimensions of your image, the size of your squares, the background color, a base color for the center rectangles, as well as ranges for the randomness in the red, green, and blue color values. By using different random number seeds, experiment with different images. When you find one you like, start assembling your assignment. After inserting this image, write a brief paragraph about the choices you made — remember, each parameter is a choice, even if you chose to leave it the same! Be sure to include a sentence or two about randomness — you used a particular random number seed because you liked the effect it had on the image. Next, create two more images, this time altering the geometry — there is much more out there than just rectangles and squares. Be creative! Again, experiment with different random number seeds, and also write a brief paragraph after each image explaining any aspects of the creative process that were significant in creating the final image. By the beginning of class Wednesday, upload drafts of your images onto Canvas. During class Wednesday, you will be commenting on each others' work, so it is important that you do this before class starts. By Friday, submit a .pdf document to Canvas including your three images and commentary. Use a name like (if it were me) "Matsko_Asst1.pdf". If someone made a suggestion on Canvas which you used to improve your work, acknowledge that person in the discussion of the relevant image. Answers to Homework from Day 2: #FA45E3, $(0.980,0.271,0.890).$ $(254,220,186),$ $(0.996,0.863,0.729).$ $(160,124,234),$ #a07cea. 65,536. Click here to see what the square looks like. Click here to see what the square looks like. Click here to see what the square looks like. Click here to see what the square looks like. 4 Wed, 30 Aug Be sure to comment on everyone's work today during class. In addition to the handout, here is a useful website discussing the vocabulary of digital art by Kimberly Dillbeck. Remember that your comments are due Friday! Because of the time needed to write comments, your assignment is now due Sunday. And be sure to have read the blog post, since we'll be working on a related project in lab on Friday. You will have a quiz next Friday on color specification and coordinates. Download a previous quiz for some practice questions. We'll go over the answers next Wednesday in class. 5 Fri 1 Sept Download the Processing code we'll be using in class today. Over the long weekend, it would be a good idea to do the practice problems from the quiz, and experiment with today's code. You'll receive an assignment to produce some artwork with them next week.

Week 3

Week 4

 8 Mon, 11 Sept Here is the image you need to create for today's class about screen space. Your image should look exactly like this. Here are the specifics you need to know: The screen is 800 pixels wide and 600 pixels high. The dimensions of all rectangles and squares are in multiples of 50 pixels. The margins and spaces between all figures are 50 pixels wide. The diameter of the circles is half the length of the sides of the squares they are inside of. The outlines of all the figures are 3 pixels wide. The colors are the usual: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, cyan, magenta, black, and white. You should only use the rect and ellipse functions (not myshape). Also, you should use whatever stroke/fill functions you need. Finish this by Wednesday! 9 Wed, 13 Sept Here is today's Processing code illustrating affine transformations. Recall that we ultimately want to be able to create fractals like the Sierpinski triangle. Make sure you review translations, scaling (both in the x and y directions), and reflections about the x- and y-axes. Here is a handy summary of affine transformations. Here is your affine transformation homework due Friday. ($\LaTeX$ code.) 10 Fri, 15 Sept Here is today's Processing code illustrating Sierpinski's triangle. Here is your affine transformation homework due Monday. ($\LaTeX$ code.) Feel free to experiment with creating your own fractals! You will eventually need to create your own....

Week 5

Week 6

 14 Mon, 25 Sept Presentations on Bridges papers. 15 Wed, 27 Sept Presentations on Bridges papers. 16 Fri, 29 Sept Finishing up presentations on Bridges papers. Don't forget the homework on matrix multiplication for Monday. This is an assignment to hand in.

Week 7

Week 8

 20 Mon, 9 Oct Remember: Your homework assignment on iterated function systems is due Wednesday! 21 Wed, 11 Oct Here is my blog post on linear interpolation Processing which we looked at today. Start today's lab my making this simple movie. For this movie, use a screen 500 x 500 pixels in dimension. it is OK to estimate the sizes of the dots. You do not have to be exact this time. When you finish this warmup exercise, try making this movie! Your screen should be 500 pixels square (as before), and the dots should always be 25 pixels from the edge of the screen. Colors are the usual red, orange, green, blue. Large dots are 200 pixels wide, and small dots are 100 pixels wide.% Finish by Friday! 22 Fri, 13 Oct Class cancelled by the University. No homework over the Fall Break.

Week 9

 23 Wed, 18 Oct Keep working on your movie. Both the movie and your selection of Bridges papers are due Monday! 24 Fri, 20 Oct Here is the interactivity demo we discussed in class today. For your lab, recreate the movie as shown in class! Here are the details: The screen is 600 pixels square. The left/right half of the screen is black if the mouse is in that half; the other half is red, yellow, or orange (it starts out yellow). The color can be changed by pressing the "r," "y," or "o" key. The rectangle is 160 x 100 pixels. It is short or tall, changed by pressing the "s" or "t" key. It is centered where the mouse is. The position of the mouse is in yellow and is written horizonally opposite of where the mouse is. In other words, it is written at the position which is the location of the mouse reflected across the vertical line dividing the screen in half. Use the font specifications from the demo. The position of the mouse is never covered up by the rectangle. This lab will be due next week. For Monday, finish last Wednesday's lab, and post your Bridges paper selection on Canvas by the beginning of class.

Week 10

 25 Mon, 23 Oct Finish the Interactivity Lab for Wednesday! And start thinking about what you might like to do for your Final Project. We will be working on those during class on Friday. Also, start working on your Bridges presentations. They will begin next Monday. 26 Wed, 25 Oct Continue working with the Interactivity Lab — I realize it's a little more difficult that I originally thought. Also, your homework on geometric series is due Monday. 27 Fri, 27 Oct Here and here are two websites you can visit for some help with geometric series. Make sure the Interactivity Lab is finished by Monday!

Week 11

 28 Mon, 30 Oct Continue thinking about Final Project ideas! We only got a chance to work briefly on them today. The new geometric series homework is due Friday. Bring questions Wednesday if you have them! 29 Wed, 1 Nov Bridges presentations today! 30 Fri, 3 Nov Bridges presentations today!

Week 12

 31 Mon, 6 Nov Continue thinking about your project! Most of you have a good idea of where to start. Don't forget to correct your geometric series problems and bring questions Wednesday. 32 Wed, 8 Nov Download the sample fractal movie. Your next art assignment will be to create your own! Be wildly creative.... Remember, you have a quiz on geometric series on Friday! Don't forget that you can bring your notes with you. 33 Fri, 10 Nov Keep working on your fractal movie projects! The quiz on geometric series will, be on Monday.

Week 13

Week 14

Week 15

 39 Mon, 27 Nov Remember, you have a Number Theory quiz on Wednesday! After the quiz, we will keep working on projects. 40 Wed, 29 Nov Continue working on your projects! 41 Fri, 1 Dec Final Presentations are on Monday! Remember, in order to give you the weekend to work on your projects, we need to keep to a strict schedule. This means 7 minutes (no longer!) for your presentations, with 2 minutes for questions, and 1 minute for transitioning between talks. This gives a 15-minute buffer for technical difficulties.... And look at the prompt on Day 38 for what to submit for your Final Project. This is due next Friday, December 8.

Week 16

 42 Mon, 4 Dec Final Presentations today! 43 Wed, 6 Dec Final Presentations today!