Paul's comments while reviewing Selim's Scratch Proposal:

But for our sake—not worth working through for your proposal—I would add that the “delighted to see how easy it is to generate exciting variations of their artworks through simple alterations of their code” is particularly apparent in the rock-bottom simplest algorithm for generating the art of Albers: square within square within square. By simply changing the distance between squares, or the “length” of the squares (the rectangularity), or the shape of line ends (flat to round), one gets shaded triangles, “roads going off to infinity,” cylinders, tunnels, spheres, circles within circles, stacking toys. The entire algorithm is pen down, move, pen up, move, optional color or shade change, optional size change, all repeated. Nothing fancier than early unit 1 stuff. It should be part of the message of unit 1, not because it is artistically motivating (though it is) but because of what you said: tiny variations in an algorithm can have profound consequences. It helps make clear what an algorithm is, because the details matter so much, and therefore need clear expression.

Modeling Art

In this project, you will learn how to use thick lines (with round or flat ends) to design artwork of your own.

unicorn horn artwork design-inspired-by-van-Doesburg design inspired by albers
Original designs inspired by van Doesburg and Albers.
  1. Click here to load this file. Then save it to your Snap! account.
    The file contains five scripts.
    1. The first script is just for cleanup.
    2. Experiment with the other scripts to see what they can do. Ideas are suggested below.
      3. IDEAS FOR EXPERIMENTS. Use as many as you want.
      • SCRIPT 1
        1. Clear the stage, set the pen down, try this script, and describe the result in terms of the code.
        2. Clear the stage, change the 100 steps to 0.5 steps, and describe the result.
        3. Click on the √ mark to turn flat line ends off. Then try the first two experiments again.
      • SCRIPT 2
        1. Click to see what tunnel does.
        2. Edit tunnel to see how it works.
        3. Choose other numbers to try in the various inputs inside tunnel. Change only one or two at a time, to see what they do.
      • SCRIPT 3
        1. Think about what the for loop changes.
        2. Together, what do the set pen size to (i × 50) and move (i × 50) steps do?
        3. What does the subsequent move (i × -50) steps do?
      • SCRIPT 4
        1. Experiment with fewer steps.
        2. See what happens with flat line ends.
        3. Edit to see how the sphere block works.
  2. Then model some artist or invent designs of your own. Save your designs and choose your favorite(s) to share.

 

This code uses a Snap! tool you haven't seen before: set flag(Flat line ends) to (true). If you want it for other projects, you can load it from the Snap! File menu by selecting "Provide getters and setters..." as shown below.
File-menu-import-library Provide-getters-and-setters