Generative Art

Generative Art presents both the technique and the beauty of algorithmic art. The book includes high-quality examples of generative art, along with the specific programmatic steps author and artist Matt Pearson followed to create each unique piece using the Processing programming language.

Artists have always explored new media, and computer-based artists are no exception. Generative art, a technique where the artist creates print or onscreen images by using computer algorithms, finds the artistic intersection of programming, computer graphics, and individual expression. The book includes a tutorial on Processing, an open-source programming language and environment for people who want to create images, animations, and interactions.

Generative Art presents both the techniques and the beauty of algorithmic art. In it, you'll find dozens of high-quality examples of generative art, along with the specific steps the author followed to create each unique piece using the Processing programming language. The book includes concise tutorials for each of the technical components required to create the book's images, and it offers countless suggestions for how you can combine and reuse the various techniques to create your own works. Purchase of the print book comes with an offer of a free PDF, ePub, and Kindle eBook from Manning. Also available is all code from the book.

What's Inside:

• The principles of algorithmic art
• A Processing language tutorial
• Using organic, pseudo-random, emergent, and fractal processes

Table of Contents:
Part 1: Creative Coding

• Generative Art: In Theory and Practice
• Processing: A Programming Language for Artists

Part 2: Randomness and Noise

• The Wrong Way to Draw a Line
• The Wrong Way to Draw a Circle
• Adding Dimensions

Part 3: Complexity

• Emergence
• Autonomy
• Fractals.