Explore the Articles

This post is a brief retrospective in which I look back onto the past two years of making code based blockchain art. I tackle some lessons that I've learned, some of the emotional struggles that I've experienced and conclude with some tips to grapple with this fast paced environment.

You've probably heard about ChatGPT, and you've probably heard that it can write code. In this post we're taking it for a spin and explore a practical example - we'll make it code a full-fledged particle system from scratch! Let's see what the best prompts are for this purpose!

In this post we have a look at EditART, a hip new platform on the Tezos blockchain that revolves around customisable generate NFTs. We also ask it's creator, Piero, a couple of questions to wrap it up.

Sketches are more than just little artworks that you hack together in your bedroom. They're ongoing conversations that you have with the yourself and the machine. It's important to explore them, gain new perspectives and ultimately contribute to something larger than yourself.

Vera Molnar is one of the pioneers of what we know today as Generative Art. She was one of the firsts to dare and use computers for the purpose of making art. In this article we have a look at her rich artistic career and how she paved the way for the computer artists of today.

Elon Musk's decision to open-source the algorithm that powers Twitter after acquiring in October of 2022, is a monumental event in social media history. In this post we'll dive into everything that we've about the inner workings of the code so far.

In this post we'll have a closer look at Nat Sarkissian's generative FxHash token: Eucalyptus and Sagebrush. The token seamlessly bridges between visually stunning graphics and an intricate terrain generation algorithm. Additionally there's a lot to learn on simulating brush strokes algorithmically

It's only been a couple of days since FxParams launched, but we've already seen quite a few tokens hit the market that make use of it, as well as some discussion and brainstorming sessions in the discord on potential future improvements. Let's see what FxParams is all about!

I've been thinking about moving away from Jekyll for a while now. Don't get me wrong, I love the static site generator, I really do, it's served me well for over two years, but certain aspects of my workflow have become very clunky, and overall I haven't been able to be as efficient...

A big recap of Genuary 2023, all the sketches that I've made for the daily prompts as well as my personal favorites from other artists. This article contains a lot of twitter embeds, which might take a couple of seconds to load. Thank you for your patience!

Another year, another recap! Many a sketch, and many an article, 2022 has been creative code galore from start to finish! Let's have a look at the most memorable Gorilla events that happened in 2022.

This is the first one of a two part series of blog posts on Delaunay Triangulations. In this one we have a look at artworks that have been created with Delaunay Triangulations, a little bit of it's history, possible strategies to create them, and the related Voronoi Diagram.

2021 has been an incredibly exciting year for the Gorilla Sun Blog! Here's a recap of this surreal journey and a summary of all the art that I've made throughout!

Another month has passed, however a lot has changed in the Tezos NFT world. Recent developments.

In this post we have a look at the Javascript spread syntax, a powerful feature that was introduced with ES6 and which trivializes many tasks that deal with handling iterables.

In this post we will program a particle system in p5js from scratch. We'll mainly dicuss object oriented programming and delve into the necessary physics concepts to compute collisions, all while implementing a full particle simulation with P5JS.

In this tutorial we'll recreate Vera Molnar's homage to Paul Klee. We learn how to draw patches of slanted lines to the canvas, a strategy for enumerating all possible combinations, and at the same time have a look at a recode from Golan Levin.

In this post we'll learn how to build our own personal Linktree clone. Throughout, we'll have a look at the CSS flexbox and how it can be used to create responsive designs. A complete example is included at the end.

In this post we'll thoroughly discuss what SVGs are, how they can be displayed on web pages, how we can algorithmically generate them, and how we can export them from our sketches.

One method for finding the convex hull of a point set is the Quickhull algorithm. It makes use of the divide and conquer paradigm, and builds the convex hull in a recursive manner. This post is a break-down of a Quickhull implementation.

In this tutorial we'll cover how to create a vanilla javascript widget that can be embedded on websites, and is capable of executing javascript safely in an iframe.

In this post we'll go over everything that you should know about Javascript Generators. Javascript generators are a versatile feature of ES6 and allow for interesting programming strategies, that otherwise wouldn't be possible.

In this post we'll have a look at the P5JS graphics buffer and how to effectively use it in your P5 sketching practice. We'll also create a variation of the 10 PRINT pattern that repeats seamlessly.

In this post we'll work our way towards an algorithm that can compute convex polygon intersections. We'll also a method for intersections between axis-aligned rectangles, a function that can determine the intersection of two line segments, as well as a point in polygon test.

Shape packing is a popular type of sketch in gen-art, but is often trickier than it might seem when you try to pack anything more complicated than a simple circle. In this post we'll have a look what goes into collision detection as well as a strategy to pack any arbitrary shape in 2D.

The Bowyer-Watson algorithm for Delaunay triangulation is maybe one of the easier methods to implement and understand for obtaining a Delaunay Triangulation.

P5JS doesn't offer native SVG support, there is however a way to run P5 in an 'SVG' mode using zenozeng's SVG runtime. Running P5 in this SVG mode also requires a lot of interaction with the DOM, which we'll discuss in this post.

Tsubuyaki processing has become a popular and fun little challenge on Twitter. In this post I'll be going over some character saving tricks that can come in clutch when you're out of ideas for reducing the size of your code!

A step by step tutorial to constructing a variety of irregular grids

A tutorial on multiple ways to create a hexagonal grid in p5js

An approach for creating all sorts of different smooth shapes in p5, using the canvas rendering context.

A closer look at random walkers, and how to make them explore and traverse an underlying grid, in p5js.

Sliders are a wonderful tool to add some interactivity to your sketches. Here's everything you need to know.

This is one of my favorite tricks. Albeit being very simple, visually it looks very impressive.

This is part 2 of the series on creating perlin noise flow fields with Processing. In this one we'll cover how to actually draw the flow lines that will ultimately make up our flow-field.

This is part I on creating flow fields with Processing. In this tutorial we'll cover the setup steps, such as creating an invisible grid of angles that will serve as a foundation for the flow field.

Perlin noise can also be used to position things in a circular manner and slightly offset them to produce a wobbly aesthetic. In this post we'll learn how to create circular shapes that are reminiscent of wooden tree rings.

In this part of the perlin noise tutorial series we will have a look at creating smooth curves with Perlin Noise in P5js and processing.

The Perlin noise generator in p5js is a fantastic feature that allows us to code up a plethora of different sketches, here's a rundown of how it works as well as some examples.

In this part of the perlin noise tutorial series we will have a look at creative applications of Perlin Noise and using it to texture.

In this post we'll have a look at p5.js, a creative coding and generative art javascript library. We'll setup our first project, learn how to draw some shapes and get started on our creative coding journey.

In this post we'll have a look at automatically sending MIDI signals from a python script to Ableton Live to trigger instruments and other devices.

Mastodon is where all the cool kids are right now. If you've been meaning to join the Twitter alternative and don't know where to start, then this post got you covered. We'll go over how to sign up to Mastodon and how everything on the platform works.

Github Pages and Netlify are bost fantastic solutions for hosting your first website. Switching from one to the other when you've already established your website on one of them might be a bit tricky however. But here's how you can do it!

In this tutorial I will guide you through setting up a Breadfond on the Tezos blockchain using the TEIA and/or Versum smart contracts.

FFmpeg is an essential tool for creative coders. Here's a primer on using FFmpeg, and showcase of some of it's capabilities.

One of the hurdles that comes alongside creating animations with P5 or processing, is how to record them as GIFs and MP4s to later share them on social media. In this post we'll have a look at the different methods and tools that we can use to do so.

In this article we'll have a look at the making of Blöck, a customisable generative token on editART, a new genart platform on the tezos blockchain. From how I came across the platform by chance, to my sketching up initial ideas for the token, and ultimately releasing it on the platform!

A write-up of my fxhash project 'Neo Supremus', a generative ode to Kazimir Malevich's Suprematist compositions. In this article, we'll have a look at some of Malevich's Suprematist compositions as well as some of the techniques that I used to recreate these compositions in a generative manner.

A detailed write-up about my most recent fxhash piece 'Exotic Quarpets' from initial inspiration, to specific implementation details all the way to last minute wrestling with a browser compatibility bug.

An in depth look into the inner workings of my crayon codes sketch Behind the Canvas

Notes and thoughts on my generative fxhash token 'Vestige'

An aesthetically minimalistic sketch that is based on a boolean grid and Perlin noise.

A step-by-step tutorial to recreating my parasite sketch, which involves coding all kinds of squiggly movement!

An in depth tutorial on recreating a beesandbombs' sketch! We'll have a closer look at seamlessly looping points and creating infinitely expanding patterns!

Step-by-step guide to coding up a sketch that I submitted for processing's 20-th anniversary fundraiser

And again lots of new things happened in the generative art scene this week! In this installment of Gorilla Recaps: we have a look at Piter Pasma's Universal Rayhatcher, stay up to date with Raph's creative code news #99, observe the launch of Alba.art, and many other updates!

This week we released a new token on FxHash, programmed a particle system in collaboration with ChatGPT, and looked back onto 2 years of making generative art on FxHash. We also read some interesting articles about generative art!

This week we wrote an introductory guide to P5JS, we built a portfolio page for the blog to showcase previous projects, we got selected to make a piece for Proof of X, and we continued working on some sketches!

This week we recreated an iconic piece by Vera Molnar, had a closer look at EditART and asked it's creator a couple of questions. We read about why "Generative Art is Stupid" and resume the controversial conversation about AI.

4th installment of Gorilla Recaps. This week we had a look at the life of Vera Molnar, built a Linktree clone and pondered a bit about sketching as a practice. We read about micropayments on Twitter, and how to grow your newsletter.

This week we've got a bunch of visual updates, an automatically generated content overview and a linktree clone. Alongside some worthwhile reads about generative art and the current state of AI, as well as a handy CSS nugget.

This week we have a look at an implementation for the Quickhull Algorithm, how Twitter works behind the scenes, the usual AI controversies and other inspirational reads.

First issue of the Gorilla Sun Newsletter! This week we ran a poll on how y'all learned to code, we made some #genart, built a widget, and read a couple of interesting things online about computer magazines, how LLMs work and determinants.