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I Programmed A Plotter Bot To Draw With A Pen
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I Programmed A Plotter Bot To Draw With A Pen

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In my free time, I program my plotter bot, Karel, to draw with a pen. Because the plotter uses a simple pen all I can use are simple black lines, not too much to play with. But I came to love the simplicity and elegance of a simple line and started to utilize it in my drawings. In contrast to most photo editing algorithms I do not transform the photo pixel by pixel but really create a set of strokes that only make sense altogether.

This style was inspired by Van Gogh. I wanted to use simple lines to create an expressive drawing. Some of the drawings are made of over 35.000 individual lines. It takes the plotter a little bit more than 2 hours to finish the drawing.

This and more styles can be found on my Etsy shop or on Kickstarter.

More info: Etsy | kickstarter.com

RELATED:

    A miniature drawing of Dali

    To test the limits of the plotter I like to make the drawings as small as possible. Here is a miniature drawing of Dali. It was drawn with the same pen as shown in the photo.

    Dali drawing close up

    The algorithm in work

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    Drawing on A4 aquarelle paper

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    Errors made by the code

    When I finished the drawing with the plotter. I found out that my algorithm got confused in completely black areas and did not produce lines in those. Luckily this was easy to fix.

    Here is a close up on the eye. I use Italian aquarelle paper for the drawings

    The corrected algorithm in work

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    A drawing on A3 aqarelle paper

    I scanned this drawing for better quality.

    Digital girl portrait

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    Digital Alcia Vikander portrait

    Comparison of my first algorithm with the newest version

    A simulation of the drawing

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    Sergej Stoppel

    Sergej Stoppel

    Author, Community member

    Read more ยป

    I am the founder of LinesLab an experimental design studio that explores algorithmic art and robotics.

    Read less ยป
    Sergej Stoppel

    Sergej Stoppel

    Author, Community member

    I am the founder of LinesLab an experimental design studio that explores algorithmic art and robotics.

    What do you think ?
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    DaveTheBraveWarrior
    Community Member
    7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Great job! I would be interested in your code any chance you will opensource it?

    Chris Coudron
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This is wonderful! It would be amazing to see the code!? Or at least can you describe the algorithm?

    Angie Jones
    Community Member
    7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Not impressed. Charles Csuri, a pioneer in Computer Art, did this in the 60's.

    Community Member
    7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Somehow I can not reply to your last comment. Thank you for the links! It was interesting reading up on Charles Csuri.

    Load More Replies...
    DaveTheBraveWarrior
    Community Member
    7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Great job! I would be interested in your code any chance you will opensource it?

    Chris Coudron
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This is wonderful! It would be amazing to see the code!? Or at least can you describe the algorithm?

    Angie Jones
    Community Member
    7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Not impressed. Charles Csuri, a pioneer in Computer Art, did this in the 60's.

    Community Member
    7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Somehow I can not reply to your last comment. Thank you for the links! It was interesting reading up on Charles Csuri.

    Load More Replies...
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