Art for Programmers, Programming for Artists

Combining my historical interests in coding, and art.


by Dave on Jan. 18, 2023, 11:16 p.m.

I was recently reminded of Python for Designers, an online manual for DrawBot, a Mac OS app that allows the artist/programmer to write Python scripts to generate two-dimensional graphics. One focus for DrawBot is education, teaching programming through graphics. This reminds me of Turtle Graphics which I originally learned on Apple II back in the 1980s. It was one of the first applications to teach programming and problem-solving through making fun, colorful graphics.

Conincidentally, I found Genuary a month of generative art prompts. Doing a search for "learn how to do generative art" I found a few simple Python Turtle tutorials and I was hit with inspiration an nostalgia.

The confluence of art, design, programming, learning, and education keeps reappearing in my life. I need to dedicate a little more time to this. Perhaps a weekly post about different learning resources would be in order. Here's to hoping I can keep it up.