Two more experiments with straight lines

#generative #genartclub

Light in the dark
(not a metaphor)

nearly a kilometre of black ballpoint on heavy bristol paper
(also not a metaphor)

#generative #genartclub #plotter

Hobbies are awesome. I've started screaming at the sun.

An invite with a colorful pen plotter design behind text that reads Paul Rickards Programmable Ink: Pen Plotter Art Solo Art Show May 2026 Opening Reception May 1, 2026 5-7pm The Grand Opera House The Gran Gallery 818 N Market St Wilmington DE 19801

Super excited to announce my #PenPplotter #art work will be on display in the Grand Opera House in Wilmington, Delaware during the month of May 2026! Titled "Programmable Ink: Pen Plotter Art," the show will feature works from a variety of series I've created over the past 10 years.

Thinking about how funny it is that "digital" has come to be associated with dematerialized conditions when etymologically it comes from like, fingers, the thing you use to touch stuff

It's funny to think that, thanks to password managers, not only do I not remember most of my passwords, I've never even seen them.

NASA's Artemis II Crew Launches To The Moon (Official Broadcast) YouTube video by NASA

launch in 10!
www.youtube.com/live/Tf_UjBM...

I have unexpectedly been invited to an event for which I will need to wear a suit. Which means I just as unexpectedly need to get a suit. There’s a lot of research to do here

A picture of a hardback book on a washed blue background. The title is Next Level: Making Games That Make Themselves, by Mike Cook.

I've written a book! Next Level: Making Games That Make Themselves is the story of procedural generation - the tech behind games like Minecraft and Dwarf Fortress. It's about how it works, the games that use it, and the art and magic behind it.

Out May 7th, in bookshops: linktr.ee/next_level 🎲🔮

We should stick stamps on emails just because it's cute.

Sinners is a great film. That's all.

I made 256 plotted generative art postcards for a thing next week. #p5 #plotter #mailart

The Zenith "space Command" family of remotes are completely mechanical yet totally wireless remote controls that were popular in the 1960's. The remotes came with between two to four buttons, depending on the trim model of your TV set. This remote contains four buttons and can operate six different functions.

These remotes are heavily patented and gave Zenith for many years the advantage over competitors wanting to sell a wireless remote.

The inside of a Space Command contains spring loaded hammers and up to four precision aluminum rods that when struck emit a peaked tone in the ultrasonic frequency range. Through harmonics it's often heard as a "clink".

A thing arrived today.

Among my other projects this week, I took some time to bake this lemon blueberry tart. It was a delicious success.

Recipe courtesy of Sally’s Baking Addiction sallysbakingaddiction.com/lemon-bluebe...

A page filled with straight black lines. There is a grid of darker bands across it

Here is another solid page of lines—except this time the lines are drawn in short strokes instead of all the way across. This creates visible seams where the pen raised and lowered to the paper. #penplotter #plotterart #CreativeCoding

It's amazing how satisfying and powerful it feels to know even a little #sed and #awk. They are just great tools

Here’s one of my plots from yesterday. Boxes! With lines in them!

I’m still keeping things basic with this project. This is all stuff to build on later
#penplotter #plotterart #CreativeCoding #Sketchbook

Columns of black lines with thin spaces between them

Here’s one of my plots from today. Now we have short lines! #penplotter #plotterart #CreativeCoding #algorithmicart

For reference, I currently have an antique X230 from circa 2012. I don't know what the modern ones are like at all

What's a good laptop for running #linux these days? Are #thinkpad s still the way to go?

Among other things, it's looking like it's going to be interesting to document how many pens I go through XD

Availability of computers is not something I thought I'd ever have to worry about

On a different note, it's probably past time for me to think about getting a new computer. All my current hardware works for now, but it's got quite a few hours on it

The nice thing about #creativecoding is that any bug can be a feature if it looks cool.

I'm going to have some time to run the pen plotter today. I'm excited

Setting up a mail art kiosk at an art thing later this month. (more on that soon) Here it is in its current state. #p5 #nextdraw #mailart #generative

New woodcut print, fresh off the Korrex.

#printmaking

Looking at megafauna (for the Mesopotamian game) and I am being led by the whispering devil on my right shoulder down the path that leads to Megafauna Geese.

This way lies chaos.

As far as the code that generated this is concerned, it’s all clean straight lines. But the oils on my skin interfere with the ink.

One of the things that has always fascinated me about plotters is the way they bridge the abstraction of code and the physical world

I squeezed in another plot today. I was inspired by some of the glitches I was seeing earlier. I just pressed my hand against the paper before I ran the plot. #penplotter