Killed By A Pixel

Tilemoji – Tweetable Emoji Art

Posted on 12.15.22 by Frank

To celebrate the first year of fxhash, artists were invited to create special collections of 365 edition generative works. I decided to try a crazy idea I’ve had for a while and release a project that uses only emojis to create tweetable artwork. Since there is no image used, the art can be copied like normal text for display on social media! I chose this simple output as the preview.

🟥🟥🟥🟥🟥
🟥🔵🔵🔵🟥
🟥🔵🟡🔵🟥
🟥🔵🔵🔵🟥
🟥🟥🟥🟥🟥

Most results are designed to fit in a 280 character tweet, except for rare extra large variants. Five different generative algorithms possible, each with their own set of parameters. Several other features round out the set including shadow, color count, border, background options.

Tilemoji on fxhash

Here is a mosaic showing every Tilemoji, thank you to everyone that got one! Keep reading for some more info about how the project works…

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Posted in Generative | Tagged emojis, fxhash, generative | Leave a comment

ROIL – Generative Abstract Paintings

Posted on 11.16.22 by Frank

My latest release on fxhash uses a new space filling algorithm I have been developing. It can produce a large range of outputs with interesting painterly textures and complex details. I was inspired by abstract expressionists and physical phenomena. This work draws in an interesting way, by interfering with itself to create the composition. There were only 222 editions available and fully minted on fxhash. Thank you to everyone that got one! You can see all the results on fxhash…

ROIL on fxhash

This is my first release on fxhash using custom palettes, there are 20 possible in total, most are inspired by natural phenomena.

Here are a few of my favorite results from the 222 edition set on fxhash…

Posted in Generative | Tagged fxhash, generative | Leave a comment

Making Awesome Games with LittleJS

Posted on 09.08.22 by Frank

Watch this 20 minute presentation I gave at JS GameDev Summit. I talk all about how my open source game engine LittleJS works and how you can use it to make amazing games.

Posted in Game Dev, JavaScript | Tagged javascript, js13k, littlejs | Leave a comment

Gradient Ascent – Generative Space Posters

Posted on 07.31.22 by Frank

My latest generative work explores space landscapes and dithering effects to generate retro style sci-fi posters. It’s also a spiritual successor to one of my most popular fxhash releases “Dithered Branches” from over 6 months ago! In this post I will talk about the concept and features including some of my favorite results. You can see all 300 iterations on fxhash.

Gradient Ascent on fxhash

Continue reading to learn more about Gradient Ascent…

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Posted in Generative | Tagged fxhash, generative, javascript | Leave a comment

U1KE – A 1 Kilobyte Ukulele

Posted on 07.30.22 by Frank

My js1024 entry this year is a ukulele! This is a fully function and realistic simulation of a four string instrument with standard uke tuning. Each string can be fretted individually using the keyboard to produce every open cord and play most songs. The mouse is used to strum and can control volume by speed of motion.

Features

Graphic ukulele representation with neck, strings, frets and sound hole
Strings vibrate and change color when plucked
Realistic simulation of string audio mechanics
Full use control of first 4 frets to form any open chord
Mouse controls volume and can pluck strings individually

How to Play

Hold keys to fret notes, use mouse to strum. The keys 1-4, Q-R, A-F, and Z-V control each string and fret arranged in the same way as a real instrument. With this system you can play any open chord by holding a combination of keys. For example to form a C chord you hold the F key which is the 3rd fret on the 4th string. Other chords are more complex but require no more then 4 keys to be held simultaneously.

Posted in JavaScript | Tagged javascript, music, tinycode | 4 Comments

Chaosplot – Generates Plots of Order vs Chaos

Posted on 07.03.22 by Frank

My first plottable generative art work is now available on fxhash. It is based on the same algorithm used by “Chaospill” that I released a few months ago. Since I purchased a pen plotter, I have been working on converting the algorithm for plotting.

My goal was to produce a result that plots fast and efficiently while demonstrating the complexity of the algorithm and the many possible variations. I have been playing with this algorithm all year and this captures the most interesting results I saw. The JavaScript code is now open source on GitHub for others to learn from, including my tiny SVG library.

Chaosplot on fxhash

Chaosplot Source on GitHub

While working on this piece I asked Dan Catt, one of the best plotters I know, to help by testing a plot with his setup. The result is beyond amazing and he was kind enough to produce this short video about the process…

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Posted in Generative | Tagged fxhash, generative, javascript | Leave a comment

Auto Park – Generative Abstract Parking

Posted on 06.09.22 by Frank

This generative series explores a world of bizarre parking arrangements. Inspired by aerial photography and top down videogames, the modern car park becomes a canvas and automobiles a brush to paint a variety of compositions from realistic to abstract. It is the largest and most complex generative art program I’ve released, written in pure vanilla JavaScript. The 500 piece set is now sold out but some are available on secondary and every iteration is available for viewing on fxhash.

Auto Park on fxhash

Continue reading for more background about Auto Park and my thoughts on the project.

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Antiflow – Supersymmetry from opposing forces

Posted on 05.12.22 by Frank

Antiflow is an exploration of how balanced complexity can arise from chaos by harnessing the dynamic interplay of opposing forces. To that end we were inspired to create this wildly unique set by mixing modern physics concepts with abstract expressionism and retro 3D primitives.

“Opposites are not contradictory but complementary.”
– Niels Bohr

This work also marks my first collaboration with another generative artist, Ryan Bell known for “Fragements of a Wave” and “Sprocket Factory”. Check out the results on fxhash…

Antiflow on fxhash

I had a small print run of 50 8.5 x 11 Antiflows, they look incredible!

Posted in Generative | Tagged fxhash, generative, javascript | Leave a comment

STRANDED – 8×8 Generative Art Using One Line

Posted on 04.02.22 by Frank

I’ve recently gotten interested in the super tiny NFT platform 8bidou where artists share their 8×8 pixel art creations. I spent a while coming up with a special new generative algorithm that would make sense within this space.

The concept using a single line that wraps around randomly to fill up the 8×8 space, a bit like the Tron light cycle game. The algorithm was surprisingly tricky to implement but the incredible results were worth the trouble. You can view them on my 8bidou page.

In total I released 38 8bidou pieces generated with this system. After starting with a 4 piece set to test the waters, I asked my followers on Twitter what they were interested in. It seemed the top choice was 1/1s, so I thought it would be fun to give them a chance to pick their favorites from a large set of results. There was a huge response but I managed to include all 26 that were picked and added 6 of my own to round it out to 32 1/1s. To bookend the set I released 2 final pieces that represent degenerate forms of the algorithm.

My Twitter followers were asked to pick their favorites to be minted

It was kind of a crazy idea and took a while to mint all 32 of those single editions but we also had a lot of fun. I plan to try more ideas on 8bidou and also experiment with developing this algorithm into a larger generative work. Here’s my first twitter post about it where I has just gotten it working. Thanks for reading and have a great week.

Been working on a new generative algorithm for my 8bidou debut, finally got it working.😄 #generativeart #genartclub #8bidou pic.twitter.com/Zz9UE4VSQf
— Frank Force 🌻 (@KilledByAPixel) March 30, 2022

Posted in Generative | Tagged generative, pixel | Leave a comment

Byte City Nights – A Bitwise Cityscape Generator

Posted on 03.19.22 by Frank

My final generative work for the fxhash beta is an abstract cityscape built with bitwise operators. This 256 piece set demonstrates several different ways of producing interesting patterns with simple math operations. There are 7 different possible operators it may choose for the sky and buildings to produce wildly different results.

I also experimented with a long 2:1 aspect ratio and a neon glow behind the piece when viewed in live mode. When displaying this piece as a large scale print, I recommend placing a led light strip behind the frame to recreate the effect.

Byte City Night on fxhash

Open Source on GitHub