Composition
Up to seven layers are combined to compose the final art. Four of them are bold brush strokes that define the core aesthetic of the project, the other three add texture, complexity and finer detail.
The brush strokes can be either horizontal, vertical or a mix between the two.
There are three possible sets of rules for the composition:
- Central: each layer has very little time to paint with medium brushes. It moves moderately between each brush stroke and usually outputs an art with more negative space.
- Expanded: each layer has moderate time to paint with large brushes. It moves agressively between each brush stroke and usually results in a busy art with some breathing space.
- All over: uses mid-to-large brushes. It also moves moderately between each brush stroke but it will most likely make use of the full canvas, considering the longer period it has to paint.
Probabilities for compositions:
- Central: 25%
- Expanded: 25%
- All over: 50%
Probabilities for stroke direction:
- Horizontal: 15%
- Vertical: 15%
- Mixed: 70%
Central
Expanded
All over
Palettes
There are eleven palettes available varying from classic to modern. The inspiration comes from paints, places, games.. basically anywhere i see beauty. I chose to use a similar system as implemented in Aspergō where each color can be used either as background or foreground, generating more varied outputs than having fixed colors for each role. The different aesthetic of Bravura called for refinement in many of the palettes in order to better blend its colors. Another difference here is that it doesn't need to use every color of the palette as it did previously.
With a system like that in place i didn't want to favor any particular set of colors, therefore all palettes have equal probability to be chosen.
Algae
G-Punk
Greyscale
Klimt
Moreré
Nautica
Ocean
Paige
Rojo
Spectrum
Volpi
Duotone
After the palette has been chosen there is a 31.8% chance for the duotone feature to occur. It will eliminate colors randomly until there are only two left. This feature generates very interesting results, but i had to pay the price of tweaking every possible combination among all the palettes to make it work. When you use all the colors of a palette they blend nicely together, but with only two colors of approximate hue or brightness this is not garanteed. But i'm more than happy with all that trouble, was totally worth it! :)
Klimt Duotone
Greyscale Duotone
Nautica Duotone
Contrast
I decided to implement this feature when almost everything else was in place. I was balancing values and found it interesting to have some variation in contrast to make the layering of the brush strokes either more pronounced with high contrast or a soft effect with low contrast. It is a subtle feature that helps to add / subtract depth.
Probabilities for contrast:
- Low: 25%
- Medium: 50%
- High: 25%
Low Contrast
Medium Contrast
High Contrast
Aligned
I hit F5 too many times trying to match all brushes to be either horizontal or vertical before i decided to implement a feature to garantee its occurence :)
Probabilities for aligned brushes:
- Not aligned: 85%
- Aligned: 15%
Vertically Aligned
Horizontally Aligned
Vertically aligned
This is the end of the tour!
I'd like to thank everyone that got in touch, shared their experiences or collected any of my works. I'm honored to be a part of such an awesome community, amazing times!
Be well 🍀