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Pointillism Pareidolia

LOLocomule•Created February 13, 2021
Pointillism Pareidolia
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Instructions

MORE PROJECTS LIKE THIS: https://scratch.mit.edu/studios/28998193/ This is a program for drawing with dots. 1- click to draw loosely with black dots, randomly filling the page 2-when/if you see an image appear in the dots stop drawing for 2 seconds then click the button that appears and the pen will switch to finer dot control. Refine the image you see 3- pressing C cycles between black, grey, and white dots space toggles auto draw so you don't cramp your fingers during long sessions :) Tips.. Don't expect to see an image form in the dots every time or for every drawing to go well. If you don't like how it is going just restart. I like to spread some dots out loosely then build a few randomly placed clusters up before even trying to see anything. It is much quicker using a computer but you can do this anywhere with just a piece of paper and a pencil or pen. *Featured* 2-18-2021 HUGE THANKS!! and totally unexpected. It was my mom's 70th birthday yesterday, she taught me this technique almost 40 years ago. I told her about this project, the feature, all the "Happy Birthday"s and she was very grateful as am I! It will be a bit before I can see and respond to messages, getting so many so quickly! RIGHT CLICK SAVING IS WORKING!! This feature has been broken in Scratch for months, right click and choose Try an experiment, complete the 1st step of spraying out some dots then get other people to look. When I tried it was funny, everyone saw something very clearly and very different :D If there is really nothing but dots and we are all seeing something different in them where do you think the image you see in the dots comes from? The subconscious? If I really, really want a bowl of ice cream does that increase the chance of seeing ice cream in the picture? Lots to ponder if you are so inclined. If you get enough of a detailed drawing finished a funny thing can happen where you spray dots over an area and it just seems to fill in texture almost like magic. Something tells me this could be useful in other art projects.. hmmm.. Definitions.. Pointillism: is an art technique in which small, distinct dots are applied in patterns to form an image. Pareidolia: is the tendency for incorrect perception of a stimulus as an object, pattern or meaning known to the observer. Common examples are perceived images of animals, faces, or objects in cloud formations, or lunar pareidolia like the Man in the Moon or the Moon rabbit. Ever seen an inkblot test? The concept of pareidolia may extend to include hidden messages in recorded music played in reverse or at higher- or lower-than-normal speeds, and hearing voices (mainly indistinct) or music, in random noise such as that produced by air conditioners or fans. Pareidolia was at one time considered a symptom of psychosis, but it is now seen as a normal human tendency. Scientists have taught computers to use visual clues to "see" faces and other images. (definitions from the Wiki) Here is something interesting I found while making this project. All my life I explained this technique the way it was explained to me, "you start by covering a page with random dots." So when I had the idea to code it, that was what I did, I made a sprite go to random positions and stamp a single dot. Then I noticed something very strange, the technique didn't work!?! No matter ho many times I restarted I never saw any pictures begin to form, it was always just static. Which makes mathematical sense, a sprite that goes to random positions is more or less evenly filling in the entire screen over time. But when you use a pen or pencil to do this you THINK you are placing random dots but in reality the dots are grouped around your hand position. That was the breakthrough, once I edited the code to draw in clusters around the mouse cursor rather than randomly the Pareidolia effect kicked in and I began to see images in the dots. So it turns out the "random" placement of dots was never truly random at all.

Description

All code and by me, Loco. When I was a little kid my mom's art inspired me to draw and eventually go to art school..One day she was making this really cool drawing out of dots so I got her to show me how she did it. She said she learned the process in college art class, you start with a blank sheet of paper and use a pencil to start filling in random dots all over the page. Eventually your mind usually does this trick called Pareidolia that causes you to see an image in the dots. Once you see the rough image you start filling it in using more dots. It is a slow process but lots of fun! The images your mind comes up with can get pretty freaky! I Faces are a common image created by Pareidolia which makes sense, it is what we focus on when we interact with other people. Which explains why we see them on the moon, in clouds, all over the place! to do... add ability to switch back to random dots

Project Details

Project ID487484765
CreatedFebruary 13, 2021
Last ModifiedMarch 6, 2021
SharedFebruary 22, 2021
Visibilityvisible
CommentsAllowed