Generative Art

Study

Working question: how do mathematical systems change when they leave the screen and become pen movement on paper?

The thing is a set of SVG-generating algorithms for plotted line work. The process moves from code to layers to pens to paper.

The current page explains the toolset. The study note still needs the learning record: which algorithms survived contact with paper, which ones did not, and what physical plotting taught about rules, density, and patience.

A toolkit for creating algorithmic art, built for pen plotters.

The Idea

Generative art sits in a strange place. It is code that produces beauty, not by encoding aesthetic rules, but by encoding processes that happen to be beautiful. A flow field does not know it is elegant. A reaction-diffusion simulation does not know it is mimicking the pattern on a zebrafish. The art emerges from the math, and the human’s role is to find the right parameters, the right constraints, the right moment to say stop, that one.

This is a workbench for that kind of exploration. It provides 22 generative algorithms, each with tunable parameters, each producing single-stroke SVG output ready for a pen plotter.

The Generators

AlgorithmWhat it doesFlow FieldsParticles steered by Perlin noise, producing organic, wind-like texturesReaction DiffusionGray-Scott model, producing biological patterns, coral, fingerprintsGenerative Ribbon3D twisted ribbons via Moiré interferenceL-System FractalsRecursive rule-based growth: ferns, dragon curves, treesHarmonographMulti-pendulum simulation, producing mechanical Lissajous figuresStrange AttractorsChaotic systems (Clifford), producing infinite non-repeating orbitsPhyllotaxisSunflower spirals using the Golden AngleCircle PackingSpace-filling non-overlapping bubblesTruchet TilesMaze-like geometric tessellationsVoronoi RipplesConcentric waves clipped to Voronoi cellsPipe NetworkIndustrial pipes via Wave Function CollapseParametric GridOrder decaying into chaosMagnetic FieldParticle trajectories through magnetic polesFourier SeriesWave summation visualizationTwisted MoiréInterference from overlapping distorted gridsMaze GeneratorPerfect solvable mazes (recursive backtracking)SpirographEpicycloid and hypocycloid curvesPenrose TilingAperiodic kites and darts with five-fold symmetryWave InterferenceOverlapping circular wave patterns from multiple sourcesChladni PatternsResonance patterns on vibrating plates, nodal linesCeltic KnotInterlaced knotwork inspired by Celtic art traditionsContour MapTopographic contour lines from procedural noise landscapes

Gallery

Why Plotters?

A screen renders pixels. A plotter draws lines. That constraint changes everything.

Every path must be a single continuous stroke, with no fills, no gradients, no anti-aliasing. The plotter’s pen touches paper, moves, lifts. What you see is what the machine physically did. The imperfections of ink flow, paper texture, and pen pressure add a layer of physicality that no screen can reproduce.

All 22 generators output clean, layered SVGs. The layer system supports multi-color plotting: pause the machine, swap the pen, resume. A Reaction Diffusion pattern in three ink colors on heavy cotton paper is a fundamentally different object than the same pattern on a screen.

Two Interfaces

The toolkit runs as both a Java Swing desktop app and a web application. Same algorithms, same parameters, same output. The desktop app uses a dark-themed Swing UI with FlatLaf for comfortable long sessions; the web version is built with Vite and vanilla JavaScript, no dependency overhead. Every generator is a self-contained module implementing the same interface. Adding a new algorithm means writing one file.

Try It

Launch the Web App to explore all 22 generators interactively in your browser. On a phone or tablet, use the Mobile Studio, which puts the canvas first and opens the parameters as a bottom sheet. Pick an algorithm, adjust the parameters, hit Generate. Download the SVG if you want to plot it.

Open source under AGPL-3.0. GitHub

See also: From Pixel to Pen, Gantry, PPCT, Primitive, CityPlot, VHS, SVGToolBox, SVG2WaterColor, Vectorize