The Self-Portrait of Trial and Error

No. I do not define myself by my physical appearance. And, no, I do not think this “self-portrait” looks like me. Instead, this is the portrait of the way I learn.

Hover over and click the face!

Find the full sketch here

In making this portrait, I grappled with the balance between technical ability to desire. If the coding skill set was more profound, this portrait could have taken many different shapes and forms – but it is not – which is good. This is how I learned.

The most challenging part of this project was creating the boundaries of the “beard.” Quite fast, I managed to program the dots by creating circles with a 1-size stroke on the mouse’s X and Y. The boundaries, however, were more challenging because they required “telling” P5 to only work if it was above the shape of the face.

I tried to use the “if-else” statement to define X and Y boundaries, but I did not find a way to make it work in a diagonal or arc shape.

Eventually, I did not solve it but found a workaround: I set the boundaries as triangles on top of the face.

Eventually, I did not solve it but found a workaround: I set the boundaries as triangles on top of the face.

Find the full sketch here

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