This is a collection of Processing sketches to depict the Jerusalem in my mind.
The Bible does not directly describe heaven, but depicts Jerusalem, the holy city that fell from the sky, which like a model of heaven, or a corner of it. So the following sketches also depicts part of the heaven in my mind.
The code for all the sketches is not long, and I create each of them inspiring by one or other people’s projects.
The Jerusalem in my mind begins with Waltz of the circles, which shows the beauty of math and the secret of the university. It is based on Instanced WebGL Circles. Waltz of the circles implements the similar effects of Instanced WebGL Circles in Processing and adds some interactions which makes it more expressive and interesting.
The most remarkable thing of Waltz of the circles is that although the whole visual effects is complex, the basic shape forms it is very simple. They are just some basic circles with diameter, color, position varying over time by triangular function.
When users move their mouse vertically, they can see how the change of the amount of the circles affects the final visual effects to better understand its principle. They can also move their mouse horizontally to reduce or increase the vertices of each circle to experience different beauty.
So the Jerusalem in my mind begins just like the mysterious universe where you put some math and some fundamental elements and you’ll be impressed by its evolutionary results.
Instead of using math to control particles, it is also possible to use physic principles to combine them into any shapes, then here comes to Ice and Fire.
Ice and Fire is inspired by the Fire brush, I change the color, shape and the definition of the particles.
Normally, fire and ice can’t coexist, but in my Jerusalem ice can burns into fire. This reveal one of the greatest joy of coding that you the god for your program, and here I make two contradictory things look harmonious.
There is an old saying that the sun always comes after wind and rain, but here fire comes after ice. A single spark can start a prairie fire after ice and snow, just like we need try hard to succeed.
Since fire and ice are mentioned, water cannot be ignored. And the sea has the most water in the world, so I must add the king of the sea to my Jerusalem, Acqman, who is one of my favorite super heroes.
There is a wonderful line in the movie "Acqman": What could be greater than a king? A hero. A king only fights for its nation. You fight for everyone.
Everyone is looking for sunshine, but no one can survive without air. Just like the king of sea who always comes and goes without a trace and silently protects everyone.
A flower can be a world, and a particle can be a planet.
I based the planet created by Santiago Fiorino to build a planet can grows tree by my own. Each time you click the planet, it will grow a tree with a random color.
And on this tree plant, it can only consist of three at most, otherwise the extra trees will die.
Whenever there is a plant, there will be a monster trying to eat it.
In my Jerusalem, it is the Gluttonous Squid which is inspired by this this Weird tentacle thingie. It is so cute that you will not be angry at all even it eats colorful plants for fun. The closer the mouse to it, the larger and faster it is.
There is always a little monster in everyone's deep heart, it has our best and worst sides.
Speaking to monster, I must illustrate the oldest and the most distinguished creature -- Rainbow Dragonin my Jerusalem.
The background of the sketch is my favorite color yellow and with the help of perlin noise and HSB color mode, a dragon consist of some rectangles has been created smoothly.
“My mom always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.” And here life was like a group of rectangles, you never know how they will look like in the end.
Uncertainty makes life worth looking forward to.
There is also a tiny little Mr.Bug except monsters and dragons. Unlike terrible and annoying bugs in programming, this bug is full of energy and is able to be easily getting along with. His dream is to travel around the world, which is the entire sketch for a 2d creature. Every time he reaches a new place, he will paint the cell as a sign of coming and this will eventually forms an amazing color pattern.
He can travel in BFS(Breadth-first search) or DFS(Depth-first search) algorithm, and switch between the two methods when user clicks the screen which makes him paint the world with both advantages of BFS and DFS.
The left picture below is only in BFS mode, it is a little bit monotonous, because the color is layer by layer as a result of the main feature of BFS. The middle picture below is only in DFS mode, it is not tedious but looks like in chaos. While the pattern is pretty comfortable and amusing when the bug takes into both modes account.
In real life, BFS means doing a part of tasks by turn, while DFS means doing tasks one by one. The bug tell us the truth that only when we make balance between two of methods, we can achieve a better outcome and enjoy a more pleasing and memorable journey.
This sketch is inspired by the great work done by Mike Bostock.
In my Jerusalem, sadness makes happiness more memorable.
Although a happy tree planet, a fearless gluttonous squid, a unpredictable rainbow dragon and a delightful Mr.bug makes my Jerusalem a happy place, there is also a broken heart representing despair and helpless.
This heart has been deformed hurt by the sad news it saws. No matter what, life is joy in suffering and all we can do is trying to be cute at the bottom of life.
And finally it comes to Clutch Shot which is the first Processing sketch I created and it is the key to my Jerusalem. Because it is the first time that I use code to record a tiny moment in my life which show me to a fancy world.
It tells a sad but educational story about an extremely dramatic basketball final in our University. Our team was ahead of about 20 points in the first half of the game, but was lost at the last second.
There is a big shooter and the defender is insignificant small compared to him. The result is obvious, the small ball is about to be thrown into the big basket!
