Module

Lines

Draw with a single rule

Lessons

Video

2h 10m

Your progress

100

Teacher

Mara Ellison

( Overview )

You will learn

Canvas coordinates · Loops · Angles · Flow fields

You will finish with

A woven flow-field poster

Start with the canvas grid, loops and angles. By the end, thousands of lines follow one rule and weave a poster.

What this module covers

Lines is where everyone starts, whatever you have made before. We set up a canvas, learn how x and y really work, and draw our first line in about four minutes.

From there each lesson adds one idea: loops, angles, walking lines, then the flow field, where every line asks the same question of a noise map. You will end with a print-ready poster and the habit of changing one number at a time.

What you need

A browser and the Lumrow sketchbook. No installs, no prior coding.

( Lessons )

Every lesson in this module.

The first two lessons of every module are free to watch. Each one opens in the Lab when you finish.

01.1

The canvas is a grid

Coordinates, pixels and why y points down.

Free preview

min

→

01.2

Your first line

moveTo, lineTo, stroke. Then change one number.

Rendered live from the module’s own sketch. Your version will look different, which is the point.

( Try it now )

Change a number from the course.

Three lessons from across the course, running live. Drag any yellow value.

01-6-flow-field.js

// 01.6 Flow fields: every line follows the noise
const scale  =0.0028  // how far you zoom into the noise
const turns  =1.60  // how hard the lines curl
const lines  =2200  // how many lines to draw
const steps  =70  // how long each line runs
const weight =0.8  // stroke width in px
for (let i = 0; i < lines; i++) {
  let [x, y] = randomPoint()
  for (let s = 0; s < steps; s++) {
    const a = noise(x * scale, y * scale) * TAU * turns
    lineTo(x += cos(a), y += sin(a))
  }
  stroke(chalk, weight)
}

canvas 1:1seed 007drawing 0%

↔ Drag any yellow number. The drawing starts over.

( Your teacher for this module )

The first time a loop you wrote draws something you did not expect, you are hooked. My job is to get you there by lesson three.

Mara Ellison

Lead instructor

Mara has made generative prints and installations for twelve years, including a 40-metre wall for a Lisbon metro station. She writes the Lab lessons and marks every cohort project herself.

( Next module )

Lines

Draw with a single rule

A woven flow-field poster

Start with the canvas grid, loops and angles. By the end, thousands of lines follow one rule and weave a poster.

What this module covers

What you need

Every lesson in this module.

The canvas is a grid

→

Your first line

→

Loops that draw

→

Angles and turns

→

Walking lines

→

Flow fields

→

Weight and rhythm

→

Project: a woven poster

→

A woven flow-field poster

Change a number from the course.

The first time a loop you wrote draws something you did not expect, you are hooked. My job is to get you there by lesson three.

Noise

→