Building Blocks
Building Systems
Building AI

Getting Edgy with Polygons

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to write your own custom command blocks while creating generative computer art.

Content

Video summary:

The video demonstrates how to use Snap!'s Pen blocks to create generative art. It covers pen down/up, changing pen color and size, building a reusable square block (abstraction) with a size parameter, adding randomness (position, size, hue/saturation/brightness), and loops to draw many shapes, and generalizing the idea into a polygon block with a sides parameter to produce varied, unpredictable artworks.

Key points:

  • Pen basics: pen down/up, set/change pen color and size to draw traces on the stage.
  • Build custom blocks (abstraction) like a square with parameters to reuse and simplify scripts.
  • Use randomness and loops for generative variation: random positions, sizes, and HSB color components.
  • Generalize to polygons by adding a sides parameter (turn = 360 / sides) to create varied shapes.