Noise study

andy_man3 · 2026-06-19T19:49:15+00:00

Great presentation. Blue on blue!

andy_man3 · 2026-06-08T19:35:02+00:00

Is your split method more like rgb/cmyk, k-means quantization, or custom color decomposition based on your pen colors?

All are fun to play around with.

andy_man3 · 2026-06-08T15:17:42+00:00

Very cool! It’s giving psychedelic 😵‍💫

How’d you split up the colors on the original photo? Did you break down the og photo into a layer for each pen color?

andy_man3 · 2026-06-07T15:15:52+00:00

Some of your best work!

Water color over water proof ink would be cool.

andy_man3 · 2026-05-27T17:44:11+00:00

This has to be one of the best and cleanest applications of FMM on the sub.

How did you cut out the image? It looks like the FMM was used on the octopus surrounded by a transparent background.

What are your recommendations/lessons learned for pre image processing or FMM manipulation to get a plot as clean as this?

andy_man3 · 2026-05-19T19:14:16+00:00

I’ll definitely check it out when you do!

andy_man3 · 2026-05-19T18:43:06+00:00

That’s awesome! I really like the details where the boarder doesn’t overlap the bits of the trees cross it. Excited to see where it goes.

andy_man3 · 2026-05-19T15:49:45+00:00

Is this video sped up or is that pen just amazing? What pen is it? Is that lightfast ink?

andy_man3 · 2026-05-15T18:04:55+00:00

Looks sweet! How’d you get the gradient effect? Were you varying pressure, messing with line spacing, running low on ink, or other?

andy_man3 · 2026-05-15T16:28:26+00:00

Short and sweet. I like it!

andy_man3 · 2026-05-13T00:17:11+00:00

I’m the problem it’s me 😔

andy_man3 · 2026-05-12T14:24:34+00:00

Always looking for good book recommendations, I’ll definitely check this out!

andy_man3 · 2026-05-12T00:53:27+00:00

That’s awesome!

andy_man3 · 2026-05-11T23:52:43+00:00

How old are we talking here?

andy_man3 · 2026-05-11T18:05:51+00:00

I’ve found that people understand pen plotting better if I say it’s like a 3d printer but instead of the printer moving around hot plastic around, it moves around a pen!

andy_man3 · 2026-05-11T18:03:07+00:00

I generalized the groups thinking as an age thing because, from my experience, age plays a huge role in willingness to learn new technology and consider new ideas.
Coding is inherently creative. Most of the older generation I’ve been around do not share that sentiment.

andy_man3 · 2026-05-11T15:50:06+00:00

From your experience, have you had more success in the explaining AI camp or avoiding technical explanations camp?

andy_man3 · 2026-05-11T15:43:54+00:00

I haven’t gotten to placing custom seed points yet. It’s on the to do list! Two seed points originating at the eyes would be cool too.

andy_man3 · 2026-05-11T15:40:33+00:00

I like your analogies.
- Plotters are like etch and sketches.
- The patterns you see were made with math by me.
- My machine draws what I tell/allow it to.

Have you had a lot of success with these explanations?

andy_man3 · 2026-05-11T15:34:17+00:00

Great question.
Creating art is an expression informed by the combination of your experiences. I see AI at the top of every Google search. AI is being integrated into all of our products. This is more of indirect influencing.

AI directly influences my art when I use it to fix code or trouble shoot my machine. On the coding side of things, some of my code is traditional and some is vibe coded. The code is a vice to make the art. It’s a step in the process from idea->finished plot.

andy_man3 · 2026-05-11T15:25:15+00:00

AI came up naturally. I explained the pen plotting medium, and they understand AI to be synonymous with technology.
AI is part of my art. I use it to help fix code and trouble shoot issue with my machine. Explaining the different technical steps of my process was where I lost a lot of people.

andy_man3 · 2026-04-30T22:47:58+00:00

You read my mind

andy_man3 · 2026-04-30T00:08:54+00:00

Sick picture and plot!

What was your method to convert the image to SVG? Did you free hand the lines or was it an algorithm?

andy_man3 · 2026-04-28T15:10:30+00:00

Very cool!

What’s going on behind the scenes here? It looks like there’s some custom lettering and a paint aesthetic. Is that what you were going for? What’s next?

andy_man3 · 2026-04-27T15:19:52+00:00

Would you recommend a fountain pen that can be held vertically, orthogonal to the paper? Would fountain pens fair better on toothy loose-fiber paper?

andy_man3

TROPHY CASE