Daily Sketching

I've been writing code for nearly 20 years, but it has never been my primary pursuit. I fit code into my life through fits and starts between work and social commitments. I taught a lot of code too, which often took time away from my own practice.

I recently left my full time teaching position of nearly 17 years and started a Masters program at NYU IMA Low Res. I moved across the Atlantic Ocean, trading New Amsterdam for Old.

With considerably more time now, I decided to start a new practice, of writing a p5.js sketch everyday.

vertcial bars of grey, moving with a slider

Live sketches can be found at https://awdriggs.github.io/sketchaday/. I'm sharing all of my source code on github for anyone to reference.

Background

By no means am I the first or only person doing this, proved by a quick web search. I tried to find who was the first person to have a practice of a daily code sketch, but my search was fruitless. I figure it is a natural out growth of the practice that some artist keep of creating a daily drawing. And it was surely no accident that Processing called program a sketch. ITP at NYU has a class entitled 100 Days of Making for students to develop a this practice.

I have been inspired by the daily practice of Zach Lieberman who shares a daily animation of instagram. He posted about his daily sketches here.

My Goals/Structure

Create a sketch everyday, posted to the web and github.
Iterate. Keep daily sketches small and quick. Build on sketches from previous days.
Don't be too clever, resist the urge to optimize immediately.
Be gentle with myself. Play catch-up when needed. Know when to stop for the day.
Use daily sketches as a way to explore and solve problems for other projects.

How It's Going

So far it has been good to have a daily routine and a way to be creative even in small ways. I plan to keep this practice going as long as it doesn't feel like a drag, or taking away from other creative work.