Stippling by Example

In this work, we focus on stippling as an artistic style and discuss our technique for capturing and reproducing stipple features unique to an individual artist. We employ a texture synthesis algorithm based on the gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) of a texture field. This algorithm uses a texture similarity metric to generate stipple textures that are perceptually similar to input samples, allowing us to better capture and reproduce stipple distributions. First, we extract example stipple textures representing various tones in order to create an approximate tone map used by the artist. Second, we extract the stipple marks and distributions from the extracted example textures, generating both a lookup table of stipple marks and a texture representing the stipple distribution. Third, we use the distribution of stipples to synthesize similar distributions with slight variations using a numerical measure of the error between the synthesized texture and the example texture as the basis for replication. Finally, we apply the synthesized stipple distribution to a 2D grayscale image and place stipple marks onto the distribution, thereby creating a stippled image that is statistically similar to images created by the example artist

A graphical, scalable and intuitive method for the placement and the connection of biological cells

We introduce a graphical method originating from the computer graphics domain that is used for the arbitrary and intuitive placement of cells over a two-dimensional manifold. Using a bitmap image as input, where the color indicates the identity of the different structures and the alpha channel indicates the local cell density, this method guarantees a discrete distribution of cell position respecting the local density function. This method scales to any number of cells, allows to specify several different structures at once with arbitrary shapes and provides a scalable and versatile alternative to the more classical assumption of a uniform non-spatial distribution. Furthermore, several connection schemes can be derived from the paired distances between cells using either an automatic mapping or a user-defined local reference frame, providing new computational properties for the underlying model. The method is illustrated on a discrete homogeneous neural field, on the distribution of cones and rods in the retina and on a coronal view of the basal ganglia.Comment: Corresponding code at https://github.com/rougier/spatial-computatio

Enhanced associations with actions of the artist influence gaze behaviour

The aesthetic experience of the perceiver of art has been suggested to relate to the art-making process of the artist. The artist’s gestures during the creation process have been stated to influence the perceiver’s art-viewing experience. However, limited studies explore the art-viewing experience in relation to the creative process of the artist. We introduced eye-tracking measures to further establish how congruent actions with the artist influence perceiver’s gaze behaviour. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that simultaneous congruent and incongruent actions do not influence gaze behaviour. However, brushstroke paintings were found to be more pleasing than pointillism paintings. In Experiment 3, participants were trained to associate painting actions with hand primes to enhance visuomotor and visuovisual associations with the artist’s actions. A greater amount of time was spent fixating brushstroke paintings when presented with a congruent prime compared with an incongruent prime, and fewer fixations were made to these styles of paintings when presented with an incongruent prime. The results suggest that explicit links that allow perceivers to resonate with the artist’s actions lead to greater exploration of preferred artwork styles

Generation of automatic stippling illustrations from photographs for documenting archaeological pieces

[EN] Hand-made stippling has been used frequently in the process of drawing illustrations for documenting archaeological pieces. This is due to the fact that this technique represents in an efficient way shapes, tones, and textures, by means of distributing dots on the paper. The process of stippling has needed traditionally the ability of an artist, who usually produces the illustration from photographs. In this paper, a program that generates stippling illustrations of high quality is presented. The developed interface makes possible that any user can generate illustrations without the need of artistic abilities. The program is able to work in realtime, allowing the user interacts with the program. We have developed several artistic techniques in high level tasks that allow to improve the final results.[ES] El punteado manual se ha utilizado frecuentemente en el proceso de ilustración para documentar piezas arqueológicas. Esto se debe a que esta técnica es capaz de representar de forma eficiente formas, tonalidades y texturas mediante la distribución de puntos en un papel. Estas ilustraciones requieren las habilidades de un artista, el cual utiliza fotografías para realizarlas. En este artículo se presenta un software que genera ilustraciones punteadas de alta calidad de forma automática. La interfaz desarrollada hace posible que cualquier usuario pueda generar ilustraciones sin la necesidad de habilidades artísticas. El programa trabaja en tiempo real permitiendo al usuario interactuar con el mismo. Hemos implementado varias técnicas empleadas por artistas como simples tareas de alto nivel que mejoran los resultados finales.Authors thank the collaboration of the illustrator Elena Piñar. Thanks to the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia of Spain for the projects TIN2007-67474-C03-02 and TIN2007-67474-C03-01, which have partially funded this work.Arroyo, G.; Martín, D.; Luzón, MV. (2011). Generation of automatic stippling illustrations from photographs for documenting archaeological pieces. Virtual Archaeology Review. 2(3):59-64. https://doi.org/10.4995/var.2011.4606OJS596423SECORD, A. (2002): "Weighted voronoi stippling". In Proc. of NPAR, ACM Press, pp. 37-43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/508530.508537DEUSSEN O. et al. (2000): "Floating points: A method for computing stipple drawings". Computer Graphics Forum 19, pp. 40-51. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-8659.00396HILLER, S. et al. (2003): "Beyond Stippling - Methods for Distributing Objects on the Plane". Computer Graphics Forum 22, 3, September, pp. 515-522. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-8659.00699DALAL, K. et al. (2006): "A Spectral Approach to NPR Packing". In Proc. of NPAR, ACM, New York, pp. 71-78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1124728.1124741BARLA, P. et al. (2006): "Interactive hatching and stippling by example". INRIA.SECORD A. et al. (2002): "Fast primitive distribution for illustration". In Thirteenth Eurographics Workshop on Rendering, pp. 215-226.SCHLECHTWEG S. et al. (2005): "Renderbots: Multi agent systems for direct image generation". Computer Graphics Forum 24, 283-290. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8659.2005.00838.xMOULD D. (2007): "Stipple placement using distance in a weighted graph". In Proc. of Computational Aesthetics in Graphics, no. 3. p. unknown.KIM, S. et al. (2009): "Stippling By Example". In Proc. of NPAR, ACM, New York, pp. 41-50. http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1572614.1572622ISENBERG, T. et al. (2005): "Breaking the Pixel Barrier". In Proc. of Cae, Eurographics Association, Aire-la-Ville, Switzerland, pp. 41-48.MACIEJEWSKI R. et al. (2008): "Measuring Stipple Aesthetics in Hand-Drawn and Computer-Generated Images", IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, pp. 62-74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/MCG.2008.3

Influence of Sea-Ice Anomalies on Antarctic Precipitation Using Source Attribution in the Community Earth System Model

We conduct sensitivity experiments using a general circulation model that has an explicit water source tagging capability forced by prescribed composites of pre-industrial sea-ice concentrations (SICs) and corresponding sea surface temperatures (SSTs) to understand the impact of sea-ice anomalies on regional evaporation, moisture transport and sourcereceptor relationships for Antarctic precipitation in the absence of anthropogenic forcing. Surface sensible heat fluxes, evaporation and column-integrated water vapor are larger over Southern Ocean (SO) areas with lower SICs. Changes in Antarctic precipitation and its source attribution with SICs have a strong spatial variability. Among the tagged source regions, the Southern Ocean (south of 50 S) contributes the most (40 %) to the Antarctic total precipitation, followed by more northerly ocean basins, most notably the South Pacific Ocean (27%), southern Indian Ocean (16 %) and South Atlantic Ocean (11 %). Comparing two experiments prescribed with high and low pre-industrial SICs, respectively, the annual mean Antarctic precipitation is about 150 Gt yr1 (or 6 %) more in the lower SIC case than in the higher SIC case. This difference is larger than the model-simulated interannual variability in Antarctic precipitation (99 Gt yr1). The contrast in contribution from the Southern Ocean, 102 Gt yr1, is even more significant compared to the interannual variability of 35 Gt yr1 in Antarctic precipitation that originates from the Southern Ocean. The horizontal transport pathways from individual vapor source regions to Antarctica are largely determined by large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns. Vapor from lower-latitude source regions takes elevated pathways to Antarctica. In contrast, vapor from the Southern Ocean moves southward within the lower troposphere to the Antarctic continent along moist isentropes that are largely shaped by local ambient conditions and coastal topography. This study also highlights the importance of atmospheric dynamics in affecting the thermodynamic impact of sea-ice anomalies associated with natural variability on Antarctic precipitation. Our analyses of the seasonal contrast in changes of basin-scale evaporation, moisture flux and precipitation suggest that the impact of SIC anomalies on regional Antarctic precipitation depends on dynamic changes that arise from SICSST perturbations along with internal variability. The latter appears to have a more significant effect on the moisture transport in austral winter than in summer

Impressionistic techniques applied in sound art & design

Sound art and design collectively refer to the process of specifying, acquiring, manipulating or generating sonic elements to evoke emotion and environment. Sound is used to convey the intentions, emotions, spirit or aura of a story, performance, or sonic installation. Sound connects unique aural environments, creating an immersive experience via mood and atmosphere. Impressionistic techniques such as Impasto, Pointillism, Sgraffito, Stippling introduced by 19th-century painters captured the essence of their subject in more vivid compositions, exuding authentic movements and atmosphere. This thesis applied impressionistic techniques using sound art and design to project specific mood and atmosphere responses among listeners. Four unique sound textures, each representing a technique from Impressionism, and a fifth composite sound texture were created for this project. All five sound textures were validated as representative of their respective Impressionistic technique. Only sonic Pointillism matched its emotive intent. This outcome supports the research question that sound art and design can be used to direct listeners’ mood and atmosphere responses. Partnering Impressionistic principles with sound art and design offers a deeper palette to sonically deliver more robust, holistic soundscapes for amplifying an audience’s listening experience. This project provides a foundation for future explorations and studies in applying cross-disciplinary artistic techniques with sound art and design or other artistic endeavors