Hypercinema
Physical Computing
Computational Media
Computational Media
Week 08,09 : Pixels
Digitally Replicating the Analog Silk-Screen Process in p5.js
Will Xuan & Amelia Yang
In this sketch, we tackled the challenge of translating an analog art form into a digital medium.
Specifically, we focused on replicating the silk-screen printing process using p5.js. This sketch was part of an pair assignment with the objective to manipulate an image at the pixel level, resulting in a minute-long animation that revealed and concealed details over time using color properties to draw the viewer’s attention. The assignment encouraged us to think about what might be gained or lost through this translation into a digital format.
Our inspiration stemmed from contemporary pop artist Andy Warhol, who creatively embraced the occasional color misalignments and errors of traditional printing processes in his silk-screen prints. This inspired us to explore the CMYK printing technique in p5.js, aiming to see what happens when code attempts to layer colors together in a digital space.
To accomplish this, we deconstructed an image into separate RGB or CMYK color layers, sequentially overlaying each one to reconstruct the original. Using p5.js, we arranged for each layer to appear progressively from left to right, mirroring the physical action of ink being pulled across the screen—an intentional homage to the tactile, hands-on nature of the silk-screen printing process.
- reduction printing
- color filter
- iteration
- reinterpretation
- pop art
- error
Link to our sketch :
https://editor.p5js.org/willxuan99/sketches/ni0Dlh77c (CMYK ver.)
https://editor.p5js.org/Amelia_Yang/sketches/gDwj_Zn9Y (RGB ver.)