Sketching with Processing

Those who know me know I love my chalkboard wall. I wanted to try to recreate a virtual chalkboard using Processing – which is very simple. Check it out by clicking to draw on the “chalkboard” above.

If you haven’t checked out Processing, you should. Processing is an open source programming language and environment for people who want to create images, animations, and interactions.

Here’s how simple it is to create a simple chalkboard like the one above using Processing:

void setup() {
  size(590, 400);
  fill(255);
  background(51);
}

void draw() {
  if(mousePressed) {
    stroke(255);
  } else {
    noStroke();
  }
  line(mouseX-1, mouseY, mouseX+1, mouseY);
  line(mouseX, mouseY-1, mouseX, mouseY+1);

}

Here are a few uses of Processing that have inspired me:

Just Landed: Processing, Twitter, MetaCarta & Hidden Data by Jer Thorp

On the Origin of Species: The Preservation of Favoured Traces by Ben Fry

Solar with lyrics by Robert Hodgin