# Freedom found in generative art

By [benblackburn.eth](https://paragraph.com/@benblackburn) · 2022-04-25

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I have been creating artwork for the past 5 years or so. When I first started, it was for personal expression like most of my creative work to that point. I have always had a hard time expressing how I feel with my words, but this gave me a sort of creative outlet that let me communicate the things that were hard for me.

Most of the time that expression has been a real gift for me, this ability to express myself through art. However, at times the process has also felt suffocating. I felt pressure to purely express what I was feeling while at the same time creating work that was abstract enough for the viewer to draw their own interpretations or have their own experience with my work. After a while, this made it more and more difficult to make art and more importantly to enjoy making it. I never felt less of a pull to create, but I found I was making less and less art because of this problem.

This past summer though my brother pushed me to look into NFTs and digital artwork. This is when I was reintroduced to Art Blocks and various other generative artworks. I must admit the first time I saw a Fidenza by Tyler Hobbs and heard it was created by “a computer” I didn't love it. But the more I saw the pieces and the more I understood generative artwork, the more intrigued I was. The artwork **is not** created by “a computer”. The artwork is created **by the artist**. Tyler is using his code as a medium, not dissimilar to how he would use his paintbrush to create a work of art on a canvas.

After becoming more intrigued with this new medium (new to me at least). I began learning more about how it was created. Thankfully, I have had enough exposure to JavaScript that I was able to start playing around with some free tools like [P5JS](https://p5js.org/), [Processing](https://processing.org/), and many tutorials.

Once I became more comfortable with it, things started to click. It was fun to be in a different medium. Because I was working with new tools, I was forced to start very simply. It was a practice of stepping out of my normal process and trying a different one to see what it could teach me. And it brought me back to some basics because I was out of my element. So, I had to start with color, shape, and composition. It was such a freeing process. I wasn't worried about conveying a complex idea. I was just trying to create a program that will make pleasing and interesting abstract works.

Below are a few example images from my project - **Langley** - an exploration of color, shape, and composition. I am hoping to release the project on [(fx)hash](https://www.fxhash.xyz/u/Ben%20Blackburn) in the next couple weeks.

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/f030fab35970bee614e2d0fd4ccf1971d9e6b4cca18504772578c1b6b4d8ec94.png)

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/017e7b126f36adb89b05486460a31e764d759bad3158fe524ba11643e4ae325d.png)

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/0dc9656c3edc2fd45c35701184b45ca9356695f897fa6b6993440f8ec4546c24.png)

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*Originally published on [benblackburn.eth](https://paragraph.com/@benblackburn/freedom-found-in-generative-art)*