CRAIYON

The new focus of much of the silicon industry is image generation.  Various software offerings let you generate images by simply typing in a few words.  The creation of visual images has been identified as more difficult than writing text.  Which of course is true, given our cultural repression of visual expression.  Creators of these systems will say that these programs will heighten your creativity.  We all want to be creators.  And now you can create an image with just a word or two.

Possibly you have already used this type of image generator.  If you haven’t, one that is free to use is called Craiyon.  It is indeed very easy: try it and see what you think.  The program generated this image for the input text, “Villa Savoye in water.”   There is an eerie satisfaction to this.  Your inner voice will say, I did that.  

Years ago, you would have to make an analogue drawing of Villa Savoye in water.  Or you could collage a printed image of VS and then paste in a printed image of water.  Later, with something like Photoshop, you could combine a photo of water and of VS, but you had to learn how to use the program and manipulate all those layers.  Now, you can get an image in 60 seconds after typing in a few words.  You get to watch a series of advertisements as the app crunches your request.  And the image, on face value, is comparable to what you might have produced with previous assembly methods.

Contrast the ease of Craiyon compared to what you are offered in Transparent Drawing, which, first and foremost, is all analogue.  Instead of a smooth, algorithmic one step, you engage in a slow, messy, involved, questioning, implacable creation method.  Just look at the messy and involved assembly at my drawing of VS at the top of the page!

Despite the trudging assembly, your creation is of a very high authenticity.  It is of you.  It came from your own internal biologic algorithms.  Not to mention that you create, with TD, a holistic form.  And your inner voice will REALLY say, I did that!  

A Craiyon image can be used as a Source Image, and combined with other images, just like we do with our Form Combines:  all visual geometry is equal.  If you draw from your algorithmic image, then Craiyon is TD approved.  Have fun, try it, and see what you think.