DrawBot – Why are you crying?

Starry Night by Van Gogh, drawn by a freakin’ robot with ADD

Starry Night by Van Gogh, drawn by a freakin’ robot with ADD

After about half an hour I noticed my drawing robot was not making the low scritchy scratchy humming drawing noise.  I’ve started the drawing again…  It looked like it should have been working, the controller software indicated it was still connected, the command queue was still loaded, the Arduino + Motor Shield were still lit up, but it just wasn’t moving.

In retrospect, I should just have hit the reset button on the Arduino.  I think that would have made it pick up with the last command.  But, then I wouldn’t have the lovely picture above to show you!

Actually, I’m really really happy with the drawing quality.  Check out what it looks like when overlaid the subject image:

Starry Night by Van Gogh, drawn by a freakin’ robot with ADD, overlaid the subject image

Starry Night by Van Gogh, drawn by a freakin’ robot with ADD, overlaid the subject image

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Vincent, here I come!

The DeYoung museum in San Francisco has a special exhibit of Post-Impressionistic Painters on loan from the Musée d’Orsay in France.  I’m taking the day off work tomorrow to go check it out.  I know I’m not alone in saying Van Gogh is my favorite painter of all time.  More than any other painter, Van Gogh’s works speak to me of the wonder in the world around us.

I mentioned recently how much I loved a recent episode of Doctor Who entitled “Vincent and the Doctor.” 1  Well, someone uploaded a clip and sped up the audio.  It makes for disorienting listening, but the brilliant monologue from Bill Nighy as Dr. Black, a museum curator, answering the question, “Where do you think Van Gogh rates in the history of art?”  Just tune in at 1:52 for his response.2

Amusing side note, the DeYoung has a list of things prohibited at the exhibit:

  • No strollers or baby-carrying backpacks are allowed in the exhibition.
  • Tickets do not allow for re-entry into the exhibition; there are no restrooms located inside the exhibition galleries.
  • Sketching, photography, videotaping, and cell-phone cameras are not allowed in the exhibition.

Can you imagine?  No sketching while standing in front of the most inspirational works of art in all the world?!  :(

  1. That episode of Doctor Who may just stay on my DVR until it’s drives rot to pieces. []
  2. Well… um… big question, but, to me Van Gogh is the finest painter in the world.  Certainly the most popular, great painter of all time.  The most beloved, his command of color most magnificent.  He transformed the pain of his tormented life into ecstatic beauty.  Pain is easy to portray.  But to use your passion and pain to portray the ecstasy and joy and magnificence of our world? No one had ever done it before.  Perhaps no one ever will again.  To my mind, that strange, wild man who roamed the fields of Provenance was not only the world’s greatest artist, but also one of the greatest men who ever lived. []

Vincent

Wheat Field with Crows - Vincent Van Gogh

Wheat Field with Crows - Vincent Van Gogh

I had kept a few choice episodes of Doctor Who on my DVR, including several from this most recent season.  When working late, I like to have something playing in the background.  Unfortunately, my wife deleted the second1 half of the Season 5 finale.  Shortly after our DVR started to go and the whole thing had to be replaced.  We got the new one, but they don’t offer a “comes with all the episodes of Doctor Who you were saving” option. 2

Well, it took a while but BBC America re-ran all of Season 5, which I’ve been recording.

The one episode that just gets me every time is “Vincent and the Doctor.”  The guy who played Vincent was pretty damn good.  If nothing else, that episode also included some of my favorite pieces of art of all time, including the one above.

  1. And arguably better []
  2. Guys, we can put a man on the moon.  What about a pre-loaded with BBC sci-fi option on DVR’s?  Huh?  Can we do this? []

Worse than his usual rubbish

This last season of Doctor Who has been really great.  You have probably gleaned from this blog that I’m a big fan of the show.1

I just re-watched one of my favorite episodes from this season (there were many great episodes this season) – the one with Vincent Van Gogh.

A great bittersweet episode for a melancholy day.  :)

  1. Bonus points if you can name the episode from which I borrowed the title of this post []