A noise field translated into circles, squares, diamonds, and flowing rules.
Two generators, doing different jobs
var noise = new SimplexNoise(Seed);
var random = new Random(Seed);
Two sources of variation, and they are not interchangeable. Presets then decide how
to translate those sources into marks.
The noise is smooth and positional: it sets each cell’s size and vertical offset, and
neighbouring cells get nearly the same value. That is what produces the field’s large
structure.
The random is independent per cell: where a preset asks for a mixed motif or axis,
it makes that local choice. That is what stops the field being a smooth gradient of one
motif.
var motif = r < 0.42 ? Motif.Circle
: r < 0.68 ? Motif.Diamond
: Motif.Square;
Smooth structure can select the motif as well as its scale, making the transitions in
the field visible without abandoning the piece’s compact geometric vocabulary.
A sixth of the cells.
A third. Copper Current assigns circles, diamonds, and squares to bands of the field,
making the changing noise legible as structure.
The line behind
Each cell also draws a short line behind its shape, before the shape is drawn. In
Copper Current the noise value rotates that line, so neighbouring rules bend together
into currents. Other presets use paired axes, fixed diagonals, or independent horizontal
and vertical rules.
That is what stops the shapes reading as isolated marks. Without the lines the field is
a scatter plot; with them it is a surface.
Half.
Three quarters. Note that adjacent cells agree in size and height without consulting
each other — the agreement is a property of the noise, sampled independently at each
position.
The full field.
Five designs, one presentation
Copper Current also appears once in a gallery presentation: a warm wood frame,
linen-coloured mat, and dark reveal surround the unchanged field. The framing is a
separate presentation layer rather than another generative preset.
| Rendering | Structure | Palette |
|---|
| Copper Current | noise-selected motifs and flowing rules | copper on deep blue |
| Copper Current — Gallery | the lead field in a matted gallery frame | copper, linen, and warm wood |
| Glacier Orbit | nested circles and diagonal rules | glacier blue and teal |
| Paper Lattice | square grid with crossed rules | charcoal and vermilion on paper |
| Ultraviolet Pulse | dense mixed motifs with strong displacement | violet on aubergine |
| Ember Rift | sparse diamonds tracing long currents | amber and ember on oxblood |
Determinism
The noise is seeded from the preset and sampled by position; random motif and rule
choices are seeded from the same number and consumed in cell order. System.Random is
not guaranteed stable across .NET versions, so the committed golden images are tied to
the repository’s pinned .NET 9 environment.
