Lab 7: Turtle Graphics | CMSC 105 Elementary Programming - Fall 2024

Lab 7: Turtle Graphics

Points Possible: 100

Due: Thursday, October 17th

In this lab, we will write programs using turtle graphics.

Submission:

  1. Submit a Python file for the program.

De Stijl Art Movement

Overview

De Stijl (Dutch for “The Style”) was an influential modern art movement founded in 1917 in the Netherlands. It is known for its abstract, minimalist style that emphasized vertical and horizontal lines, rectangular forms, and the use of primary colors (red, blue, yellow) alongside black, white, and gray.

Key Characteristics:

Piet Mondrian (1872–1944)

One of the most famous figures associated with De Stijl, Piet Mondrian is best known for his iconic grid-based paintings featuring bold black lines, white spaces, and blocks of primary colors. His work is a hallmark of De Stijl and abstract art.

Mondrian believed in a form of Neo-Plasticism (“new art”) that emphasized the reduction of art to its most basic elements—color, line, and form. His works evolved from representational landscapes to purely abstract compositions, in which he used only straight lines and primary colors to represent the harmony of the universe.

Example of Mondrian’s Work:

Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow
Composition II in Red, Blue, and Yellow (1930) by Piet Mondrian

Mondrian’s Contributions:

Theo van Doesburg (1883–1931)

Theo van Doesburg was the founder of the De Stijl movement and an artist, architect, and theorist. He was a prolific advocate for the movement and its principles, working across different media, including painting, typography, and architecture.

Unlike Mondrian, who maintained strict adherence to vertical and horizontal lines, van Doesburg experimented with diagonal lines in his later work. This caused a split between him and Mondrian, but van Doesburg remained an influential figure within the movement.

Example of van Doesburg’s Work:

Counter-Composition VI
Counter-Composition VI (1925) by Theo van Doesburg

Van Doesburg’s Contributions:

Legacy of De Stijl

Although the De Stijl movement lasted only until the early 1930s, it had a lasting impact on modern art, architecture, and design. Its principles of abstraction, simplification, and the use of basic geometric forms influenced later art movements like Bauhaus, Minimalism, and Abstract Expressionism. De Stijl’s ideas continue to inspire architects, designers, and artists today.

Conclusion

The De Stijl movement was a radical and influential force in 20th-century art, led by figures like Piet Mondrian and Theo van Doesburg. Its emphasis on abstraction, simplicity, and harmony left a lasting imprint on both art and design, with Mondrian’s grid-based paintings and van Doesburg’s diagonal compositions standing as iconic examples of the movement’s aesthetic.

By studying De Stijl, students can gain a deeper appreciation of how art movements can influence modern aesthetics, from architecture to digital design.

Lab Assignment: Create Your Own De Stijl-Inspired Art Using Python Turtle Graphics

In this lab assignment, you will use Turtle Graphics to create an abstract artwork inspired by the De Stijl art movement. The design should reflect the minimalist, geometric style that characterizes the movement, including:

The final piece will consist of a grid of rectangles of varying sizes, with some filled with color and others left blank or outlined.

Note: Use the Turtle Graphics Guide on the class website for help with the turtle commands.

Submission Details

Save your file as art.py and add this file the Lab 7 assignment on Blackboard.

Skills Involved:

Challenge Description:

You will create a De Stijl-inspired composition by drawing a grid of different sized rectangles. Some rectangles will be filled with primary colors (red, blue, yellow), while others will remain white or outlined in black. The composition should emphasize simplicity, abstraction, and harmony, key principles of the De Stijl movement.

Requirements:

  1. Grid-Based Design:
    The composition should be based on a grid system where each cell of the grid contains a rectangle of given width and height.

  2. Primary Color Palette:
    Only use red, blue, yellow, black, white, and gray for coloring the rectangles. Some rectangles will be left white or outlined in black.

  3. Thick Black Lines:
    Ensure that the rectangles are separated by bold black lines, similar to Mondrian’s famous grid compositions.

Part 1: Draw a Basic Rectangle with Turtle

Rectangle Function

Write a function draw_rectangle(x, y, width, height, color) that will draw a filled rectangle starting at position (x, y) with the given width, height, and fill color. Ensure that each rectangle has a black border using pencolor('black') and pensize().

Part 2: Create a Grid of Randomized Rectangles

Grid Function

Write a function create_grid(rows, cols, screen_width, screen_height) that divides the turtle screen into rows and columns, with each cell of the grid containing a rectangle of different sizes.

To get the screen width and height you can use this code:

# Create a turtle screen object
screen = turtle.Screen()

# Get the screen width and height
width = screen.window_width()
height = screen.window_height()

Note: If you want to add randomness you can use this:

import random

# Get a random integer between 1 and 100 (inclusive)
random_number = random.randint(1, 100)
print(random_number)

Part 3: Customize Your Design

  1. Fills and Outlines
    • Modify the code so that some rectangles are only outlined in black (with no fill), while others are filled with a color.
    • Determine whether a rectangle should be filled or just outlined.
  2. Vary the Line Thickness
    • Adjust the thickness of the black lines separating the rectangles by using t.pensize(). Modify this slightly for a more dynamic effect.
  3. Proportional Rectangles
    • Keep the rectangles proportional to the grid, but allow variation in width and height. Ensure that some rectangles span multiple grid cells to create variety.

Grading Criteria: