Petronio Bendito

Associate Professor of Art and Design
Purdue University
West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

Through my Computational Color Design research, I develop algorithmic methods to produce color palettes for RGB and CMYK outputs. For the “Color Code, Algorithmic Lines” series I use a hybrid process of creation that combines mathematical and intuitive approaches for self-expression. I have found that color combinations generated from RGB planes and cuboids, despite being structurally simple, can produce sophisticated and expressive color palettes. Formalistically I orchestrate via color and shape visual solutions that propose a unified reading of extremes: balance and chaos; light and darkness; structure and spontaneity. I believe that procedural colors will play a major role in art and design color selection processes in the 21st Century.

Color Code, Black, and White 01
Color Code, Black, and White 01
50 x 50 cm
Digital Print
2022

The color palette of this artwork is derived from an algorithm that samples 32 colors from a cuboid that was created inside the RGB color model. The size and position of the cuboid determine the range of possible colors for sampling. Another algorithm placed the colors from the palette in hundreds of lines and in 6x6 matrix, defined as the color palette, which I subsequently manipulated using commercial computer graphic applications. The algorithm produced for this work was developed in Processing, a Java-based programming language. Inspired by Faber Birren's color triangle combinations (e.g., Color+Black+White), in this new work for my Color Code series, I combined a Cuboid Color Palette + Black + White (the white paper).