An artist-friendly, visual-first on-ramp into programming — immediate feedback over syntax
8 March 2027
The first programming pillar, pitched deliberately at the student cross-training into code rather than as a bare general-purpose-language intro. It’s visual and immediate, using p5.js: draw something, change a number, see the change on screen, in the same second. If you already program, the point of today is different for you — see below.
Outline#
- p5.js’s canvas,
setup()/draw(), and a handful of shape functions — the whole vocabulary you need to start - variables and simple interactivity: mouse position and time driving what’s drawn
- for the art-proficient half of the room: this is your on-ramp — go slow, lean on what you already know about composition and colour
- for the programming-proficient half: the loop and the syntax aren’t new to
you — today is about scouting what p5.js gives you for free (shapes,
vectors, noise, a
WEBGLmode) versus what you’d otherwise write yourself, alongside mentoring your pair; the real depth for you comes back in Programming II (week 7) - how this connects back to the digitizing work from weeks 1–2
Teaching team
- Idris Fenn — tutor