This page contains examples of the graphics generated with the turtle graphics program. This is a pictorial index, so clicking on an image will bring up the Turtle Graphic IDE loaded with the program to generate the image. The description of the example tells what inspired the example, where more information can be found, or where similar things can be found.
There are two ways to use this. One is to explore the possibilities. The other is to use these as inspirations to do something similar or to even copy the design. You can use the example code to start from or you can try to build the design from a blank slate. You will learn more building your designs from scratch.
At last count there are 85 examples.
Graphic showing the Cartesian coordinate system used by turtle graphics.
A set of circles inscribed between the center point and the radius of a larger circle.
A set of circles inscribed between an inner and an outer circle.
Seed of life or flower of life pattern drawn with six evenly spaced circles of the same radius about a central circle of the same size. For more information see https://www.geometrycode.com/free/seed-of-life-pattern-construction-using-compass/
A set of concentric open and filled heart shapes.
A set of concentric hexagons.
A random polygon.
A set of randomly colored, randomly sized and randomly placed stars.
Randomly placed stick men.
This is an adaptation of an article from an early BYTE magazine about using early personal computers to do graphics.
A snowman.
Increasing sized squares each with a common corner point and a different start angle.
A spiral. Original program by Bernie Pope.
A weird colored squiggle.
Many rows and columns of five-pointed stars.
A large yellow five-pointed star.
Randomly colored lines radiating from the center.
Star burst formed from regularly spaced radial lines of two colors.
An animation is an image that appears to be moving. Here objects or colors are changed to suggest movement.
A set of rectangles that bounce on the edge of the canvas. Original program by Bernie Pope.
A set of dots whose colors change randomly. This was a prototype for a light sequencer.
A program to generate a series of boxes in a Fibonacci sequence. The length of the side of each box is equal to the sum of the lengths of the two preceding boxes.
Random-sized, random-colored rectangles are generated on a white background. Original program by Bernie Pope.
An animation of a stick figure doing jumping jacks.
A set nested triangles that are randomly colored and changing.
A set of nested triangles with progressive color changes to suggest movement toward the center. The program keeps track of the random colors used and migrates the colors from outer to inner triangles.
An example of telling a story with a set of still frames.
A tessellation is a mathematicians way of laying geometrically shaped tiles to completely cover a surface. Square tessellations are the simplest followed closely by rectangles, triangles and hexagons. Regular pentagons, those with equal angles cannot tessellate, but there are 18 pentagon shapes that do tessellate. Some shapes tessellate, but have unusual patterns that do not repeat (called non-periodic). Wall paper relies on periodic patterns for printing with a cylinder shaped pattern. A non-periodic pattern could not be practical for wall paper.
A tessellation using squares.
A tessellation using regular hexagons.
A tessellation using equilateral triangles. This pattern is periodic horizontally, but not vertically.
A tessellation using two different sizes of squares. This is also called the Pythagorean Tiling.
A tessellation using a pentagonal shape that looks like a baseball home plate.
Common brick laying pattern.
Bricks laid in a herring bone pattern.
Basket weave tessellation.
A program to show how Conway triangles can split to form 5 smaller triangles with the same angles. This pattern is non-periodic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinwheel_tiling.
Program to generate a tiling with 5-sided polygons that has with radial symmetry, but is non-periodic. For more information see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentagonal_tiling#Nonperiodic_monohedral_pentagons_tilings
One of four Pentagonal tessellations discovered by Marjorie Rice in 1976 and 1977. The first link has interesting animations of tesselations when changing a variable side or angle.
The mountain tessellation is one of several fixed diameter polyiamonds, a shape consisting of seven touching equilateral triangles. More information at https://www.recmath.com/PolyPages or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyiamond.
The small angle of a rhombus is 60° so that six can form around a central point. The rest just line up on this initial center. Form is radially symmetric, but is aperiodic. Not sure of the source.
li>The Collidescape(tm) game uses two triangular shaped pieces. Both triangles are isosceles triangles. The angles of the two triangles use a base angle of 180/5 or 36 degrees. The narrow triangle has angles of 36, 72, and 72. The wider triangle has angles of 108, 36, and 36. To make interesting patterns, two colors are used for each of the two shapes. For more information see http://gamepuzzles.com/pentuniv.htm
li>This was a tessellation found on a wall paper pattern.
This was an aperiodic tessellation found on the Wikipedia site at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_tile. This works better with a narrow canvas. Edit for variety of tiles and colors.
A program to show how Conway Pinwheel triangles can split to form smaller triangles with the same angles. This pattern is non-periodic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinwheel_tiling.
Divide a triangle to five similarly shaped triangles to form a Conway pinwheel. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinwheel_tiling.
Expand a triangle into a larger Conway pinwheel with the addition of 4 similarly sized triangles. For more information see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinwheel_tiling.
Several generations of a Heighway dragon curve, also known as the Harter–Heighway dragon or the Jurassic Park dragon. Better animations at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_curve.
The Gosper curve, also known as Peano-Gosper Curve, named after Bill Gosper, also known as the flowsnake (a spoonerism of snowflake). See more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gosper_curve.
The Koch curve is a mathematical curve and one of the earliest fractal curves to have been described. More information at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koch_snowflake.
The Koch snowflake, also known as the Koch curve, Koch star, or Koch island is a mathematical curve and one of the earliest fractal curves to have been described. More information at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koch_snowflake.
Concentric set of Koch Snowflakes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koch_snowflake.
Hilbert curve (also known as a Hilbert space-filling curve) is a continuous fractal space-filling curve first described by the German mathematician David Hilbert in 1891. More information at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilbert_curve.
"Sierpiński curve is a fractal curves discovered by Wacław Sierpiński, which completely fill the unit square so is an example of a space-filling curve. More information at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierpinski_curve. Original program by Bernie Pope.
The Sierpinski triangle, also called the Sierpinski gasket or the Sierpinski sieve, is a fractal and attractive fixed set with the overall shape of an equilateral triangle, subdivided recursively into smaller equilateral triangles. It is named after the Polish mathematician Wacław Sierpiński, but appeared as a decorative pattern many centuries before the work of Sierpiński. More information at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierpinski_triangle.
Polyhedra are three-diminsional geometric objects. These include the five platonic solids: tetrahedron (4 triangle faces), cube (6 square faces), octahedron (8 triangle faces), dodecahedron (12 pentagon faces), and icosahedron (20 triangle faces). More information at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platonic_solids or at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyhedron. There are various ways to display these in two dimensions including a model, that can be printed, cut out and glued, and a graph which shows all edges, vertices (points), and faces.
Program to draw a graph of a dodecahedron (12-faced polyhedron). For more information see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_dodecahedron https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodecahedron
A graph of a icosahedron (20-faced polyhedron). The graph is a two-dimensional representation of the 20-faced icosahedron. Each face and vertice is shown. For more information see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_icosahedron or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icosahedron
A model for a snub icosadocahedron, a 92-face polyhedra. Print two of these, cut out (maybe leaving tabs) and glue or tape edges together. For more information see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snub_dodecahedron
An asymmetric single page model of a hexapentakis truncated icosahedron. Print this, cut out (maybe leaving tabs) and glue or tape edges together. For more information see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexapentakis_truncated_icosahedron .
A symmetric single page model of a hexapentakis. Print this, cut out (maybe leaving tabs) and glue or tape edges together. For more information see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexapentakis_truncated_icosahedron.
A symmetric half page model of a hexapentakis truncated icosahedron. Print two of these, cut out (maybe leaving tabs) and glue or tape edges together. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexapentakis_truncated_icosahedron.
A series of arcs and curves to test that they can be created from various start points and extents.
A line drawing of uniform triangles forming a compass rose. (The intermediate 8 points, NNE, etc., are of a different size to fit the pattern.) Small angle of triangle has a 45° angle so that 8 of them fit around the central point.
A line drawing forming a compass rose. (The intermediate 8 points, NNE, etc., are of a different size to fit the pattern.) Small angle of triangle has a 45° angle so that 8 of them fit around the central point.
A colorized drawing of uniform triangles forming a compass rose. Small angle of triangle has a 45° angle so that 8 of them fit around the central point.
A line drawing of sixteen points with interconnecting lines. This is drawn with a series of spikeys (see Tutorial.)
A set of overlapping squares drawn using squares. Design inspired by a wooden block artwork seen in a restaurant.
A set of overlapping squares drawn in a rasterized method using only line segments and no turns. (This illustrates the concept that there is more than one way to skin a cat.) Design inspired by a wooden block artwork seen in a restaurant.
A tessellation of 30° isosceles triangles forming six pointed stars. This is drawn as a set of central points surrounded by eminating lines that form the triangles. This design was also found in a restaurant.
A tessellation of equilateral triangles forming six pointed stars and hexagons. This is similiar to a pattern generated by a trianular girih tile. (See Girih).
Random stick trees. This was inspired by similar work on https://studio.code.org/projects/artist. I believe that the Computer Generated Images of trees were done in a similar, although much more complex, fashion by a company based in Columbia, SC.
The US flag.
Ajlun by Steven Naifeh. More information at https://stevennaifeh.com
Cyrene by Steven Naifeh. More information at https://stevennaifeh.com
Jeresh by Steven Naifeh. More information at https://stevennaifeh.com
Program to draw Mamluk by Steven Naifeh. More information at https://stevennaifeh.com
The smaller Mizen pattern by Steven Naifeh. More information at https://stevennaifeh.com
The larger Mizen pattern using six of the smaller Mizen patterns by Steven Naifeh. More information at https://stevennaifeh.com
Petra by Steven Naifeh. More information at https://stevennaifeh.com
Saida Inverse by Steven Naifeh. More information at https://stevennaifeh.com
This is classic Sol LeWitt. He started wall painting with a similar design. Rather than be confined to the limits of a canvas, he chose to paint the entire wall. The theme of the four line types is carried over into many of his conceptual pieces with many permuations. The four line types (according to LeWitt) are: horizontal, vertical, slanting right, and slanting left.
This is a variant of the four line types, where each line type adds to the line types used in the previous quadrant.
LeWitt uses a playful motif of intersecting concentric circles with bands of bold colors. This drawing is a proof of concept of how to calculate the centers of the various sets of concentric circles.
A pentahex consists of game pieces of various shapes each made from five hexagons. The objective is to place the pieces to form specified shapes or to create a shape with as many one unit holes in it as possible.
The game of life was conceived by William Conway as a way to study cellular automata, the idea where a simple discision is performed by individual cells without regard to the computation of other cells. The rules of lif are simple. A living cell that touches 0, 1 or 2 other cells dies as if from isolation. A living cell that touches 3 or four lives on to another generation. A living cell that touches 5 or 6 dies as if from over-crowding. A non-living cell may be given life or born if it is touching exactly 3 living cells. More infomation is at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway's_Game_of_Life and many other places on the web.
This puzzle consists of nine wooden blocks. The blocks may slide vertically or horizontally when there is space for them to move. There is one large block that is 2 units by 2 units, one horizontal block that is 2 units wide by 1 unit high, four vertical blocks that are 1 unit wide and 2 units high, and four small blocks that are 1 unit wide and 1 unit high. The objective is to move the large block from the top center position to the bottom center position. This puzzle goes by many different names: L'Ane Rouge (The Red Donkey), Haba's Quo Vadis, The VIP puzzle, Tryne's Hako, Square Root, Hix Brix, Mintman, Klotski, the Chessmen, Skor Mor's Ego Buster, Hua Rong Dao (Huarong Path), Daughter in the Box, Psychoteaze, Intreeg.
An animation of an analog clock. Original program by Bernie Pope. at random intervals. The traffic lights change to allow traffic to move or turn and waiting pedestrians to cross.
A simulation of eyes, pupils, irises, brows to show how simple movements of the face or eyes convey emotions.
The Miura fold (Miura-ori) is a method of folding a flat surface such as a sheet of paper into a smaller area. The fold is named for its inventor, Japanese astrophysicist Koryo Miura. This pattern allows the folded sheet to be opened by pulling opposite corners and to be refolded by pushing opposite corners. See more information at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/miura_fold.
This shows two waves emanating from the center of the right and left edges of the canvas. This also shows the interference pattern of the waves collision.