Gradient

Gradient is a generative art project commissioned by the Tezos Foundation and published on EditArt.xyz. This minimalist platform puts collectors in the artist’s seat, offering five sliders that shape each final edition.

Gradient was created for the Genuary 2025 22nd prompt “Gradients Only” proposed by Melissa Wiederrecht.
Gradient relies on the mesmerizing interplay of colors and shapes that remain visually still, yet full of depth and possibility.

The viewer is free to linger on each composition’s inherent qualities. Subtle changes in line thickness, color blending, and layered shapes create a world of detail—an invitation to slow down, observe, and contemplate how gradients can come alive in a static image.

Multiple Approaches to Gradients

I explored the “Gradients Only” theme in several ways:

• Complex Color Blending: Vibrant palettes that flow seamlessly into one another.
• Brightness Gradients: Line thickness varies to create light-to-dark effects.
• Slider-Driven Variations: Each of the five sliders opens a new dimension of possibility, introducing fresh shapes, textures, and hidden features.

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Layers & Isolines

This artwork is built on three layers, each defined by calculated isolines—like topographical lines mapping out geometric forms. Every layer can be tweaked with different parameters (color shifts, thickness adjustments, and line-color changes), enabling a broad range of final results. Depending on the specific settings, some layers may become more visually prominent than others, highlighting the interplay between them.

Collector Experience

As a collector, you shape the final piece by manipulating five interactive sliders:

1. Seed
   This slider defines a wide range of random values—sometimes even enabling hidden features like symmetry or inverted colors if fortune smiles upon you.
2. First Isoline Shape
   As you move the slider, you’ll cycle from 1 to 4 base forms (circles, noise patterns, lines, crosses, triangles, squares…). The further you go, the more complex your primary layer becomes.
3. Second Isoline Shape
   Similar shapes or starkly contrasting ones—you decide. The second isoline layer can blend seamlessly or stand out boldly against the first.
4. Isoline Thickness
   How deep do you want your lines to be? This slider adjusts the thickness of all three layers, creating gradients of brightness and ensuring each edition has its own visual density.
5. Color Palettes
   1. First Half: Simple, single-color palettes paired with a black-to-white gradient—clean, minimal, and elegant.
   2. Second Half: Divided into three tiers, more complex than the last. In the first tier, the palette affects the first isoline layer. In the second tier, it focuses on the second layer, and in the third, it brings in a kaleidoscope of richer, more intricate hues for the third layer.

With just a few slider movements, you can create strikingly different editions.

Open Edition

Gradient was released as a free open edition, so that anyone could play with the algorithm. When the mint closed in February 2025, collectors had shaped 1,330 editions, from subtle colour transitions to bold, layered shapes. They can still be browsed on EditArt.