Dulcinea's first painting, after she became completely automated, represents a milestone in the evolution of art and robotics. Dulcinea started this painting (24"x 42") one day in July 2003, continued painting during the night and finished in the early morning hours of the second day. The 3,500 brush strokes, color changes and brush washings were entirely automated.

Since Dulcinea is about fusing art with science, science should have a major role in how the art is created. Not only was this painting unattended, but the painting’s composition and color palette were generated with artificial-life (alife) and artificial-intelligence techniques respectively.

The painting's design was created using genetic programming, a form of alife. Initially, two “small colonies of ants' were selectively bred and roamed around creating the background patterns for the painting, including obstacles and ridges. Then, three other small colonies of ants created the orange and red foreground, or main patterns of design. Both sets of patterns were then converted into brush strokes.

The color palette was generated utilizing a rule-based, expert system with some fuzzy logic. The colors where derived from three parameters given to the program: mood (happy), style (Flemish) and key (high).

There is certainly something fascinating about possible outcomes, when software is written to create something that has the ability to then create something else on its own, just like the design and colors for this painting. This excitement for the unexpected outcome would lead to similar efforts, as we'll see.

>> See detailed brush strokes