Salvador Dalí String Art Portrait

The idea

I already knew about "string art", the art of intertwining wire between nails to create figures, shapes or silhouettes. I then came across "string art portrait" by chance while doing further research. It uses the same principle, except that here, photos are reproduced thanks to the intertwining of threads which allows to recreate a photo by playing on the approach and the crossing of the thread to create the clear and dark zones of the photo. The lines are created from a single thread.

So I continued my research and I found an algorithm on GitHub (a site where you can find a lot of open-source projects) allowing to transform any image into hundreds of lines arranged in a circle. So I did some first tests and I was quickly taken by the desire to see what it could give in real life.

The realization

I had to find a way to transcribe the simulation of the algorithm so that I could reproduce the result. I analyzed the code of the algorithm made in python and by modifying a few lines, I managed to make it create a CSV file with the number of the nail where the thread is currently and the one where it must go. With this, I created a python interface to allow me to weave myself.

My interface is designed to save me time. I had the idea to split the total number of nails in different zones with 6 colors each. It's visually easier to find your way around using colors rather than numbers.

All that was missing was the support. I got a bicycle rim and hammered in about 200 nails.

Finally, I was able to weave my first piece of art in 7 hours.