Science codes in art
Many artists use "science codes": rules from maths and physics that make a picture feel right.
- Ratio and proportion: the golden ratio is about 1.618 : 1. If you cut a square off a golden rectangle, the left-over piece has the same ratio again. Artists and builders have used it, though people sometimes claim it is in more places than it truly is.
- Symmetry: mirror, rotation and repeating patterns in rangoli, tiles and temple carvings.
- Perspective: a geometry method that makes a flat picture look deep. Lines that go away from you meet at a "vanishing point".
- Colour and light: a prism splits white light into colours. This helped artists understand why colours mix as they do.
Fractals: beauty from a repeating rule
A fractal is a shape in which a small part looks like the whole, again and again. The rule is simple: take a shape and repeat it at a smaller size on each part.
In the 3D tree, each branch splits in two, and each new branch splits again. At level 0 there is 1 branch; at level 1 there are 3; at level 2 there are 7; at level 3 there are 15. In general the number of branches is 2n+1 − 1.
Fractals appear in ferns, rivers, lightning, clouds, broccoli and the towers of many temples, where small towers repeat the big tower. Artists and digital designers use them to make rich patterns from a short rule.
Chemistry and the beauty of colour
Colour in paint comes from pigments, which are chemicals. Different atoms absorb and reflect light differently.
- Ochre (red/yellow): iron compounds in earth.
- Green (malachite) and many glazes: copper compounds.
- Blue (cobalt blue): cobalt compounds.
- Black: carbon from soot or charcoal.
Some old pigments were poisonous, and some fade in sunlight. Conservators (art scientists) test pigments to protect old paintings and to spot fakes. Crystals, soap bubbles and snowflakes are also chemistry made beautiful.
Artists and scientists
Artists and scientists both look closely, ask questions and test ideas. They often borrow from each other.
- Maths → art: perspective, developed in Renaissance Italy, uses geometry.
- Art → science: detailed drawings of the body and of nerve cells helped doctors learn. The Spanish scientist Santiago Ramón y Cajal drew nerve cells so carefully that his drawings are still used.
- Science → art: lenses and film created photography and cinema; microscopes and telescopes gave artists new images.
- Both: people like Leonardo da Vinci worked as artist, engineer and scientist at once.
Today, "STEAM" education adds Art to Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.
VR and AI in art
A digital picture is a grid of tiny squares called pixels. Each pixel is a few numbers for colour. A 16 × 16 picture has 256 pixels, and more pixels make a clearer picture.
AI art: an AI program learns patterns from a huge number of pictures and can make new ones from a text prompt. Artists use it as a tool. Questions remain: who owns the result, were the training pictures used fairly, and how should the AI be credited?
Virtual reality (VR): a headset shows you a computer-made 3D world and tracks your head, so you can walk through a sculpture or a painted scene. Museums use it for virtual tours.
Good habits: tell people when AI helped, respect other artists' work, and keep your own ideas at the centre.
Try it
In the 3D: (1) Find the ratio where the orange piece turns green. (2) Grow a tree to level 4 and count the branches before you read the label (it should be 31). (3) Make the heart picture with 4 pixels and then with 16 pixels.
At home: (1) Fold a paper in half again and again and cut a notch: unfold to see a repeating pattern. (2) Mix turmeric, chalk and soot with water to make three paints. (3) Draw a box using ruler lines that meet at a vanishing point.
Key formulas and definitions
- Golden ratio ≈ 1.618 : 1 (a square cut off leaves a similar rectangle)
- Fractal tree: branches at level n = 2^(n+1) − 1
- Image size = number of pixels = rows × columns
- STEAM = Science + Technology + Engineering + Art + Maths
Worked examples
1. A painting is 80 cm wide and 50 cm tall. Is its ratio close to the golden ratio?
80 ÷ 50 = 1.6, which is very close to 1.618. So yes, it is close to the golden ratio.
2. How many branches does the fractal tree have at level 4 if level 0 has 1 branch?
Branches = 2^(4+1) − 1 = 32 − 1 = 31.
3. A picture is 8 × 8 pixels. How many numbers (pixels) must the computer store? What if it becomes 16 × 16?
8 × 8 = 64 pixels; 16 × 16 = 256 pixels. Doubling the width and height makes 4 times as many pixels.
4. A restorer finds green paint that contains copper. Which pigment is it likely to be?
Copper compounds such as malachite (green) are a common source of green pigment.
Common mistakes
- Thinking the golden ratio is in every famous painting. It is a useful idea, but claims about it are often exaggerated.
- Saying a fractal is just a pretty shape. It is a shape built by repeating a rule at smaller sizes.
- Believing science is only for labs and art only for studios. They share looking, questioning and testing.
- Forgetting that AI art needs human choices and honest credit.