Genetic Artist (Brushstrokes)

A Genetic Algorithm (GA) repaints a target image one brushstroke at a time, learning where each stroke should go.

How it works

1. You pick a target image. Every stroke uses the same round brush, always the same size and never rotated.
2. Each chromosome encodes a single stroke with just two genes: where it goes across and where it goes down. Its colour is picked up from the target at that spot.
3. Fitness rewards strokes whose pixels move the in-progress canvas closer to the target.
4. The best stroke is painted onto the canvas, and the GA starts over to pick the next stroke. Hundreds of strokes later, the painting emerges.

What to watch

• The first strokes block in the main colors. Later strokes refine edges and detail.
• The strip on the painting and the readout below it count the strokes painted and show how much closer the painting has come to the target. The bar under the painting fills as the run nears its time or stroke limit.

You can pause and resume at any time. To try another picture, pick it once the run is stopped or finished. Reset clears the painting, including after a run has finished. No sign-in needed.