Timeline

Cycle through the menu above, to see an evolution of thread art over time!

Proof of concept

July 2019

In the summer of this year, I had the idea for making thread art, and started writing my first ever algorithm.

It was very rough and basic, since I didn't have much experience coding in Python at that point. The core of the algorithm was to generate a large number of random lines going through the image, choose the line which had the highest average darkness, then draw this line and slightly increase the brightness of the image along it. This way, the algorithm would retrace old paths less frequently, and eventually everywhere would be covered in proportion to its darkness.

I started with simple shapes that would be very easy to replicate with straight lines. The first ever working piece was a recognisable letter A - shown below.

As basic as it was, this was one of the most exciting moments for me, because it represented a proof of concept. I knew the method worked, and I could see clearly how it could generalise to more complex images.

Designing my first piece

July 2019

My very first thread art project was a portrait of my mother, for her upcoming 50th birthday.

At this point, my algorithm was still very basic, but it worked surprisingly well - capturing gradients and subtleties much better than I had expected.

Construction challenges

August 2019

In fact, the physical construction challenges proved to be greater than the algorithmic ones.

I decided a bike wheel would be a suitable medium for this artwork, so I went to the local bike store and asked if they had any spare wheels that they were planning to throw away - fortunately they had a bunch! I brought them home, used a pair of pliers to cut off all the spokes, then hammered a total of 360 nails through the wheel at regularly spaced intervals.

This process was, as you can probably imagine, pretty time-consuming and painful - not just for me, but also for the copy of The Zulu Principle that I was using as a stand (see right image), which must have had at least five nails through it by the end!

These days, I have moved away from nails and instead use picture hooks. As well as being easier to use, they also allow me to get more resolution, because I can use each side of the picture hook as a separate point on the perimeter (unlike nails, which are too thin to meaningfully be counted as two separate points).

Looking askance

August 2019

The process of threading got off to a rough start.

Work was slow, with me constantly having to look at a laptop screen propped next to me for a list of numerical instructions, and matching them up with the numbers scribbled around the perimeter of the image.

1500 threads into my total of 4000, I came to the realisation that I had made a transpositional error - I had been matching up the instructions in the wrong way, and would have to start again (see the first image below). I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about quitting at that point!

Luckily, after re-generating my lines (which back in those days took me several hours, thanks to the inefficiency of my code), I started again, and finally I was successful!

Hello darkness my old friend

September 2019

As I continued making thread art, there were several other challenging moments. One of the most memorable was a brief experimentation with using thin rings of mdf (a relatively cheap type of wood, which can be laser-cut to a precise specification).

One thing I hadn't counted on was the radial pressure the threads would exert on the wood - even though each one individually applied very little force, in their thousands the force added up fast! I tried to save this piece, but in the end the pressure was too much, and it splintered in half.

First colour

September 2019

After my monochrome tiger splintered, my next attempted project was a coloured tiger. I wanted to put orange threads behind the black, so the colour would seep through, making the piece more interesting.

Note that, although this technically uses colour, I still categorise it with the black and white images. That's because it used a very similar simple methodology. I took the image of the tiger, isolated the "saturation" component in the HSV decomposition, generated threads for that image just like for a normal monochrome one, then turned those threads orange post-production.

In the studio

August 2020

For a long time after these first few images, I continued in a similar way. I made tweaks and improvements to the algorithm over the next few months - most notably introducing an "importance weighting" that let me prioritise accuracy in certain important areas like facial features, at the expense of accuracy in less important areas like the background.

It was modifications like these that allowed me to make progressively more detailed pieces, such as the one I'm working on in the images below (Audrey Hepburn).

However, I remained preoccupied with the problem of colour. I felt that, if there was a way to create black and white thread art pieces, then there should be a way to make ones in full colour. The difficult lay in how to separate out the different coloured components of the image.

The challenge

December 2020

This piece illustrates the challenge of rendering full-color images. The problem is that recognising subtle shifts in gradient and knowing how to treat them is a much harder problem than the one-dimensional light/dark variation that was sufficient for generating black and white images.

I tried many different methods, but most of them ended up like the image below — able to recognise blocks of colour, but not even coming close to integrating those colours with each other in a realistic way.

Hopes of success...

January 2021

At the start of 2020, I believed that I'd cracked the secret of how to make coloured thread art. The algorithm was based on the one I used for black and white images; instead of measuring the fit of a line to an area by taking the average darkness of the pixels it would be crossing over, it took the average dot product of the colour of the proposed line (in RGB space) with the pixels. Since this would always choose darker lines over lighter lines, I added a normalisation factor.

I found that even with a very limited palette (usually the four printing colours of cyan, magenta, yellow and black), I was able to produce some very nice-looking artwork. Below are two examples, both scenes from the Harry Potter films (if you couldn't tell from my website already, I'm quite a big fan!).

...dashed.

January 2021

Of all the tough moments when making thread art, this might have been the hardest one to face.

I realised that I'd been making a critical error in my algorithm - I had been assuming the threads were semi-transparent, so that they each only changed the brightness of an area by a limited amount (e.g. 100 on the scale from 0 to 255), and crucially that they could form new colours if laid on top of each other.

I didn't know how critical an assumption this would be, but a quick test showed quite how much it mattered. On the left: Mona Lisa with overlapping threads allowed. On the right: Mona Lisa with each thread a solid colour. Although it doesn't seem possible, these are actually the same image!

The method hadn't been completely worthless - I had managed to create an interesting form of digital art by allowing the threads to overlap. Unfortunately however, for the matter of creating physical full-color thread art, this meant I was back to the drawing board.

Colour, at long last

March 2021

Finally, a few months after my last false hope, when I had nearly given up, I cracked the mystery of how to make images in full colour, without making any unrealistic assumptions like transparency of thread.

To say that this was an exciting moment for me would be something of an understatement! It was the culmination of a nearly two-year struggle, which for a long time I thought would lead nowhere. As I recall, there was a bit of manly crying involved.

I went straight to work creating a physical piece from this new algorithm. The number of threads I needed had jumped upwards - because now I had to fill in the background, not just the areas of detail. The stag took just over 10,000 threads - by far my largest number ever. It took me a little over 20 hours to make.

...and the future?

Since being able to produce full-color images, I've been continally improving the algorithm, looking for new images to create and new directions to take the art.

I've found images that work in thread art just as well as the stag (above), and I've found new methods of art based on similar principles, including art with hexagons, Chinese characters, and translucent rectangles (below).

I also have hopes of making the algorithm work more reliably, so that I will be able to produce images of anything I want at any time, rather than having to search for suitable images.

In summary, I have no idea what the future will bring for thread art, but I'm excited to find out!

Make your own

This link will direct you to a page where you can design and download your own thread art!

Bio

I am an ex-Master's student, having finished my maths degree at Cambridge University earlier this year. I will be starting a job as a quantitative trader later this year, at Jane Street Capital.

I was interested in art from primary school, and enjoyed trying new and creative forms of art including matchstick models and mosaics formed out of collected sea shells. In secondary school, I explored pencil drawing, but it wasn't until university that I discovered a form of art which could bridge my passion for maths and computer science with that for art.

The thread art algorithm was first created over the summer following my first year of university. At the time I was doing an internship in an unrelated field; it was unpaid meaning the company had no incentive to make sure I was doing useful things, and I had no skills or domain knowledge, hence no ability to do useful things — a match made in heaven. I subsequently spent most of the summer working on the algorithm and staring listlessly out of the window.

I identify as a member of the Effective Altruism community, which is devoted to tackling the world's most pressing problems in a high-impact way. 50% of the sales from my artwork go to GiveWell, the independent charity evaluator, as well as other Effective Altruism-aligned organisations.

My other notable achievements include holding a Guinness World Record for the lamest possible reason, and earning the nickname "the mole" in primary school owing to my tendency to remain indoors, rather than expose myself to daylight.

FAQ

Here, I attempt to answer a few questions I get asked frequently about my work. If you have a question that isn't listed here, feel free to reach out to me via the contact form - I'd love to hear from you!

How many threads are used in each image?

The black and white thread pieces use around 3000 each. The most any single piece uses is David Bowie: Aladdin Sane, which uses almost 5,000 threads in total (this includes 200 blue and 600 red threads to form the lightning bolt).

The colour images use substantially more, because they require me to create a background as well as a foreground, rather than relying on the contrast between black thread and empty space. Of all the pieces I've created, the tiger took the most threads at 13,000. This works out to around 11.7 kilometers in total.

How do you choose which images to create?

A combination of factors, including peoples' suggestions, and inspirations I get while browsing the web. One difficulty of the method is that not every image is suitable for thread art, and it's often difficult to tell a priori which ones will work. As an anecdotal example, dogs tend to work very poorly with this method, but cats seem to work very well (this includes tigers, lions, leopards, and all members of the cat family). If anyone thinks they have an explanation for this, they are welcome to share it with me!

Do you make images on commission?

Yes - although this comes with a qualifier. As mentioned in the previous question, it's difficult to tell which images will work well in thread art, and many images fail to give good results. This is why I created the MAKE YOUR OWN section of the website, so users can upload photos and generate a rough prototype to see if they will be suitable for thread art.

How long does it take to make a piece?

This varies depending on the type of piece. The black and white pieces generally take the least time (around 5-7 hours), because they have the fewest threads. The full colour images take the longest - making the full colour tiger took the longest of all my pieces so far, clocking in at nearly 20 hours.

However, I'm currently building a robotic gantry system to assemble these pieces much more efficiently. I will discuss this in more detail on the website once I have produced more pieces.

Contact

Please fill out the following information, and I will get back to you as soon as possible!

Black and White

**David Bowie: Heroes**
2019
Colours: black£ TBC
58cm x 58cmPrints from £ TBC

**Tiger**
2019
Colours: black, orange£ TBC
58cm x 58cmPrints from £ TBC

**Butterfly**
2020
Colours: black£ TBC
58cm x 58cmPrints from £ TBC

**Heath Ledger as the Joker**
2020
Colours: black, red£ TBC
58cm x 58cmPrints from £ TBC

**Golden Gate Bridge**
2020
Colours: black, white, red, blue£ TBC
58cm x 58cmPrints from £ TBC

**Jack Nicholson (The Shining)**
2020
Colours: black£ TBC
58cm x 58cmPrints from £ TBC

**Anthony Hopkins (Silence of the Lambs)**
2020
Colours: black£ TBC
58cm x 58cmPrints from £ TBC

**Lion**
2020
Colours: black£ TBC
58cm x 58cmPrints from £ TBC

**Winston Churchill**
2019
Colours: black£ TBC
58cm x 58cmPrints from £ TBC

**David Bowie: Aladdin Sane**
2020
Colours: black, white, red, blue£ TBC
58cm x 58cmPrints from £ TBC

**Jellyfish**
2020
Colours: black, white£ TBC
58cm x 58cmPrints from £ TBC

**Audrey Hepburn**
2020
Colours: black£ TBC
58cm x 58cmPrints from £ TBC

**Salvador Dali**
2020
Colours: black£ TBC
58cm x 58cmPrints from £ TBC

**Plant Spiral**
2020
Colours: black, red£ TBC
58cm x 58cmPrints from £ TBC

**Einstein**
2020
Colours: black£ TBC
58cm x 58cmPrints from £ TBC

**Hands**
2020
Colours: black£ TBC
58cm x 58cmPrints from £ TBC

Tiger

2019

Colours: black, orange

58cm x 58cm

This piece was made by removing the spokes from a bike wheel, attaching brass hooks around the circumference, and winding thread around these hooks according to a predetermined set of instructions, chosen by a computer program.

This was my first experiment with colour - although it still uses a similar style & technique as my other black and white images, and it wasn't until later that I started generating full-color images.

Churchill

2019

Colours: black

58cm x 58cm

Colour

Stag (color) — **Stag£ TBC**
2021Prints from £ TBC
Colours: black, white, medium blue, navy, turquoise

**Snake£ TBC**
2022Prints from £ TBC
Colours: black, white, yellow, red

**Phoenix£ TBC**
2021Prints from £ TBC
Colours: black, white, blue, red, orange

**Fractal£ TBC**
2021Prints from £ TBC
Colours: black, white, orange, gold, blue

Snowleopard — **Snow Leopard£ TBC**
2021Prints from £ TBC
Colours: black, white

Cateye — **Cat's Eyes£ TBC**
2021Prints from £ TBC
Colours: black, white, sky blue

Tigereye — **Tiger's Eyes£ TBC**
2021Prints from £ TBC
Colours: black, white, orange

Tiger (color) — **Tiger£ TBC**
2021Prints from £ TBC
Colours: black, white, orange, red

**Eye£ TBC**
2021Prints from £ TBC
Colours: black, white, salmon, dodger blue

**Leopard£ TBC**
2021Prints from £ TBC
Colours: black, white, orange

Snowleopardblue — **Snowleopard (blue eyes)£ TBC**
2021Prints from £ TBC
Colours: black, white, sky blue

**Dragoneye£ TBC**
2021Prints from £ TBC
Colours: black, white, light green, dark green

Fish — **Clownfish£ TBC**
2021Prints from £ TBC
Colours: black, white, blue, orange

**Lightning£ TBC**
2021Prints from £ TBC
Colours: black, white, aquamarine, midnight blue

Cat — **Blade Runner 2049 (fan art)£ TBC**
2022Prints from £ TBC
Colours: black, white, red, blue

**Cat£ TBC**
2021Prints from £ TBC
Colours: black, white, orange, pink

**Tron bikes£ TBC**
2022Prints from £ TBC
Colours: black, orange, turquoise

**Rubber Duck£ TBC**
2022Prints from £ TBC
Colours: black, red, yellow, white

Bulb — **Rubber Duck£ TBC**
2022Prints from £ TBC
Colours: black, yellow, white

**Earth£ TBC**
2022Prints from £ TBC
Colours: black, blue, green, white

**McDonald's Cup£ TBC**
2022Prints from £ TBC
Colours: black, yellow, white

Nuclear Bomb — **Nuclear Blast£ TBC**
2022Prints from £ TBC
Colours: black, red, orange, white

**Cat£ TBC**
2021Prints from £ TBC
Colours: black, white, orange, pink

**Eye£ TBC**
2021Prints from £ TBC
Colours: black, white, salmon, dodger blue

**Blade Runner 2049 (fan art)£ TBC**
2022Prints from £ TBC
Colours: black, white, red, blue

Stag Patronus

2021

Colours: black, white, medium blue, navy, turquoise

This piece was made by attaching brass picture hooks around the perimeter of a piece of wood, and winding thread around these hooks according to a predetermined set of instructions, chosen by a computer program.

I chose this image because I have always loved Harry Potter, and this image seemed uniquely suited to the medium of coloured threads. The white and light blues combine in the centre of the image, making it appear as if the patronus is glowing.

This is the first ever piece of full-color thread art that I made, and to this day it is still my favourite!

Tiger

2021

Colours: black, white, orange, red

This piece was made by attaching brass picture hooks around the perimeter of a piece of wood, and winding thread around these hooks according to a predetermined set of instructions, chosen by a computer program.

I have made this tiger with many different forms of art - it seems to work uniquely well for all of them. I particularly love how the thread somehow manages to capture the black and orange stripes around the face.

Digital Thread Art

**Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban**
2020Prints from £ TBC

**Three Brothers (Deathly Hallows)**
2020Prints from £ TBC

Shapes

One natural generalisation of the method of straight lines is to other shapes. I have experimented with circles, hexagons and triangles (all shown below).

The hexagons appear to work best, because they are the perfect balance betwen accuracy and style. In contrast, the circles work so well that they fit the image perfectly without having a distinctive style, while the triangles are too irregular to fit the image well.

Colours

Another generalisation of this form of art was to move from covering 2D areas to 3D areas. I randomly generated a large number of rectangles of different colours and positions, each one changing the colour of the image in only a small way, like thin coloured cellophane wrap.

I have aspirations of eventually making these pieces physically, but it is currently not obvious what the best way to go about doing it would be.

Lion, with rectangles

Sellotape

This project was inspired by my "coloured squares" project above. However, unlike the coloured squares project, this one could actually be made in real life, by sticking pieces of semi-transparent sellotape to black card. Although the result wasn't as impressive as I had hoped for, the method seemed to have potential.

汉字

With this project, I tried to encorporate my passion for Chinese (which I spent a lot of time learning in secondary school). Each image can be tiled with a custom character, which can be chosen to be meaningful in the context of the image. For instance, the image of the tiger was created with the characters 强 (qiáng) and 力 (lì), which together mean strong or powerful. The other image was created with 爷 (yé) and 奶 (nǎi), which are the characters for grandfather and grandmother respectively - which is exactly who the people in the image are to me.

I certainly intend to eventually make these in real life - both as prints available to purchase, and with actual ink (this could be done with a robotic arm with a custom-made stamp). If this is something that would interest you, feel free to reach out via the contact form.

My grandparents, with Chinese Characters

3D

This section is highly experimental. I am still working out which forms of animation are best suited to this medium. It's possible that this will run very poorly in whichever browser you are using.

However, if you'd still like to see a preview, please click here!

Photography

Shop

Coming soon!

Note - several of the photos from which I generate my thread art are owned by other artists. As such, I will not be selling any of these pieces until I have permission from the original artist. If you know the original artist (or are the original artist), please reach out!