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   paulrickards (paulrickards@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 31-Jul-2024 01:18:34 JST paulrickards

   Amazing to think I’ve been playing with pen plotters for over 10 years (longer if you count my first plotter, the Commodore 1520 with my VIC-20). What started out as a curiosity has continued to keep me engaged as a retro computing enthusiast and captivated as an artist. I thought I’d go back in time with some of the plotters I’ve used in various ways. 🧵

   #RetroComputing #PenPlotter #GenerativeArt #CreativeCoding #MastoArt #Art #ArtForSale #Artist #ArtForSaleByArtist #PenPlotterArt #PenPlot

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     paulrickards (paulrickards@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 31-Jul-2024 01:18:33 JST paulrickards

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     My first “pro” plotter was a HP 7470A back in 2014. I was blown away that these existed, being that my only exposure up to that point was the tiny “toy” plotters.

     This plotter was so fast but suffered from having only 2 pen stalls and a pen head that could only use the short HP style of pens so it was limiting. Still, I got hooked immediately.

     #PenPlotter #GenerativeArt #CreativeCoding #MastoArt #Art #ArtForSale #Artist #ArtForSaleByArtist #PenPlotterArt #PenPlot

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     paulrickards (paulrickards@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 31-Jul-2024 01:18:33 JST paulrickards

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     In 2016, I discovered a plotter kit by MakeBlock. This was a fun build and had lots of room for creativity by modifying it. I drew with a pen, burned with a laser, and drew in sand. The firmware wasn’t great and needed modifications to do constant velocity, which is necessary when using a laser.

     #PenPlotter #GenerativeArt #CreativeCoding #MastoArt #Art #ArtForSale #Artist #ArtForSaleByArtist #PenPlotterArt #PenPlot

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     paulrickards (paulrickards@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 31-Jul-2024 01:18:33 JST paulrickards

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     Enter the Roland DXY-990 plotter. This was the top of the line model at the time, sporting 8 pen stalls and electro static paper hold. I liked this one so much I got three more Roland models.

     I also started playing with white ink on black paper.

     #PenPlotter #GenerativeArt #CreativeCoding #MastoArt #Art #ArtForSale #Artist #ArtForSaleByArtist #PenPlotterArt #PenPlot

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     paulrickards (paulrickards@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 31-Jul-2024 01:18:33 JST paulrickards

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     One of the loudest plotters I have is the Sweet-P Six-Shooter by Enter Computer. They basically took a HP 7475A tabloid, cloned it, shrunk it down, and sold it cheaper.

     I brought this plotter to VCFEast, I couldn’t run it because it was so loud! 😆

     #PenPlotter #GenerativeArt #CreativeCoding #MastoArt #Art #ArtForSale #Artist #ArtForSaleByArtist #PenPlotterArt #PenPlot

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     paulrickards (paulrickards@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 31-Jul-2024 01:18:34 JST paulrickards

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     The Commodore 1520 and the other variants based on Alps plotter mechanisms were a great introduction to pen plotters and I’m still amazed to find them stuffed into the oddest of retro tech like calculators and keyboards. The gears on these suffer over time and split but I designed 3D printed replacements that have been working well for me.

     #RetroComputing #PenPlotter #GenerativeArt #CreativeCoding #MastoArt #Art #ArtForSale #Artist #ArtForSaleByArtist #PenPlotterArt #PenPlot