Easter Vector Collage Puzzles

Picasso introduced the idea of collage as art. These puzzles with an Easter theme combine art, maths and computing. You follow the instructions to make a collage picture from a collection of shapes. Cut out each of the shapes provided and place them in the right position on the gird. Learn about vector graphics and cartesian (x,y) coordinates.

Each step is an instruction to draw a single shape. It gives the shape to be drawn, its colour, the number of squares along the bottom of the grid to go to draw it (the x coordinate of the bottom left corner), the number of squares up the side to go (the y coordinate of the bottom left corner) and the size.

Some shapes are drawn on top of others, to obscure the colour below, so the order matters.

Either draw the shapes yourself or cut out and colour each of the shapes provided and place them in the right position on the gird.

Bounding Boxes – fixing the position and size

The position and size are for the ‘bounding box’ of the shape. It is just the rectangle that the shape fits in. First draw the bounding box (a rectangle). Place inside it the largest given shape that fits. Finally, rub out the bounding box to leave the shape.

Some shapes like circles or semi-circles are stretched to fit in the bounding box. For example, if the bounding box of a ‘circle’ is not square then you will draw a squashed circle.

Bounding boxes give a uniform way to deal with any shape, however irregular.

Vector Graphics

Drawings like this are essentially the way computer vector graphics work. A vector graphics drawing is stored as a set of instructions telling the computer how to create a collage picture. This contrasts with bit map images where the picture is broken into pixels each of a different colour.

Create your own collage puzzle, writing the instructions for someone else to follow.