How to draw a maple leaf in TikZ?

Question

This blog shows some math parametrized functions that can be used to "plot" symmetric leaves like the one below:

Is it possible to implement such functions and draw the leaf using TikZ?

Probably. Can you? Or is this a do-it-all-for-me without even the it? — cfr, Jan 11 '17 at 04:06
@Thumbolt, now perhaps you can't. Though what crf probably means is should you try to do it then one day you'll be able to draw it. If you never try you never will. :) — Guilherme Zanotelli, Jan 11 '17 at 07:01
I was reading the pgfplots example gallery but I was unable to find an example that has x(t)=, y(t)= ... of that kind. — Epa, Jan 11 '17 at 07:30
@Thumbolt, wrong source of Information. Try this one if you can't find it there then Houston we have a problem! — Guilherme Zanotelli, Jan 11 '17 at 07:35
There are several questions about parametric plots here on the site, e.g. http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/319739/ or http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/65719/plotting-parametric-curves/65732#65732 and more — Torbjørn T., Jan 11 '17 at 09:11

score 18 · Answer 1 · edited Jan 11 '17 at 08:23

18

Oak Leaf only with basic function of Tikz

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[margin=2cm]{geometry}

\usepackage{tikz}
\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}
\draw[scale=3,domain=0:180,variable=\t, samples=500]
plot (%
{1/100*(cos(\t))^9*(cos(5*\t))^10 +1/4*sin(2*\t)*(1-1/2*(sin(10*\t))^2)*(1-(cos(\t)*cos(3*\t))^8)
},{
sin(\t)*(1-1/5*(sin(10*\t)^2*(1/2+(sin(2*\t)^2)
});
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

edited Jan 11 '17 at 08:23

Guilherme Zanotelli

7,787

answered Jan 11 '17 at 07:31

rpapa

12,350

3

But if you are from Canada, an oak leaf just won't do.... – Steven B. Segletes Jan 11 '17 at 11:18

KIAaze · Accepted Answer · 2018-12-04T12:41:04.603

Simply based on rpapa's answer and the formulas in the question, here is a working .tex file which can be compiled with pdflatex:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[margin=2cm]{geometry}

\usepackage{tikz}
\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}
\draw[scale=3, domain=0:180, variable=\t, samples=500, fill=red]
plot (%
{
(
1
+
(cos(6*\t))^2
+
(1/5)*(cos(6*\t)*cos(24*\t))^10
+
( (1/4)*(cos(30*\t))^2 + (1/9)*(cos(30*\t))^12) *  (1-(sin(6*\t))^10)
)
*(sin(2*\t))
*(1-(cos(\t))^4)
*(1 - (cos(\t))^10 * (cos(3*\t))^2)
+(1/70)*(cos(\t))^9
}
,
{
(-21/20)*cos(2*\t)*(1 - (cos(\t))^4 + (1/2)*(cos(\t)*cos(3*\t))^10)
*
(
1
+
(cos(6*\t))^2
+
(1/5)*(cos(6*\t)*cos(18*\t))^10
+
( (1/4)*(cos(30*\t))^4 + (1/10)*(cos(30*\t))^12 )
*
( 1 - ((cos(\t))^10) * (cos(3*\t))^2 )
*
( 1 - (sin(6*\t))^10 )
)
}
);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

I left in my original line-breaks and potentially unnecessary parentheses.

Notes:

I recommend qtikz or ktikz on GNU/Linux to easily preview TikZ pictures.

Also, when copying the formulas, make sure to always add a "*" between numbers and "\t". I am not sure why it is necessary, but TikZ seems to read things like "6\t" wrong without giving any errors.

Yes, we can! Simply add ",fill=red" for example to the \draw command. Check the tikz documentation for more infos. :) — KIAaze, Dec 04 '18 at 12:34

How to draw a maple leaf in TikZ?

2 Answers2