Star fractal printing using Turtle in Python

Prerequisite: Turtle Programming Basics

Fractals are objects that tend to have self-similar structures repeated a finite number of times. The objective of this article is to draw a star fractal where a star structure is drawn on each corner of the star and this process is repeated until the input size reduces to a value of 10. For achieving this star fractal pattern the turtle module is used.

Methods used

• forward(value): It moves the turtle in forward direction.
• speed(value): It changes the speed of the turtle.
• penup(): Stop drawing.
• pendown(): Start drawing.
• left(value): It moves the turtle towards the left.

Approach

1. Import turtle.
2. Initialise the turtle.
3. Change the background color.
4. Make a function to draw a star.
5. Call the above function recursively inside the for loop to make the entire start pattern.

Below is the implementation of the above approach.

Python3

# import turtle
import turtle

# initialise turtle instance
stars = turtle.Turtle()

# increases the speed of turtle
stars.speed(10)

# to change the background color
stars.getscreen().bgcolor("black")
stars.color("red")

# stop drawing
stars.penup()

# move the turtle
stars.goto((-200, 50))

# start drawing
stars.pendown()

# function to draw stars
def star(turtle, size):
    if size <= 10:
        return
    else:
        for i in range(5):

            # moving turtle forward
            turtle.forward(size)
            star(turtle, size/3)

            # moving turtle left
            turtle.left(216)


# calling the star function
star(stars, 360)
turtle.done()

Output: