'Get the tick directions as a numpy array
Parameters
minor : boolean
True to return the minor tick directions,
False to return the major tick directions,
Default is False
Returns
numpy array of tick directions'

def get_ticks_direction(self, minor=False):

    if minor:
        return np.array([tick._tickdir for tick in self.get_minor_ticks()])
    else:
        return np.array([tick._tickdir for tick in self.get_major_ticks()])
