Vermillion: Oil Painting Simulation in Virtual Reality: A new tool for digital artists offering the analog control of traditional painting with the benefits of a virtual environment.

Abstract

Digital art has come a long way since the first release of MS Paint. And while artists can already work wonders with the tools at their disposal, there's always been a very distinct barrier between traditional mediums and the digital ones. Instead of brushes on a canvas, a stylus on a screen is used. Instead of mixing paints of different colors and thickness, a color picker and transparency slider are presented. The instinctiveness and versatility of bristles on canvas have been replaced with a selection of discrete tools - draw, blur, smudge,... It's also not possible to make strokes with large gestures, to work on your piece from arm's length, like the old masters did. The typical texture that physical paint has is also lost in drawing programs. Vermillion offers a new tool for digital artists, be they novices who always wanted to try their hand at following along with Bob Ross, or veteran Photoshop users who long for more analog control. It simulates the full oil painting experience. A selection of specialist brushes is offered, each with unique characteristics and their distinct brush pattern. The bristles bend as they are pushed against a surface, soaking up the paint that's on the palette. The paints mix as they would in the real world, not as RGB colors do on a monitor. Paint thinner can be used to control the thickness and flow of the paint. The paint can be pushed, pulled, blurred and blended on the canvas, and shows the relief and pattern of your strokes. The resulting piece can be exported to be presented as a new digital work of art.