Davis, Charles Barrett (2011-12). Landscapes of Color. Master's Thesis. Thesis uri icon

abstract

  • In this work, I propose a digital painting process to create virtual paintings that can be created with paint layers. The process enables the artists to manipulate the look of the painting by placing lights in the three-dimensional environment, changing the surface properties of the geometry, and changing the camera angle that the audience views the work.



    The initial step is the development of a digital paint system for use with a tablet device. Artist's decisions such as pen pressure, color choice, and brush placement are recorded and exported to a RenderMan scene file. A height parameter is incremented on a per-pixel basis each time the artist draws over a portion of the digital painting. Once the digital painting is complete, the artist may then render the scene file to reveal the build-up of paint layers.



    This approach aims to merge ideas from the field of digital painting with those of non-photorealistic rendering. The digital painting interface builds on previous research and should be familiar to the artists using the system. I have addressed the need for more research in terms of the build-up of digital paint layers based on an artist's decisions.

publication date

  • December 2011