Suggestions

[Taron]

Sorry, Pilou!
But I do like the way you think for sure! Every now and then I actually did think about sounds. If you hear a brush scrape across the canvas or the dipping into paint, any of these things could really increase the sensations a lot, but in reality that's the kind of toy stuff that sooner than later gets turned off for good and it may well impact the speed, although not necessarily too bad. Well, would be fun to write a different app that lets you choose sounds for each mouse event and such, hahahaha, that would be cool! (Sure that doesn't exist, yet?)

(Sure that doesn't exist, yet?)
If you hear a brush scrape across the canvas or the dipping into paint

That was yet existing on some graphic progs

But my suggestion was more for the blending sounds of the fluid movement / Nature!
You will be the elements' breath breez Master under the pen tablet!

[Taron]

Now all I hear- for some reason- is the rumbling and cracking of a lava flow.
Imagine how cool that could be,if it could fit that sound!

Just downloaded and tried for the first time. Very interesting program but very hard for my laptop. Amazing what you have done in a short time with few resources. The first painter I know of that can come close to Impasto.

I have one suggestion, (a dream really but why not), which comes from traditional painting practice. I would like to be able to lock a layer, especially the texture of the layer. It could also be thought of as drying a layer so that the colors don't blend with later layers but the texture affects where the paint is picked up or "scraped off the brush".

So, for example, I could go in and lay down a thick, bumpy layer of pure white then bake that layer. (I think this would have to be a permanent action since later layers would be built on its texture. Maybe it could carry a label as a texture layer instead of a paint layer.) Then, on a new layer, I could paint color with strokes from left to right and the color would get picked up primarily on the left side of the bumps. Strokes from right to left would leave paint on the right side of the bumps. Strokes with thick paint would cover the lower color but the textures of the lower layer would still come through.

You can see this in many traditional paintings. Look at the brush strokes under the surface of Wayne Thiebaud's paintings:



Notice how the last, intensely colorful strokes in this Monet sit on the texture of the earlier impasto:



A tall order I'm sure. I don't know if you can do this, but if you can you will be a hero. Thanks for your work.

For the interim, you can turn the "Fluid:Smudge" up to 100% to retain much of the topography within the same layer.
I suppose if there was ever a "canvas" layer, you could have top layers react with it.


Hi Taron!

I love the new Chroma dial!... it's like using special color-trick inks.

Just some suggestions, never mind if you wish, I am enjoying your creative process with Verve!

1. Could the PNG file be saved with the transparency data that already exists? I would love to "paint on other things," or in other words, to have the ability to incorporate beautiful Verve art into a layout program like in PS or AI. On my site: k4icy.com, I looove using PNG's with transparency.

2. Could the Brush Bias angle be set while using just a mouse? No stylus here.. I'm so envious.

3. Oh, and the ability to load an image as a layer, especially for sketching reference.

Thanks!

[Taron]

Hey Mike!
1. Yes! I hook that up with the coming layer export.
2. Yes! Oh...just forgot to take care of it again... ...it's all there already!
3. ok ...yeah, that'll come, too. But it really requires an interface, that's kind of the hold-up.
(what a beautiful list of pleasant requests! Thanks!

Dear Uncle Charlie,
thank you for the beautiful close-ups, I love seeing those, they are utterly inspiring. I keep saying that Verve really is meant to be its own medium to create art, not necessarily a full-on oil-paint simulation. It's nearly happenstance, that it turned out to be excellent for painting, hahaha! ...but ironically the things you've mentioned are on my list! Even MORE ironically, the Monet example is one of the drawbacks of merging layers right now , because it will add the material build up from both layers. Give it a try! And here's what you should do:
1. Fill the first canvas, either using [Ctrl]+[Shift]+[F] or just paint up the whole thing. But also paint anything on it, even if you had filled it, so that you see brush strokes!
2. Add a new layer (just go to the little layer slide and check which mini-button says "ADD ABOVE" when you hover over it. Then click it!)
3. paint something on that layer.
4. Go back to the layer slide and hold [Ctrl] while hovering over the lower "ADD" button of the new layer slide- the mouse pointer should be blue then and the info says "MERGE BELOW".

Voila!

Layer 1 - layer 2 (above layer 1)

Can we paint in layer 2 and Smudge (chroma) with that existing on Layer 1 ?

[Taron]

Hmmm....I was planning on making a LINK option for layers. This could be what you mean. I'm not entirely sure.

The eternal question of the Chroma Smudge + painting a color in the same time!
So a simulation
Layer 1 = one color
layer 2 = another color above the color one
Layer 3 = Chroma Smudge layer 1 + Layer 2!

Dream of the Strict painters!
But will be more easy in only one pass

[Taron]

I don't think this will ever happen. Also, don't forget to think "SIMPLE", think what it is for! So easy to get carried away with ideas, but at the end they serve little purpose for what you really want to do, you know. Sure, all kinds of crazy stuff could be considered, but at the end....your brain is going to explode instead of just doing some painting. The only reason I would possible want to claim to do a "real" simulation is to remind everyone that in the real world you have paper, brush and paint... that's it, that's all!
As much as I can, I will make it feel as though nothing or only little is missing to go real, while celebrating all the things you can have more by being in the virtual world, while still experiencing the simplicity of canvas and color.