Hey there,...

[Taron]

Hey James, WELCOME to the forum!
The upcoming version will make that a bit more pleasant with the mouse. I've devised a much nicer version for controlling the stroke direction that feels far more controllable. Besides, the whole brush and paint interface should feel more accessible, which should help, too.
Yeah, Bob Ross makes (made) an excellent anchor for the mind to come to a moment of enthusiastic peace. ...I loved it, too, obviously!
Again, the upcoming version will have a bunch of things that make even following his style a bit more natural and pleasant, I believe. We shall see!
Anyway, glad you've found your way here and we'll also see what other advice you'll find here on the forum from me and everyone else.

Hi Taron,

I just came across your program the other day. I think it is really awesome. I don't have very much artistic ability, but with your program, I have fun trying. I have done some 3d images and such. If you are interested I can post a few of them. I think as I learn your program, my creative side might become more evident.

I am a disabled husband. I enjoy computers and computer simulations. I also enjoy cooking as well as photography.

Thank you for creating this software. I have told several people about it and where they cane get it..

Mike

[Taron]

Welcome to the forum, Mike!
I'm very happy you've found Verve. It's really part of its nature to get you to explore something that's been waiting to be discovered within you. I had a feeling it might do that and I'm thrilled every time I get confirmation and encouragement to keep pushing this power.
I hope you don't mind, if I ask to keep the featured artwork on this forum around Verve, which here and there includes 3d work, done with the use of Verve in the process. For everything else you can always post links to your artwork elsewhere on the web. And I hope you do, because I would very much like to see what you've done already!

TIP: Use your signature to plug your website/gallery!

Again, welcome and thank you very much for introducing yourself! We all have our challenges for reasons that only explain themselves by what we do through them. Everyone of us is a universal messenger and actions are our proclamation. I'm more than honored, if Verve can add to your vocabulary!

Hey back,
I'm afraid I am one of those jack of all trades and master of none. I seem to tinker in anything like some derranged gnome. I have a rather ecclectic assortment of graphics applications since visual and sculptural arts are rare subjects that I keep gravitating back towards. I have to say Taron, I am quite impressed with your work. Programming and drawing go together like juggling and typing. They tend to flex different parts of the brain. Now, if you can draw while programming I will have to bow to your obvious supremecy. I dabble in anything I find and can afford. So free works pretty well for me. Bonus that Verve is so fun to play with. Looking forward to seeing how it evolves.

[Taron]

Hahaha, thanks, TGE!
In fact, to write Verve I basically have to do just that (drawing and programming). This is how I figure out what it needs, what I want it to do and how I can hook it up. So it's really more like juggling clay that forms during juggling. (Very messy indeed!)
Well, glad to have you here! I'm kind of a massive jack of all trades myself, hehehe, so I should relate. I don't think of myself as a master of most such trades, except maybe 3d related matters. What really flexes your brains, though, is to combine all of that with making music! I honestly miss that a little... but THIS is all about you all!

Hahaha, thanks, TGE!
In fact, to write Verve I basically have to do just that (drawing and programming). This is how I figure out what it needs, what I want it to do and how I can hook it up. So it's really more like juggling clay that forms during juggling. (Very messy indeed!)
Well, glad to have you here! I'm kind of a massive jack of all trades myself, hehehe, so I should relate. I don't think of myself as a master of most such trades, except maybe 3d related matters. What really flexes your brains, though, is to combine all of that with making music! I honestly miss that a little... but THIS is all about you all!

I only really dabble in 3D and my music attempts would make most flee for the hills. I enjoy 3D in so far as sculpting, modelling and texturing goes.... I tend not to enjoy the lighting and rendering setups though. I find staging to be somewhat cumbersome in most apps as well. If at all possible I avoid rigging altogether. Luckily my interests rarely lead me to animation so my need to perform rigging is near nil. I do however enjoy making things with my hands outside of the pc as well. think I have tried most everything that doesn't involve molten glass. Also tinker with electronics sometimes. I also have a penchant for wandering off into string theory or other equally boggling subjects and getting lost. Most I ever did with programming in practical terms was an overly complex dice roller app customization for use in any game, but it was only a pet project I shared with a few gamers. So, hobby level at best there I suppose. I did enjoy the puzzle aspect of programming though... I enjoy puzzles...I have fun brainstorming I suppose. Even been blessed enough to have some developers implement some of my ideas in their software. Filter Forge added locks for some of their parameters for more control over user randomization in their upcoming version for example.

I still wish someone would create a modernized app in the same vein as Satori Paint though. Wasn't the massive resource hog that PS was and still is. A modest machine could use an airbrush near the size of the monitor without locking up because it mapped every stroke to a curve and only recorded the instructions to create the image as it's native file format. So, it only rendered to screen until time to compile, rasterize and export the image. It was also resolution independent like any vector app, but it had tools usually limited to raster editors like blend and smudge. Alas, it hasn't been actively developed for over 10 years, so it is now hopelessly dated. Sorry... looking for a replacement for this app has been like a 10 year quest and thus a pet peeve that there isn't one.... at least not for PC... lol

[Taron]

AH yes, that's what that was, Satori...yah...I remember. I did like that. I liked that about openCanvas, too, if you remember that one?! It had a record option and you could play back with a size multiplier for the canvas. But the best thing about that one was the network painting, of course. For Verve that wouldn't work so well, since it's fluid dynamics and over the network, eh.... don't think that would fly well with managing that response, hehe. Maybe I'll give it a go at some point, because it is fun.
Well, it's nice to learn so much about you, I really enjoy that! Thanks!

AH yes, that's what that was, Satori...yah...I remember. I did like that. I liked that about openCanvas, too, if you remember that one?! It had a record option and you could play back with a size multiplier for the canvas. But the best thing about that one was the network painting, of course. For Verve that wouldn't work so well, since it's fluid dynamics and over the network, eh.... don't think that would fly well with managing that response, hehe. Maybe I'll give it a go at some point, because it is fun.
Well, it's nice to learn so much about you, I really enjoy that! Thanks!

Actually, OpenCanvas still exists; Portal Graphics released a new version recently. It's like something between Manga Studio and Photoshop in functionality. With that event recorder and collaborative capabilities. I so rarely stick to one app when painting though, so the value of the recorder is a little lost on me. Must be the A.D.D. I guess. Oh look... a squirrel!!! Satori was my fav in concept though. scalability of vector with the tools of a pixel pusher. well until Verve... verve makes me almost feel the canvas on the PC. I totally understand the principles of satori would be unlikely to mesh well without a quantum computer... lol The thought is a little out there when thinking about fluid dynamics, but for more conventional pixel pushing.... it was very innovative for it's time, and there's really no other app like it that I've found.

Open canvas does pack quite a few features for under $70... it doesn't have the performance advantages or some other perks that Satori did, and it likes to crash more than some apps.... granted they may patch some of the bugs up. I used to paint with others on http://www.ratemydrawings.com/user/TheGreatESCape/ not exactly feature rich paint apps there... lol

[Taron]

Oh, they charge for it now, hm...yeah...that's always a little scary.
Anyway, in a way I could try to do the event recording thing and was planning on doing that. I just have to figure out a reliable way of scaling the fluid behavior properly, which may sound trivial, but- oh- it is not. Depends on what one might consider acceptable, of course. But we should move the conversation to its own topic, I think, hehe.

I still wish someone would create a modernized app in the same vein as Satori Paint though. Wasn't the massive resource hog that PS was and still is. A modest machine could use an airbrush near the size of the monitor without locking up because it mapped every stroke to a curve and only recorded the instructions to create the image as it's native file format. So, it only rendered to screen until time to compile, rasterize and export the image. It was also resolution independent like any vector app, but it had tools usually limited to raster editors like blend and smudge. Alas, it hasn't been actively developed for over 10 years, so it is now hopelessly dated. Sorry... looking for a replacement for this app has been like a 10 year quest and thus a pet peeve that there isn't one.... at least not for PC... lol

Have you taken a look at Mischief? It reminds me of SatoriPaint - infinite zoom and, from what I understood, it also saves the mathematical definition behind the strokes, but it presents the toolset and effects of a bitmap-editing app to the user.