All Things Painter Indistinguishable from Magic by John Derry

While rummaging through some old boxes in our basement recently, I ran across an article that I wrote for Art Product News in 1989. The article, “A Look Into the Future,” was my attempt to predict what the future of digital graphics held for artists. I'm happy to report that I did remarkably well. Among the technological advances I hypothesized were the shift from film to digital photography, quick and inexpensive transmission of imagery via a global computer connection, mural-sized archival-quality inkjet canvases, and portable-laptop painting systems.

I won't attempt to convince you that I personally hatched these now ubiquitous realities; I didn't. The basic ideas were flying around in the technological air in 1989, but they had yet to reach the general public's consciousness. The concepts sound so obvious now, but I was then able to connect a few dots and make some informed deductions. I wonder if my predictive powers are still as sharp 15 years later?

What technological dots are in the air now that can be connected and applied to Corel® Painter™ users? I'm going to base my scenarios on these areas: organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays, electronic paper (e-paper), nanotechnology, Moore's Law (which states that processor speeds double roughly every 2 years), wireless technology, and for good measure, science fiction films. Let's start connecting!

The current version of Corel Painter simulates the myriad of hairs within a bristle brush. Imagine a tablet stylus with hundreds—or even thousands—of individual pressure-sensitive sensors, each hair acting as its own paint reservoir. The unique location and footprint of the combined hairs form a dynamically changing painted stroke. As the reservoir empties, or interacts with the wet canvas color, the color makeup of the brush stroke adjusts accordingly. The result is a tool that, in the hand of the artist, can authentically modulate color and other elements.

The final destination of today's Corel Painter session is usually either a hard copy print or an image on a monitor screen. In the future, this limitation will almost certainly be eliminated. OLED technology promises paper-thin screens that can be rolled up. Imagine a wallpaper that can display light-emitting color, patterns, images, or Corel Painter art. An entire room becomes your canvas. Sitting in your living room, you interactively paint an image on your walls and ceiling. Don't like it? Exchange it with one of your already completed compositions. Alternatively, you can use your subscription to a Corel Painter artist cooperative to select members' artwork. You can base your selections on your mood or allow the room surfaces to update at regular intervals.

Taking this concept a step further, why not apply Corel Painter art to OLED-based fabric in clothing? The fabric contains an embedded processor that selects imagery from the Corel Painter art library of your portable image device. Depending on your mood, or perhaps the current lighting environment, the imagery updates periodically, with each image subtly morphing into the next. Rather than purchase a new skirt or shirt, you either buy new graphic content to download to your clothing, or you attach the garment to your tablet and interactively create a new design.

An attribute currently missing from the digital print is texture. Unless an image is printed on a surface like canvas, the physical dimension of thick paint is lacking. Paint depth is currently simulated on-screen in Corel Painter with the Impasto feature. Painter creates a height-field map, which, when combined with a virtual light source, enables the on-screen illusion of depth. Nanotechnology will come to the rescue here with smart paint and ink. A Painter image file containing height-field data will be interpreted by a smart paint-jet printer. The applied paint will thicken locally according to the embedded height data. The resulting print will have a true three-dimensional surface indistinguishable from traditional oils. This localized physical thickening can be an attribute of a combined OLED and smart nano-surface display: as you paint, a physical impasto surface is created on the display.

Science fiction writer and futurist Arthur C. Clarke said, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Perhaps the scenarios I've described won't come to pass exactly as I've described them, but the future of Corel Painter and image display will surely take some surprising turns. Will we accept art that doesn't sit still inside a frame? What is an “original” work of art? How will the integrity of an artist's copyright be preserved? These, and many more questions, await us. Let's all get back together in 15 years to see whether my predictions have come true.

One thing is clear: Painter's future is so bright, I gotta wear shades!

John Derry
Somewhere in Kansas

John Derry is a pioneer of digital painting and one of the original authors of Corel® Painter™. Since 1985, he has leveraged his background in drawing and painting to advance the look and experience of traditional art-making tools on the computer. John has a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in Fine Art and is a practicing artist and photographer. He is currently serving as Corel's Painter Ambassador-at-Large. John's Web site is at www.pixlart.com.