Painterly rendering techniques: A state-of-the-art review of current approaches

In this publication we will look at the different methods presented over the past few decades which attempt to recreate digital paintings. While previous surveys concentrate on the broader subject of non-photorealistic rendering, the focus of this paper is firmly placed on painterly rendering techniques. We compare different methods used to produce different output painting styles such as abstract, colour pencil, watercolour, oriental, oil and pastel. Whereas some methods demand a high level of interaction using a skilled artist, others require simple parameters provided by a user with little or no artistic experience. Many methods attempt to provide more automation with the use of varying forms of reference data. This reference data can range from still photographs, video, 3D polygonal meshes or even 3D point clouds. The techniques presented here endeavour to provide tools and styles that are not traditionally available to an artist. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

An Approach To Painterly Rendering

An often overlooked key component of 3D animations is the rendering engine. However, some rendering techniques are hard to implement or are too restrictive in terms of the imagery they can produce. The goal of this thesis is to make easy-to-use software that artists can use to create stylistic animations and that also minimizes technical constraints placed on the art. For this project, I present a tool that allows artists to create temporally coherent, painterly animations using Autodesk Maya and Corel Painter. I then use that tool to create proof of concept animations. This new rendering technique offers artists a different avenue through which they can showcase their art and also offers certain freedoms that current computer graphics techniques lack. Accompanying this paper are some animations demonstrating possible outcomes, and they are located on the Texas A&M online library catalog system. The painting system used for this project expands upon an algorithm designed by Barbara Meier of the Disney Research Group that involves spreading particles across a surface and using those particles to define brush strokes. The first step is to infer the general syntax of Painter’s commands by using Painter and its ability to record a painting made by an artist. The next step is to use the commands and syntax that Painter uses in the automated creation of scripts to generate paintings used for the animation. As this thesis is designed to showcase a rendering technique, I found animations made by fellow candidates for the Master of Science and Master of Fine Arts degrees in Visualization bearing qualities accented by a painterly treatment and rendered them using this technique

Non-photorealistic rendering: a critical examination and proposed system.

In the first part of the program the emergent field of Non-Photorealistic Rendering is explored from a cultural perspective. This is to establish a clear understanding of what Non-Photorealistic Rendering (NPR) ought to be in its mature form in order to provide goals and an overall infrastructure for future development. This thesis claims that unless we understand and clarify NPR's relationship with other media (photography, photorealistic computer graphics and traditional media) we will continue to manufacture "new solutions" to computer based imaging which are confused and naive in their goals. Such solutions will be rejected by the art and design community, generally condemned as novelties of little cultural worth ( i.e. they will not sell). This is achieved by critically reviewing published systems that are naively described as Non-photorealistic or "painterly" systems. Current practices and techniques are criticised in terms of their low ability to articulate meaning in images; solutions to this problem are given. A further argument claims that NPR, while being similar to traditional "natural media" techniques in certain aspects, is fundamentally different in other ways. This similarity has lead NPR to be sometimes proposed as "painting simulation" — something it can never be. Methods for avoiding this position are proposed. The similarities and differences to painting and drawing are presented and NPR's relationship to its other counterpart, Photorealistic Rendering (PR), is then delineated. It is shown that NPR is paradigmatically different to other forms of representation — i.e. it is not an "effect", but rather something basically different. The benefits of NPR in its mature form are discussed in the context of Architectural Representation and Design in general. This is done in conjunction with consultations with designers and architects. From this consultation a "wish-list" of capabilities is compiled by way of a requirements capture for a proposed system. A series of computer-based experiments resulting in the systems "Expressive Marks" and 'Magic Painter" are carried out; these practical experiments add further understanding to the problems of NPR. The exploration concludes with a prototype system "Piranesi" which is submitted as a good overall solution to the problem of NPR. In support of this written thesis are : - • The Expressive Marks system • Magic Painter system • The Piranesi system (which includes the EPixel and Sketcher systems) • A large portfolio of images generated throughout the exploration

Ultra-infra: Becoming Skin

This demonstration showcases outcomes from a program of research that seeks to expand the practice of painting through the exploitation of new digital technologies. Through virtual reality and digital painting processes, this research interrogates the nature of materiality by considering the hidden realities of human skin. The demonstration is in the form of a VR-based artwork delivered on a Windows Mixed Reality headset

Higher level techniques for the artistic rendering of images and video

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Chinese Ink-and-Brush Painting with Film Lighting Aesthetics in 3D Computer Graphics

This thesis explores the topic of recreating Chinese ink-and-brush painting in 3D computer graphics and introducing film lighting aesthetics into the result. The method is primarily based on non-photorealistic shader development and digital compositing. The goal of this research is to study how to bing the visual aesthetics of Chinese ink-and-brush painting into 3D computer graphics as well as explore the artistic possibility of using film lighting principles in Chinese painting for visual story telling by using 3D computer graphics. In this research, we use the Jiangnan water country paintings by renowned contemporary Chinese artist Yang Ming-Yi as our primary visual reference. An analysis of the paintings is performed to study the visual characteristics of Yang's paintings. These include how the artist expresses shading, forms, shadow, reflection and compositing principles, which will be used as the guidelines for recreating the painting in computer graphics. 3D meshes are used to represent the subjects in the painting like houses, boats and water. Then procedural non-photorealistic shaders are developed and applied on 3D meshes to give the models an ink-look. Additionally, different types of 3D data are organized and rendered into different layers, which include shading, depth, and geometric information. Those layers are then composed together by using 2D image processing algorithms with custom artistic controls to achieve a more natural-looking ink-painting result. As a result, a short animation of Chinese ink-and-brush painting in 3D computer graphics will be created in which the same environment is rendered with different lighting designs to demonstrate the artistic intention

Landscapes of Color

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