Non-Photorealistic Computer Graphics Library

Real-time painting with an expressive virtual Chinese brush

Author(s): Nelson Siu-Hang Chu, Chiew-Lan Tai.
Article: IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, Vol. 24, No. 5, pp. 76--85, Sept.-Oct., 2004.
[BibTeX]

Abstract:
We develop a novel 3D brush model consisting of a skeleton and a surface, which is deformed through constrained energy minimization. The main advantage of our model over existing ones is in its ability to mimic brush flattening and bristle spreading due to brush bending and lateral friction exerted by the paper surface during the painting process. The ability to recreate such deformations is essential to realistic 3D digital painting simulations, especially in the case of Chinese brush painting and calligraphy. To further increase realism, we also model the plasticity of wetted brushes and the resistance exerted by pores on the paper surface onto the brush tip. Our implementation runs on a consumer-level PC in real-time and produces very realistic results.