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Pixpaint (repl.co)
674 points by luu on May 15, 2023 | hide | past | favorite | 49 comments



I also have a buggy version that preserves angle:

https://warms2.maxbittker.repl.co/

(it only works if you draw slowly right now, not sure why)

This whole tool was directly inspired by "grubs" here https://whichlight.github.io/draw-play/


Haha! This is great! Maybe it could be less jarring if you put a low pass filter on the angle changes


What is the difference in this version? I don't fully understand what "preserve angles" means.


Try drawing e.g. a quarter circle. The non-angle-preserving version will add a corner at the end to get back to the starting angle, the angle-preserving version continues along the circle.


the shaft doesn't run away from the balls. and yes, every single person who visited that site knows what i'm talking about


No, they don't. The fact that you seriously think all people automatically draw a penis says a lot.


Very serious are we right?


This one is super cool because your shapes stay more in place and just orbit the starting point! Makes it easier to draw something with multiple strokes that’s wiggly but doesn’t scatter away.


I opened this like "Ok.. why was a simple paint app on hacker news?" then I drew something and have been fiddling with it ever since. What a cool concept!


Reminds me of Blek[0], which is the same concept but as a puzzle game.

[0]: http://blekgame.com/


This immediately reminded me of the Processing sketch called yellowtail:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjIYJnc3vLQ

Processing: https://processing.org/

This was a popular built-in example in the Processing development environment. I used to put it up on a smartboard during parent-teacher conferences to entertain the younger siblings of my students while I met with their parents. Code is available on Github and also withing Processing, of course.

EDIT: I see Yellowtail was the inspiration for Grubs, which inspired this!



Interesting concept! I thought it would be possible to draw something by sticking to looping curves, but their velocity depend on their size, and the different parts diverge as if part of a cellular automaton. There must be a way to exploit this interestingly but it would require some planning. (The velocity depends on the drawing speed, so it is even trickier)

For other alternative fun drawing tools, I legally have to mention wobblepaint [0], and shake art [1], please suggest any others!

The feature that could really be cool would be one to record/share the drawings (wobblepaint's approach to that is absolutely fantastic, it records everything as a string with infinite undo and lets you record gif).

[0] https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=40058

[1] https://studionokoi.itch.io/shake-art


I completely agree with you! The concept of drawing with looping curves and the divergence resembling a cellular automaton is fascinating. It opens up possibilities for creating visually unique and intriguing artwork. While it may require careful planning due to the relationship between curve size and velocity, the potential for exploiting this characteristic creatively is exciting.

Thank you for mentioning wobblepaint and shake art as alternative fun drawing tools. Wobblepaint's approach to recording and sharing drawings with infinite undo sounds fantastic. The ability to save and share the creative process can be incredibly inspiring and educational for others. Shake art also seems intriguing with its emphasis on adding an element of randomness to the artistic process.

In addition to the tools you mentioned, I would suggest checking out Harmony by Mr.doob [2]. It offers a collaborative drawing experience where multiple users can create art together in real-time. The interactive aspect and the ability to see others' contributions can lead to some truly unique and collaborative creations.

Exploring different drawing tools and techniques can unlock new avenues for artistic expression. It's wonderful to see the growing variety of tools available that cater to different creative preferences and approaches. Happy drawing!

[2] https://mrdoob.com/projects/harmony


Very much reminds me of Deluxe Paint on the Amiga from 25+ years ago. Set the number of animation frames, press the Alt key (?) and start drawing with the mouse. Every 1/2 second or so the page would flip automatically, but your drawing would continue. You could easily create animated squiggles very similar to this.


Man, I'm still looking for a modern pixel-centric drawing app like Deluxe Paint. WHY does everything now have to be so....so _agnostic??_

There was ArtGem for a while but for some inexplicable reason the author discontinued it:

https://www.rlvision.com/artgem_about.php



Brilliant. I love that the cycle tracks time between pixel draws too, so you can add in different delayed effects.



Reminded how stunning it is that the JSMESS is blithely emulating such things so well for us now and everyone is like, oh yeah, three decades of software development that now is a click away and lives forever to play with? cool but lunch?

Had forgotten this gem thanks.


Was totally underwhelmed an wondered why everyone seems to like this. Then I noticed that it doesn't work well on Firefox and is performing better on Chrome. Well done!


Seems to work OK here with FF 112 on Linux


Really? I don't notice difference


It feels like building a farm of scribbles. Combining this concept with some generative music/sound would be interesting.


Very impressive, actually it's a step in a direction of visualizing music, i.e visual means to create a repetitive patterns in the brain similar to those created when we listen to musical pieces. Some constraints (like measures) or quantizing might help to improve this effect


Fun in-browser toys like these never fail to draw a smile.


It has been fun drawing shapes that connect end to end and watching to see them slowly morph and move

It would be fun to have other brush types that have their own unique timing properties as well. Really fun project!


This is great. And while here I realized how cool Replit has become. Anyone here has any experience using replit professionally?


The fact that the information icon at the bottom is also hand drawn, makes me understand how much taught was put into this. Amazing work


Love it, my kids are going to adore this. Brilliant that it works well on touch screens, perfect for smaller kids.


Try writing something on this without knowing cursive! I rest my case.


I had one teacher tell me cursive would come in handy. I'm glad I lived to finally see that day!


Totally useless and fun, that's my favourite corner of the web!


Suggestion: add the possibility of creating "static" forms, then the user could move these forms and these moves could turn into an animation for the movement of that form.


You can create a near-static shape by drawing a shape that ends where it begins :)


i love this. you can make a pretty cool thunderstorm vignette with by drawing lots of rapid blue lines downwards and then a couple of zigzag lightning bolts : )


With collisions and perhaps a few other things, couldn't it be used in a game to design machines? Seems fun.


Fun! I enjoyed experimenting with different kinds of squiggles.

I wish there was a reset button, then again page refresh works too.


Fun challenge: Draw a perfect circle or square that doesn't (appear to) move.


How does it decide the direction of movement? I'm unable to figure out


You paint a figure from point A to point B. Then It just starts from point B to paint the same figure you painted (same speed and all). At same time it removes from A side what is repainting at B side.

If you manage to paint a figure that starts and ends at the same point, then it stays in place and seems to be a static draw.

If you just draw a straight line, it just starts "to move" forward.


I think it's a combined vector of the drawing action - i.e. a true circle stays in place.


It simply redraws the shape from the last point.


Now I want to try and ad webRTC to it and make it miltiplayer.


at first I was meh, then I was blown away. It's a pity I don't have any artistic abilities


wow that's fantastic! i spent a good time playing with it. so simple yet so satisfying!


This is great. Mesmerizing!


Beautiful. Simple. fun.


I love this a lot.




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