Airbrush

Airbrush is a radically different online drawing application for 6-12 year olds.   The application has been developed with London’s Tate Gallery and employs innovative, browser-based webcam technology that allows you to control your paintbrush using your own motion.  We created a bespoke system that employs a number of computer vision techniques to attach an on-screen brush head to the area of the webcam image that’s moving the most. The brush head is then able to spit out different types of particles onto the canvas and align them with your movements, creating a highly innovative way to make pictures.

You start the activity with a ‘training programme’ which allows you to explore how the motion control works.  You can then make pictures by employing the wide range of different available paint controls: you can adjust colour, tone, brush size and apply the different paint effects, each influenced by artists as diverse as Monet, Van Gogh and Jackson Pollock.  The application can also be used with your mouse for more detailed effects.  Once you’re happy with your painting, the ‘save’ screen allows you to explore the paint effects you’ve used further with references to key works in the Tate’s collections.  You can also print out your picture or save and store it to your personal Tate Kids gallery or send it to the moderators for inclusion on the website.

The application was tested with groups of children who had a great time, painting over their faces or working in pairs to create images from their own dance movements!  We also blogged the site's development on the Tate Kids blog.

Colour Wash: Users have filled the screen with a multi-colour effect and used the eraser tool to make shapes in the wash.

'Simpson-ize Me': Users quickly discovered they could paint themselves all sorts of colours and hair styles!

Starry Night: Although aimed at children, this image shows that by using a mouse or graphics tablet, Impressionist paintings can be beautifully re-created using Airbrush.