Freehand drawing with MyPaint

Digital Dabs

Article from Issue 143/2012
Author(s):

MyPaint is a simple, intuitive, versatile paint program. The software, which is designed specifically for use with graphic tablets, promises users an experience similar to drawing with a pen or brush.

MyPaint belongs to a category of paint programs that differs from the image processing concept used by software such as GIMP. The software specializes in, and in a number of parts is limited to, interaction with an electronic brush. Many of the familiar features of GIMP are missing in this software. Even simple actions, such as free rotation or the ability to crop a picture, are not supported. However, MyPaint does offer a large number of special brushes and pens.

Whereas GIMP is used mainly for editing your photos and graphics, MyPaint is used for painting pictures. An online gallery shows examples of what talented artists have created with the program. Although the program doesn’t necessarily require a graphics tablet, it will be useful in many scenarios.

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