Procedural paintbrush

Procedural paintbrushes are creative tools that augment your input.

An insight from Procedural Generation in Game Design, Generative Art Toys, by Kate Compton. A good procedural paintbrush is...

• Smarter than a pencil
• Constrains and magnifies your input
• Trades control for superpowers
• Defines a possibility space of mostly satisfying outcomes

Examples

• The pottery wheel constrains input to the x axis, and gives you symmetry superpowers in return.
• Spirograph constrains input to the choice of gears, but produces a variety of surprising outcomes.

Lenses

• When choosing constraints, consider Gall's Law.
• Should your procedural paintbrush create surprising results? Consider architects vs gardeners.
• Can this tool be used in provoking emergence? Where does user control begin and end?
• Should feedback be direct, or indirect?