A new application called Vermillion aims to bring oil painting to VR, with realistic painting mechanics and web browser integration.
There’s a few key features that are really interesting for Vermillion and position it as a realistic oil painting sim for VR. First of all, it has traditional analog color mixing, which basically just means you can take different pigments and mix them together on your palette to find the ideal tone.
It also has an integrated web browser that can stand next to your easel while you paint. This allows you to pull up painting tutorials, like those by the famous Bob Ross, and paint along to with ease. It’s a great feature that has a very Infinite Office feel to it.
The other big feature is Vermillion’s ability to simulate wet-on-wet paint, essentially allowing you to move colors around and blur strokes after you’ve painted them onto the canvas, just like real life. You can also use pressure to change the thickness and application of your strokes as well, just as you would with real painting.
While I’m not a painter myself, all in all this looks like a pretty solid representation and translation of oil painting in VR.
Vermillion isn’t the only painting and art-focused app we’ve seen pop up lately. Painting VR, available on App Lab for Quest, is similar in premise but a bit more focused on providing a sandbox environment for you to muck around in. You can check out our write up and some footage with running commentary here. It’s worth it alone for Jamie’s morbid attempt at painting the UploadVR logo.
Vermillion plans to launch in Early Access in the Summer for PC VR on Steam, with plans for a Rift Oculus Store launch to follow and a Quest port “in hot pursuit.” You can read more over on the Vermillion website and wishlist the game on Steam.
