I am posting this on behalf of Ira Snyder, General Manager in the Startup Business Group. Be sure to also check out our previous blog post on Fresh Paint.
Today we are shipping a preview of Fresh Paint for Windows 8.1 and a brand new Fresh Paint for Windows Phone. Since we launched with Windows 8 last year, Fresh Paint has inspired millions of people to pick up a brush and start painting. Now, we’re making Fresh Paint better than ever, with new mediums, new brushes and new, artistic photo filters.
I’m especially proud of the new watercolor medium that we built to take advantage of powerful Windows 8.1 devices like Surface Pro. Behind this easy to use and delightful painting experience lies an incredibly complex physics engine that mimics the behavior of real paint.
Fresh Paint started out as a research project, so we love to experiment and use science to push the app to new levels of realism. In fact, we do a lot or real-world painting to make sure we get our algorithms right. We tested hundreds of combinations of brush, paper and pigment levels, and, when you look at the new Fresh Paint, you can see that these experiments paid off.
Like the oil paint medium in Fresh Paint, the colors can mix and blend, but, like real watercolors, they will bleed into your canvas or paper to create vibrant works of art.
We also take advantage of the new features available in Windows 8.1. You can pin your paintings to the Start screen so you can resume your projects faster than ever. Snap integration lets you keep your sketches, notes and other inspiration close at hand. Finally, you can personalize the Lock screen with your favorite paintings.
With Fresh Paint on Windows Phone 8, we put a canvas and palette in your pocket with sketch and oil paint effects that you can apply to your photos and share with your friends.
Our passionate community of artists gave us great feedback and we listened – making this the best release of Fresh Paint yet. A greater variety of brush types and sharper pencil models will help you achieve new levels of detail in your paintings and sketches.
If you are the Windows 8.1 Preview, you can find “Fresh Paint 8.1 Preview” in the Windows Store for you to try. As the app was just released, it’s currently propagating through the Store so if you can’t find it keep checking. For more on Fresh Paint for Windows Phone, see this post on the Windows Phone Blog.
We can’t wait to see what our fans create next.
- Ira