Tilt Brush‘s first painting exhibition, a gathering that took place last weekend in San Francisco, was organized to showcase a select group of artists using the made-for-VR painting program. Though VR headsets are largely known for enhancing immersion in gaming, Tilt Brush shows that VR can also be a completely new canvas for creative expression.

IMG_9929-(1)Tilt Brush, the made-for-VR painting program that lets you create anything and everything with the stroke of a virtual brush, held what they called “the world’s first virtual reality painting exhibition” last weekend. Artists used an HTC Vive and a video feed projected live onto a theater screen so everyone could follow along as the individual artists got to making their masterpieces.

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A select group of artists used the innovative VR toolbox to paint motion-capable effects like smoke, stars, and light; coupled with thick, three-dimensional brush strokes to construct their art before a captive audience.

And considering they were done live in a short amount of time, some of the works to come out of the show are pretty incredible.

Drew Skillman of the software’s creator company Skillman & Hackett also picked up the Vive controller to create a pretty dour self portrait if there ever was one.

A video from an event-goer shows the art exhibition in action, capturing a moment during one artist’s creative process, and also demonstrating how users can essentially resize their creations to work on finer elements and add a wide variety of effects to produce something unique. The rendered version of the HTC Vive controller, a 1:1 representation of the physical item, gives the user a point of reference in the virtual world so they can more accurately manipulate their piece.

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Skillman & Hackett took home the award for ‘Best GUI’ at last year’s Proto Awards, nabbing a GeForce GTX 980 as a prize. A version of the software was later developed for HTC Vive to show off the ease of use associated with the Lighthouse-tracked hand controllers, and debuted at GDC 2015 in March. The company has since been acquired by Google.

A Tilt Brush Viewer is available on Google Cardboard, allowing you to get a better sense of how creations are made in real time with the software.


Photos courtesy Drew Skillman

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Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 3,500 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.