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Washington, United States (IBwire.com - August 03, 2012) Eric L. Hayes, an engineer with a degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has released “Set Paint Go” – a painting application for the iPad.  In “Set Paint Go”, paintbrushes constantly move around the screen canvas. Users select controls to set brush traits such as color, size, pattern, path and boundary. Once these brush traits have been set, the user can sit back and watch as the brushes create an abstract picture.  “Set Paint Go” is a radically different way of drawing and painting.  To use an analogy of music, the user is the composer who writes the musical score (brush settings) that the band plays (“Set Paint Go”) to produce the music (picture) the audience hears (sees).  “Set Paint Go” allows users to create beautiful, complex abstract images and share them with friends. 

Most evenings, Eric Hayes sits at home in front of his computer creating art.  Instead of drawing or painting a picture in the traditional way, he writes the text of a computer program that will be translated into a picture.

“Some people think that that is the hardest way to create a picture. But for a person like me who does not draw well, this is much easier,” said Hayes. “And for a person who likes math, this process is actually a lot more fun.”

Eric L. Hayes has a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).  While attending graduate school at Stanford University, he discovered Logo, an educational, graphical programming language for kids.  Logo’s goal is to teach kids how to program by allowing them to write programs that draw pictures.  Inspired by the idea of being able to teach kids something he enjoyed, Eric created a similar application called Commander Crayon.  Like many budding entrepreneurs during the Internet boom, he left Stanford University to start his own company to market his software.  Unfortunately, the company ran out of funds and had to close down.  Referring to the closing, Hayes said, “Don’t regret it at all.  It was actually one of the happiest times of my life.  I actually created and sold something that would help people.  That’s cool.”

During this time period, Eric created another software application called Chameleon.  In Chameleon, squares floated on the screen leaving behind changing patterns.  The squares bounced off each other like billiard balls.  “It was very fascinating to watch, but I didn’t know what to do with it because I couldn’t figure out how the user should win points.  At that time, it did not occur to me to make it a drawing application.”

After a decade away from Commander Crayon and Chameleon, Eric decided to become an artist and use Commander Crayon and mathematics as a way of creating art.  But being an artist is tough.  “There was this huge learning curve.  I knew almost nothing about color theory and composition.  So I had to read all of these art books to get a feel for what works.  I had to rewrite Commander Crayon several times to make it more like an artist tool.  Then, I had to connect the art theory to mathematical equations and concepts.  It took years before I came up with images that people would want to put on their walls,” said Hayes.

“The other hurdle is learning the business side.  Now, I know why so many artists are insecure.  Dealing with galleries can be brutal. Art placement pricing is illogical. I can really sympathize with Van Gogh,” said Hayes, “but the plus is that I began to get a feel for what people generally like from a color and mathematical perspective.  This information helped me refine my art.”

The original goal of Commander Crayon was to make the creation of images as easy as possible.  To achieve that goal, Eric integrated the interface of Chameleon, the game he wrote earlier, with the mathematical algorithms of Commander Crayon.  The iPad application, “Set Paint Go”, was born. In “Set Paint Go”, paintbrushes constantly move around the screen canvas. Users use controls to set brush traits such as color, size, pattern, path and boundary. Once these brush traits have been set, the user can sit back and watch as the brushes create an abstract picture. 

“I feel that “Set Paint Go” allows users to see the elegance of mathematics as the beauty of art. To use an analogy of music, the user is the composer who writes the musical score (the settings) that the orchestra plays (“Set Paint Go”) to produce the music (picture) the user hears (sees),” says Hayes.

For more information and to see additional artwork, visit www.dajam.com/setpaintgo.

See images created with “Set Paint Go” at http://www.dajam.com/setpaintgo/gallery