Origins
DigArts Software began in the early 1990s from a simple idea: the natural world looks complex, but its forms are patterned. My graduate work on pattern recognition, plus a lifelong immersion in landscape painting (Moran, Church, and the Hudson River School), led to a practical question: could digital paint media respect nature’s rules rather than fake them?
The Idea
I treated leaves, flowers, bark, and other natural forms as structured data—coordinated image arrays organized by species rules, growth habits, and scale. Instead of a single color-based brush, each “paint” was a small database: 40+ crafted elements with metadata about clustering, orientation, and variation. Strokes became instructions; media handled the botanical logic.
How It Worked
1. Coordinated arrays drove brush output (“painting with paintings”).
2. Controlled variation prevented repetition while preserving species identity.
3. True alpha transparency enabled natural edges and layering.
4. Real-time scaling kept detail from leaf to forest canopy.
5. Modular sets combined across scales, species and seasons without seams.
Impact
This approach licensed into Fractal Design Painter (1995) and was covered by EFX Art & Design (“Digital Hero: Dennis Berkla & The Magic Image Hose Nozzles”), Painter Studio Secrets, The KPT Bryce Book, and educational media such as “How Big Is Our Universe.” In 1998, a landmark U.S. Federal Court case validated the originality of DigArts’ work while establishing precedent for digital media copyright. For over 25 years, artists in architecture, film, games, illustration, advertising, and fine art have used these paints to compose natural environments in minutes instead of days—without giving up expressive control.
Why This Matters for the UEF Framework
DigArts was an early laboratory for ideas that later matured into the UEF model: hierarchical structure (leaf → branch → canopy), boundary rules (species/growth constraints), and controlled variation (stability with diversity). The media behaved recursively—small rules composing into large forms—hinting at how complex systems emerge from patterned constraints.
Today
While DigArts is no longer developing new products, the legacy collections remain available for Painter and as layered assets in Photoshop; GIMP users can port the databases as image pipes. The sets are offered under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. This site serves as a record and a resource—a small chapter in the evolution of digital paint metaphors for natural form.
