Redux Paint for iPad

I've been wanting to get into creating C64 artwork again, I've been missing that special combination of technical challenge and painting joy. Working with the limited resolution and palette gives an almost zen-like state of mind for me, and I guess it's in many ways similar to those adult colouring books. There are many excellent programs that lets you do that, but I want to paint relaxing in my couch with my iPad, and not in front of my workstation at the office. I've been learning Python, and when I discovered the incredible Pythonista, this seemed to be an ideal learning project!

I decided to name the app Redux Paint, which is a play on the name of the legendary Deluxe Paint for the Amiga. The inspiration for the UI is mostly Deluxe Paint, with a feature set focused on doing full screen bitmaps for the C64. It supports importing images from the Files app or from the Camera Roll, and you can export to PNG, Koala or PRG files.

Redux Paint is a work in progress and incomplete in many ways. But if you want to try it out, you can download the program from GitHub. Who knows, I might be able to make this into a proper app in the future.

Download and installation

The editor is written in Python using Pythonista for iPad. You need Pythonista installed on your iPad to run the code. Just dump the script files into the Pythonista iCloud folder, and off you go!

Feature List

Here is some of the functionality I have been able to build:

More features to come...





Sample Artwork

Here are some of the images I have painted while writing and testing Redux Paint.