Demonic Paint A layered Unicode brush for illustrations in motion

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As an illustrator, my work table has always been filled with both traditional and digital tools. Pens, inks, brushes — and over time, tablets, screens, software. But at some point I realized that the tools within reach had been made for me; I wasn't shaping them, they were shaping me. Demonic Paint was born from this awareness.

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Everything started with a simple but strange question: can you paint with Unicode characters? Unicode is a vast library containing all of the world's writing systems, symbols, hieroglyphs, mathematical operators, and geometric shapes. Egyptian hieroglyphs, arrows, box-drawing characters, mysterious symbols — all of them are essentially characters, pieces of data. But what happens if they're used like brushstrokes? Asking that question meant beginning to build Demonic Paint.

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I didn't write Demonic Paint alone — I created it together with Claude. The role I've taken on in this process is best described as "vibecoder": neither a full software developer nor merely a user. I'm the one who determines how the tool should feel, which features will support my artistic practice, and the spirit and aesthetic of the interface. The one bringing the code to life is AI. This division of labor is actually quite close to the traditional atelier mentality. An artist hasn't always written their own paint formulas; but they know best which pigment, on which surface, behaves how in which light. Vibecoding is exactly this: the redrawing of the boundary between technical execution and creative vision.

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Demonic Paint came to life as an Electron application — a standalone desktop program built with web technologies. At its core is p5.js, a library designed for visual computation and creative coding. The first version was simply a drawing area. Unicode characters were used like brushes, with size and color adjustable. But with each development step, the program became more complex, more layered, more distinctly its own. Interface design was the first major turning point. The CRT terminal aesthetic — phosphor green accents, blood red headings, dark panels, VT323 and Share Tech Mono fonts — made the program feel not just like a tool, but like an object. Every time you look at the screen, you want to run something, produce something.

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The layer system transformed Demonic Paint into a genuine drawing program. Similar in logic to Photoshop but entirely its own: each layer can be assigned a separate motion. And this motion system became the feature that defines the soul of the program.

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Motion modes — Static, Random Flicker, Jitter, Unicode Morph, Proximity Size, Color Chaos, Scan Line — each gives the drawn characters a different form of life. In Unicode Morph, characters continuously transform into other Unicode symbols; random selections are made from hundreds of different blocks. In Color Chaos, each character changes color independently. In Proximity Size, everything grows and shrinks to its own inner rhythm. A static drawing turns into a living animation with a single keystroke. GIF recording was added so these animations can be exported. A chosen number of frames are recorded, compressed, and written to file. Moving, looping, shareable outputs.

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The reference image system is the bridge that directly connects illustration practice with the program. I can load my own drawings or photographs into the program; the canvas is created at the exact image dimensions, I can work with the brush over the reference, adjust the opacity, and decide whether to include it in the export. The ruler system, automatic scale indicators on all 4 sides, guide lines that track cursor position, a coordinate display — these bring the program closer to a professional working environment.

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I started making art with a pencil. Then ink, watercolor, acrylic. The transition to digital came with tablets and software. Each tool taught a new language; each language expanded the way I see things a little further. Demonic Paint is the newest stop on this journey — but the most unconventional one. Because this time I didn't buy the tool, didn't download it, didn't license it. I created it. Working with AI to write code has, for me, become a digital extension of traditional atelier practice. Like a painter who makes their own mixtures, like a calligrapher who carves their own brush — I'm now shaping my own software. Not technical limits, but creative questions determine what gets built.

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This is just the first step in a journey of diversifying digital tools. Demonic Paint is currently a part of my illustration practice; I don't yet know what it will become in the future. But this uncertainty is exactly that space that has always existed within art.

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Capabilities

- Create canvas at any desired size; automatic adjustment to reference image dimensions

- Character selection from 14 different Unicode blocks (Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Mathematical Symbols, Arrows, Geometric Shapes, and more)

- Unicode brush with adjustable color, size, and spacing

- Layer system; assign independent motion to each layer

- 7 motion modes: Static, Random Flicker, Jitter, Unicode Morph, Proximity Size, Color Chaos, Scan Line

- Load reference images, control opacity, choose whether to include in export

- 4-sided ruler system and coordinate tracking

- JPG export GIF animation recording; frame count and FPS control.​