Iris

Iris treats the browser like a sheet of cotton cardstock rather than a stack of pixels. Drop, drag, comb, and tilt finite pigment through a WebGPU fluid simulation; when the wells run dry, the image settles, dries, and becomes a seeded performance that can be grown again.

What is Iris?

This is painting with a clock quietly ticking inside the paint box. Four brushes lay color into a fluid field, a glass rod moves pigment without adding more, and tilting the board gives gravity a vote. Every 15 seconds the instrument takes its own breath and deposits another pulse, so even an idle canvas refuses to stay idle. The color model behaves more like pigment than screen light: overlapping blue and yellow are designed to make green instead of the grayish compromise of ordinary RGB averaging. Eventually the finite wells empty, motion decays, the edges dry into fronds and dark rims, and the session sets. A shared link carries the seed and recorded gesture, not a screenshot, so the painting grows back from the same conditions without promising a pixel-perfect clone.

What you can do there

• Drop and drag finite simulated pigment
• Comb or tilt wet paint
• Let the image dry and set
• Share a seeded replay of the gesture

Why we picked it

Iris gives digital paint consequences. Color is limited, fluid keeps traveling, paper texture changes the settling edge, and the artwork may add a mark while you hesitate. That mix of control and unruly material behavior turns a technical simulation into a surprisingly persuasive studio instrument.

How to get the most from it

Begin with a tap, then try a held stroke and one of the four brushes. Use the glass rod to rearrange pigment you already spent, tilt the board while the wash is wet, and wait through at least one automatic breath before deciding whether to add another color or let the piece set.

Good to know

Iris depends on WebGPU, which is still unavailable in some common browser and device combinations. The live compatibility fallback and current performance were not verified. Its fluid field keeps moving after input, an automatic pigment pulse arrives every 15 seconds, and the destination cannot be embedded in Site Stumble's viewer.

Who made it, and when?

Wenyi Zhang is the credited creator or organization. The earliest supported launch date we found is 2026.