Mesh gradients

Mesh gradients create complex, multi-directional color transitions using a 2D grid of patches. Unlike linear or radial gradients, mesh gradients smoothly interpolate colors across a grid. Use mesh gradients to create fluid and organic aesthetic elements in your user interface.

A mesh gradient example with a display of its current mesh gradient points.
Figure 1. A mesh gradient example with a display of its current mesh gradient points.

Key concepts

To construct a mesh gradient, define the grid dimensions, the vertices, and the color transitions between points:

  • Grid dimensions: The mesh is split into patches along the vertical and horizontal axes. A grid of rows and columns contains (rows+1)×(columns+1) vertices. For example, a 1×1 mesh consists of 4 vertices forming one patch.
  • Normalized coordinates: All vertex positions use a normalized coordinate system where (0f, 0f) represents the top-left and (1f, 1f) represents the bottom-right of the drawing bounds.
  • Bezier control points (tangents): Each vertex contains up to four optional bezier control points. These tangents specify the edge curvature between neighboring vertices. If you use Offset.Unspecified, Compose infers the tangents to ensure smooth transitions across patches. Each grid cell formed by 4 vertices along with their control points generates a bezier patch.
  • Color interpolation: The framework calculates colors between the main vertices. Set hasBicubicColor to true for Catmull-Rom interpolation for smoother color shifts, or false for bilinear interpolation.

Draw with MeshGradientPainter

In Jetpack Compose, use MeshGradientPainter to render a mesh gradient. MeshGradientPainter draws on the canvas.

Create a simple mesh gradient

To create a basic static mesh gradient, initialize a MeshGradientPainter by specifying its dimensions and using the setVertex function inside the configuration block to position your corner points and assign them colors.

val rows = 1
val columns = 1

val gradientPainter = remember {
    MeshGradientPainter(rows, columns) {
        // Parameters: row, column, position, color
        setVertex(0, 0, Offset(0f, 0f), Color.Red)     // Top-Left
        setVertex(0, 1, Offset(1f, 0f), Color.Blue)    // Top-Right
        setVertex(1, 0, Offset(0f, 1f), Color.Green)   // Bottom-Left
        setVertex(1, 1, Offset(1f, 1f), Color.Yellow)  // Bottom-Right
    }
}

Box(
    modifier = modifier
        .aspectRatio(16/9f)
        .fillMaxWidth()
        .paint(gradientPainter)
)

Basic mesh gradient with 4 colors defined at each corner
Figure 2. A basic mesh gradient with four colors, with each corner set to one of the four.

Use specific Bezier control points

By default, the mesh generator handles complex calculations to keep the grid transitions smooth. However, you can explicitly customize tangents on any single vertex if you want to selectively push, pull, or sharply pinch certain color sections.

Control offsets are measured relative to the host vertex's position.

val customTangentPainter = remember {
    MeshGradientPainter(rows = 1, columns = 1) {
        // Tweak the top-left vertex to curve outwards to the right and bottom
        setVertex(
            row = 0,
            column = 0,
            position = Offset(0f, 0f),
            color = Color.Magenta,
            rightControlPoint = Offset(0.4f, 0.1f),
            bottomControlPoint = Offset(0.1f, 0.4f)
        )

        // Other points can remain unspecified to use default inferred fallback tangents
        setVertex(0, 1, Offset(1f, 0f), Color.Cyan)
        setVertex(1, 0, Offset(0f, 1f), Color.Blue)
        setVertex(1, 1, Offset(1f, 1f), Color.Black)
    }
}
Box(
    modifier = modifier
        .aspectRatio(16/9f)
        .fillMaxWidth()
        .paint(customTangentPainter)
)

Mesh gradient with curved top-left point.
Figure 3. Curve the top-left vertex with a bezier control point.

Create advanced grids

This example shows a 3 by 3 grid, meaning there are 16 points that need to be specified, with the middle points set with different offsets:

val points = remember {
    listOf(
        Offset(0.0f, 0.0f), Offset(0.3f, 0.0f), Offset(0.7f, 0.0f), Offset(1.0f, 0.0f),
        Offset(0.0f, 0.3f), Offset(0.2f, 0.4f), Offset(0.7f, 0.2f), Offset(1.0f, 0.3f),
        Offset(0.0f, 0.7f), Offset(0.3f, 0.8f), Offset(0.7f, 0.6f), Offset(1.0f, 0.7f),
        Offset(0.0f, 1.0f), Offset(0.3f, 1.0f), Offset(0.7f, 1.0f), Offset(1.0f, 1.0f)
    )
}

val gradientPainter = remember {
    MeshGradientPainter(rows = 3, columns = 3) {
        // Row 0
        setVertex(0, 0, points[0], yellow)
        setVertex(0, 1, points[1], orange)
        setVertex(0, 2, points[2], yellow)
        setVertex(0, 3, points[3], purple)

        // Row 1
        setVertex(1, 0, points[4], pink)
        setVertex(1, 1, points[5], yellow)
        setVertex(1, 2, points[6], pink)
        setVertex(1, 3, points[7], purple)

        // Row 2
        setVertex(2, 0, points[8], indigo)
        setVertex(2, 1, points[9], pink)
        setVertex(2, 2, points[10], purple)
        setVertex(2, 3, points[11], indigo)

        // Row 3
        setVertex(3, 0, points[12], purple)
        setVertex(3, 1, points[13], indigo)
        setVertex(3, 2, points[14], pink)
        setVertex(3, 3, points[15], yellow)
    }
}

Box(
    modifier = modifier.padding(32.dp)
        .aspectRatio(16 / 9f)
        .fillMaxWidth()
        .paint(gradientPainter)
        // ...
)

Mesh gradient with bezier control points and wave colors, and the mesh points illustrated on top of it.
Figure 4. Mesh gradient with bezier control points and wave colors, and the mesh points illustrated on top of it.

Animate a mesh gradient

Because the block lambda parameter of MeshGradientPainter is executed within a DrawScope, it can read and observe mutable state. You can animate positions or colors over time without re-allocating shaders or bitmaps.

val infiniteTransition = rememberInfiniteTransition(label = "meshMovement")
val animatedOffset by infiniteTransition.animateFloat(
    initialValue = -0.1f,
    targetValue = 0.1f,
    animationSpec = infiniteRepeatable(
        animation = tween(2500, easing = LinearEasing),
        repeatMode = RepeatMode.Reverse
    ),
    label = "offset"
)

val coral = Color(255, 90, 90)
val peach = Color(255, 139, 90)
val amber = Color(255, 169, 90)
val sunshine = Color(255, 212, 90)
val indigo = Color(0xFF5856D6)
val pink = Color(0xFFFF2D55)


val gradientPainter = remember {
    MeshGradientPainter(rows = 3, columns = 3) {
        // Row 0
        setVertex(0, 0, Offset(0.0f, 0.0f), indigo)
        setVertex(0, 1, Offset(0.3f, 0.0f), peach)
        setVertex(0, 2, Offset(0.7f, 0.0f), amber)
        setVertex(0, 3, Offset(1.0f, 0.0f), sunshine)
        // Row 1
        setVertex(1, 0, Offset(0.0f, 0.3f), pink)
        setVertex(1, 1, Offset(0.2f, 0.4f) + Offset(animatedOffset, animatedOffset), coral)
        setVertex(1, 2, Offset(0.7f, 0.2f) + Offset(animatedOffset, animatedOffset), peach)
        setVertex(1, 3, Offset(1.0f, 0.3f), indigo)

        // Row 2
        setVertex(2, 0, Offset(0.0f, 0.7f), coral)
        setVertex(2, 1, Offset(0.3f, 0.8f) + Offset(animatedOffset, 0f), pink)
        setVertex(2, 2, Offset(0.7f, 0.6f) + Offset(animatedOffset, 0f), sunshine)
        setVertex(2, 3, Offset(1.0f, 0.7f), amber)

        // Row 3
        setVertex(3, 0, Offset(0.0f, 1.0f), sunshine)
        setVertex(3, 1, Offset(0.3f, 1.0f), amber)
        setVertex(3, 2, Offset(0.7f, 1.0f), pink)
        setVertex(3, 3, Offset(1.0f, 1.0f), indigo)
    }
}


Box(
    modifier = modifier.padding(32.dp)
        .safeContentPadding()
        .aspectRatio(16 / 9f)
        .fillMaxWidth()
        .paint(gradientPainter)
)

Figure 5. Animated mesh gradient with points to show the animation.
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