Systems and methods for providing a natural media painting application may receive user inputs through tablet stylus gestures, including gestures that are proximity-based and/or context sensitive. The system may also receive user inputs through the touch of a stylus and/or a user touch on a tablet device. Various digital painting and image editing tasks may be invoked and/or controlled using such inputs in response to detecting and recognizing the stylus gestures. Various gestures defined by a combination of touch and stylus manipulation may be mapped to functions or modes of the application. A touch-and-stylus gesture may be used to invoke a change in the work mode, such as an automatic zoom mode, automatic panning mode, steady detail work mode, or snap to grid mode. A touch-and-stylus gesture may trigger adaptation of one or more parameters of the application to assist a user in performing a detected painting operation in progress.