Microsoft Paint, the very basic drawing program that comes free with Windows, has kind of a bad reputation with artistic types. They say it really doesn’t do much. I’ve always considered it a program with limited functionality. But checking out the website for 97-year-old artist Hal Lasko, I’m starting to wonder if maybe it’s us. Check out what the legally blind retired graphic artist was able to do using MS Paint.
Or how about this…
Did I mention he was legally blind and started using Microsoft Paint in the late 1990’s? And he made something like this:
Hal was born in 1915 in Toledo and after serving in WWII spent a career as a graphic designer in Cleveland. He worked for companies like Goodyear and General Tire and even for the Cleveland Browns. When Hal retired from American Greetings in the 1970s, he concentrated on his art. Sometime in the 1990’s, someone thought it might be fun to show Grandpa Microsoft Paint.
Turns out that Hal loved the new way of expressing himself and switched from painting on canvas to exclusive painting with Paint, with some pretty amazing results.
Hal lost some of his vision to macular degeneration in 2005 and he’s now legally deaf as well. But he’s still creating works of art. Prints of his work are available to buy at his website hallasko.com. You can also check out the videos that show how Hal works.
It’s amazing to see how his work comes together pixel by pixel by pixel. You’ll also learn more about his long career and meet his family. He’s really a remarkable individual.
In fact, Hal has inspired me to work with MS Paint. What do you think of my work?
Yeah, not so great. I guess I’ll leave the Paint masterpieces to Hal.
~ Cynthia
Hi Cynthia,
You also seem to be wondering that MS Paint is versatile. But, actually Hal alone is. What comes out of a basic tool is remarkable for the simple reason that the user is remarkable. It is Hal who has visualized so well that MS Paint itself is sufficient. I just can’t understand how Hal could see the monitor and work with colors when he is legally(?) blind.
So, MS word remains basic – just as most of us do!
I first realized the versatility of MS Paint back in 1994. I was working for a national restaurant chain and they did not want us to load any unauthorized programs on our computers. Consequently we were forced to work with only Wordpad and MS Paint. It was then that I found out just how robust MS Paint really was. I now work in the Information Technology field and I still use MS Paint every day for creating documentation.
i am also interested in Ms-Paint . I had made many pictures withit. I will soon start posting them on my blog http://artwithmspaint.blogspot.com
i am knowing that i am not good at Ms-Paint like Hal Lasko is. But i am sure that you will like my pictures. Friends if you like my pictures posted in my blog then please comment in my blog.
i got inspiration from Hal lasko…. but i am not perfect like him…