Suddenly, my stick figure under a smiling sun seems inadequate.
May 23, 2005 10:40 PM Subscribe
MS Paint like you've never seen it before. Says the artist: "A drawing that I used mspaint to draw with a little photophop bluring [sic], it is more than 500 hours work." It seems he saw the picture in a calendar and wanted to make a digital painting out of it. Since he didn't know how to use any graphics program he decided MS Paint would have to do. This is the amazing result.
[via Boing Boing]
that's pretty amazing. Paint is so limited in what you can do
posted by Hands of Manos at 10:45 PM on May 23, 2005
posted by Hands of Manos at 10:45 PM on May 23, 2005
MS Paint? Luxury! Back in my day we used to tap out bitmaps using shorted serial cables. And we were grateful!
posted by Galvatron at 10:50 PM on May 23, 2005
posted by Galvatron at 10:50 PM on May 23, 2005
OMG 4 REEL?!?!????!?
*ahem*
I mean: Oh. My. God. For real?
posted by sourwookie at 11:12 PM on May 23, 2005
*ahem*
I mean: Oh. My. God. For real?
posted by sourwookie at 11:12 PM on May 23, 2005
sourwookie, I think what you are trying to say is "fo shizzle!?" (that's the popular catch phrase young trendy children are using out on the streets and on many "Kid's Bop" albums)
posted by Hands of Manos at 11:15 PM on May 23, 2005
posted by Hands of Manos at 11:15 PM on May 23, 2005
An MS Paint Tutorial . But don't forget The GIMP!
But I look at his picture and think 'He DREW this? On a computer? With a Micro$oft product? Damn.' Then I wonder why he didn't (learn to?) draw it on paper and then scan it. Or something. But then maybe that's why they call it "deviant" art: something a normal ordinary mind like mine can't conceive of.
posted by davy at 11:22 PM on May 23, 2005
But I look at his picture and think 'He DREW this? On a computer? With a Micro$oft product? Damn.' Then I wonder why he didn't (learn to?) draw it on paper and then scan it. Or something. But then maybe that's why they call it "deviant" art: something a normal ordinary mind like mine can't conceive of.
posted by davy at 11:22 PM on May 23, 2005
Way before Photoshop, and even way before MS Paint, I used to practice my anti-aliasing and "pixel painting" skills in GIF editors - being of an age and geekiness where it was natural to want to be a video game artist and/or sprite artist.
So, I can believe it. It all comes down to a ton of patience and skill and a lot of good color selection.
But I can also disbelieve it. How can you not know of Photoshop?
posted by loquacious at 11:31 PM on May 23, 2005
So, I can believe it. It all comes down to a ton of patience and skill and a lot of good color selection.
But I can also disbelieve it. How can you not know of Photoshop?
posted by loquacious at 11:31 PM on May 23, 2005
Around the turn of the century (it's so neat to be able to say that), I did some pretty elaborate montages using Paint. Oh my god at the meticulousness, the frustration. Nothing nearly as complex as what this guy did, mind you, but still; I was rather impressed with myself at the time, given that I wasn't much of a tech geek and even less of an artist or even a layout guy. Not sure I even knew what Photoshop was at that point.
The embarrassing part is that the montages were for the cover of a fan-fiction novel (The New Mutants) that I printed to read. God, I'm such a geek.
Anyway, I'll further embarrass myself by uploading the pictures - looks like I've got about ten, a meg and a half total - if someone has space on the web to put them.
posted by Clay201 at 11:55 PM on May 23, 2005
The embarrassing part is that the montages were for the cover of a fan-fiction novel (The New Mutants) that I printed to read. God, I'm such a geek.
Anyway, I'll further embarrass myself by uploading the pictures - looks like I've got about ten, a meg and a half total - if someone has space on the web to put them.
posted by Clay201 at 11:55 PM on May 23, 2005
The embarrassing part is that the montages were for the cover of a fan-fiction novel (The New Mutants) that I printed to read. God, I'm such a geek.
Hah! I'm a fandom dork myself so I think it's kind of sweet.
posted by LeeJay at 12:04 AM on May 24, 2005
Hah! I'm a fandom dork myself so I think it's kind of sweet.
posted by LeeJay at 12:04 AM on May 24, 2005
Does it make me rather mean spirited if I say that I'm not terribly keen on the result? I mean, I know a lot of work went into it and everything, but it reminds me a bit of shopping mall art.
posted by rhymer at 12:59 AM on May 24, 2005
posted by rhymer at 12:59 AM on May 24, 2005
So he used some not very clever software (even though clever software is available) to make copy of a not very outstanding picture.
Why is this considered clever??
If I painted a picture with my hands tied behind my back, blindfolded, up side down and only used one bristle from an old brush just to make it more difficult, would that give my artwork more merit too?
posted by Merlin at 2:11 AM on May 24, 2005
Why is this considered clever??
If I painted a picture with my hands tied behind my back, blindfolded, up side down and only used one bristle from an old brush just to make it more difficult, would that give my artwork more merit too?
posted by Merlin at 2:11 AM on May 24, 2005
I still don't buy it, even with the in-progress shots. Seems to me it's more probable that the in-progress shots were faked to make the I created this with MS Paint story appear credible than that the final picture actually was created in Paint. More probable and a whole lot easier.
posted by Pigpen at 2:20 AM on May 24, 2005
posted by Pigpen at 2:20 AM on May 24, 2005
not more merit, but people would still be amazed that you did it with your hands behind your back, blindfolded, upside down and using only one bristle from an old brush.
posted by shmegegge at 2:36 AM on May 24, 2005
posted by shmegegge at 2:36 AM on May 24, 2005
Deviant
The people of deviantart seem convinced, but we here at metafilter are made of more cynical stuff.
Someone living in Canada with a PC which goes online and is a photographer, yet is ignorant of all graphics software?
Maybe he just likes a challenge? He is online at the moment, any deviantart members available to chat to him?
posted by asok at 2:37 AM on May 24, 2005
The people of deviantart seem convinced, but we here at metafilter are made of more cynical stuff.
Someone living in Canada with a PC which goes online and is a photographer, yet is ignorant of all graphics software?
Maybe he just likes a challenge? He is online at the moment, any deviantart members available to chat to him?
posted by asok at 2:37 AM on May 24, 2005
So a great artist with crappy tools can make great art?
Wake me when we've reached a point where a crappy artist can use great tools to make great art.
Then maybe I can do more than stick figures.
posted by nightchrome at 2:44 AM on May 24, 2005
Wake me when we've reached a point where a crappy artist can use great tools to make great art.
Then maybe I can do more than stick figures.
posted by nightchrome at 2:44 AM on May 24, 2005
When you guys look at a Seurat do you assume that he didn't know how to move the brush?
posted by mosch at 2:50 AM on May 24, 2005
posted by mosch at 2:50 AM on May 24, 2005
Merlin : "Why is this considered clever??"
Whoever said anything about "clever"? All people have said so far is "amazing". If you painted a picture with your hands tied behind my back, blindfolded, up side down and only used one bristle from an old brush just to make it more difficult, that would also be amazing.
posted by Bugbread at 2:57 AM on May 24, 2005
Whoever said anything about "clever"? All people have said so far is "amazing". If you painted a picture with your hands tied behind my back, blindfolded, up side down and only used one bristle from an old brush just to make it more difficult, that would also be amazing.
posted by Bugbread at 2:57 AM on May 24, 2005
Does it make me rather mean spirited if I say that I'm not terribly keen on the result? I mean, I know a lot of work went into it and everything, but it reminds me a bit of shopping mall art.
I don't think it's mean spirited. The picture itself wouldn't impress too many critics. I just couldn't believe someone could do something like that with Paint.
posted by LeeJay at 3:09 AM on May 24, 2005
I don't think it's mean spirited. The picture itself wouldn't impress too many critics. I just couldn't believe someone could do something like that with Paint.
posted by LeeJay at 3:09 AM on May 24, 2005
Does it make me rather mean spirited if I say that I'm not terribly keen on the result? I mean, I know a lot of work went into it and everything, but it reminds me a bit of shopping mall art.
LeeJay : "I don't think it's mean spirited. The picture itself wouldn't impress too many critics. I just couldn't believe someone could do something like that with Paint."
Completely agreed. If someone taught their dog to do a note perfect cover of a Britney Spears, including all the drums and instruments, I would be absolutely amazed, impressed, and flabbergasted, but I wouldn't necessarily be keen on the end result. I don't think that's at all mean spirited, and I suspect if phrased well, the artist himself would be complimented, not insulted.
posted by Bugbread at 3:33 AM on May 24, 2005
LeeJay : "I don't think it's mean spirited. The picture itself wouldn't impress too many critics. I just couldn't believe someone could do something like that with Paint."
Completely agreed. If someone taught their dog to do a note perfect cover of a Britney Spears, including all the drums and instruments, I would be absolutely amazed, impressed, and flabbergasted, but I wouldn't necessarily be keen on the end result. I don't think that's at all mean spirited, and I suspect if phrased well, the artist himself would be complimented, not insulted.
posted by Bugbread at 3:33 AM on May 24, 2005
Also, if there are any Deviant Art members, can you ask where this place is, IRL?
Clay201 writes " Anyway, I'll further embarrass myself by uploading the pictures - looks like I've got about ten, a meg and a half total - if someone has space on the web to put them."
Clay201, try Photobucket.
posted by taz at 4:07 AM on May 24, 2005
Clay201 writes " Anyway, I'll further embarrass myself by uploading the pictures - looks like I've got about ten, a meg and a half total - if someone has space on the web to put them."
Clay201, try Photobucket.
posted by taz at 4:07 AM on May 24, 2005
I think perhaps a better analogy is one of those people who pushes a pea 25 miles along the ground with their nose. When someone does that, my view is just that it's an odd and rather pedantic thing to do, rather than something amazing, or, to be honest, really that worth of note. Right, I'm off to build a five bedroom house out of pea gravel and superglue.
posted by rhymer at 4:08 AM on May 24, 2005
posted by rhymer at 4:08 AM on May 24, 2005
I used to do stuff like this for iCE back in the early 90s with Autodesk Animator. Never used the animation aspects of it, just the pixel-drawing.
Naturally, I can't find any old iCEpack's online to show off. Anyway, this is pretty good stuff. I'm dubious about how much "Photoshop blur" he uses. It looks like a lot in small places all over the image.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:12 AM on May 24, 2005
Naturally, I can't find any old iCEpack's online to show off. Anyway, this is pretty good stuff. I'm dubious about how much "Photoshop blur" he uses. It looks like a lot in small places all over the image.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:12 AM on May 24, 2005
Pixel art was always around, so it's not all that surprising or unbelievable. Most of the game art in the VGA days were all done with tools not all that much more sophisticated than Paint.
And the art groups back then (like iCE) would really go to the extent of restricting themselves to just pixel pushing, and pull off incredible pictures. I used to do ANSI art with ACiDDraw back in the day for an aussie group (fORCE). Ah, geek nostalgia.
posted by aki at 4:52 AM on May 24, 2005
And the art groups back then (like iCE) would really go to the extent of restricting themselves to just pixel pushing, and pull off incredible pictures. I used to do ANSI art with ACiDDraw back in the day for an aussie group (fORCE). Ah, geek nostalgia.
posted by aki at 4:52 AM on May 24, 2005
How can you not know of Photoshop?
Maybe he knew of it but couldn't afford a copy and didn't know of anything cheaper but similar? 'Tis not cheap.
posted by fshgrl at 5:13 AM on May 24, 2005
Maybe he knew of it but couldn't afford a copy and didn't know of anything cheaper but similar? 'Tis not cheap.
posted by fshgrl at 5:13 AM on May 24, 2005
Rhymer, get back to me when you've tried to make some art that took you a long time, and that you are satisfied with.
posted by yoga at 5:14 AM on May 24, 2005
posted by yoga at 5:14 AM on May 24, 2005
I believe it - I've seen some Deluxe Paint drawings that looked this good on the Amiga, and they were in either 320 x 200 x 32 or 640 x 400 x16. This was before DP could do HAM.
I have yet to see a modern drawing program with an interface as good as Deluxe Paint.
That's 32 or 16 colors, by the way.
posted by rfs at 5:17 AM on May 24, 2005
I have yet to see a modern drawing program with an interface as good as Deluxe Paint.
That's 32 or 16 colors, by the way.
posted by rfs at 5:17 AM on May 24, 2005
I'm having a hard time believing those in progress images. Even in MS-Paint, would people work like that? Finish one incredibly detailed side of the picture, while the other side is still blank? Not rough in the whole thing and then add details?
posted by jacquilynne at 5:31 AM on May 24, 2005
posted by jacquilynne at 5:31 AM on May 24, 2005
So, how did he add this "photoshop blur" if he did not know what photoshop is? Hmmm?
/skeptic
posted by grapefruitmoon at 5:46 AM on May 24, 2005
/skeptic
posted by grapefruitmoon at 5:46 AM on May 24, 2005
Thanks for the suggestion re: Photobucket, taz. I signed up for an account and so, now, here are the links to the pictures in question.
posted by Clay201 at 6:03 AM on May 24, 2005
posted by Clay201 at 6:03 AM on May 24, 2005
loquacious: How can you not know of Photoshop?
asok: ...ignorant of all graphics software?
grapefruitmoon: ...if he did not know what photoshop is?
Where does he say he doesn't know what Photoshop is? All I see is "...but i did'nt know how to use softwares..."
And fshgrl, agreed, Photoshop is far from cheap. He really may not have known how to use it simply because he couldn't afford it. And The Gimp, while great, isn't as well known.
posted by solotoro at 6:10 AM on May 24, 2005
asok: ...ignorant of all graphics software?
grapefruitmoon: ...if he did not know what photoshop is?
Where does he say he doesn't know what Photoshop is? All I see is "...but i did'nt know how to use softwares..."
And fshgrl, agreed, Photoshop is far from cheap. He really may not have known how to use it simply because he couldn't afford it. And The Gimp, while great, isn't as well known.
posted by solotoro at 6:10 AM on May 24, 2005
Finish one incredibly detailed side of the picture, while the other side is still blank?
Well, it's a little hard to believe that he wouldn't at least have a rough outline, but I usually work top-left to bottom-right when doing large pieces. Leftover methodology from the charcoal & pencil days, where smudging could obliterate all your hard work.
It looks like he used the spray can to get the general fill, mixing it up with a few closely related colors, then blurs the results together, then touches it up, section by section. It's a nicely executed piece even if it wasn't done in MS Paint. I don't understand all the hatin'.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 6:44 AM on May 24, 2005
Well, it's a little hard to believe that he wouldn't at least have a rough outline, but I usually work top-left to bottom-right when doing large pieces. Leftover methodology from the charcoal & pencil days, where smudging could obliterate all your hard work.
It looks like he used the spray can to get the general fill, mixing it up with a few closely related colors, then blurs the results together, then touches it up, section by section. It's a nicely executed piece even if it wasn't done in MS Paint. I don't understand all the hatin'.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 6:44 AM on May 24, 2005
I'm with pigpen - easier to fake the in-progress shots. And he used photoshop to blur but nothing else?
posted by CunningLinguist at 6:45 AM on May 24, 2005
posted by CunningLinguist at 6:45 AM on May 24, 2005
Technical ability and artistic talent are two related but distinct things. Both are worthy of respect. Technical ability is intimately dependent upon a strong comprehension of the tools one uses, what they can and cannot do. To my mind, the ability this artist demonstrates here indicates a more general ability he could use more productively elsewhere.
In any case, limiting oneself to the very crudest tools is often very instructive.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 7:03 AM on May 24, 2005
In any case, limiting oneself to the very crudest tools is often very instructive.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 7:03 AM on May 24, 2005
iCE, fORCE? mea culpa, Civil_Dis, what nick did you use back then?
posted by cavalier at 7:10 AM on May 24, 2005
posted by cavalier at 7:10 AM on May 24, 2005
Same nick. Civil Disobedient. Been using it since I was 12.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 7:21 AM on May 24, 2005
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 7:21 AM on May 24, 2005
Oh, those are fun clay201!
(you fudged the last link, though: here it is.)
posted by taz at 7:24 AM on May 24, 2005
(you fudged the last link, though: here it is.)
posted by taz at 7:24 AM on May 24, 2005
To paraphrase Samuel Johnson: This art "is like a dog dancing on its hinder legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find that it is done at all."
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:28 AM on May 24, 2005
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:28 AM on May 24, 2005
Huh, well, I was mainly an ANSI wrangler so the fact that I don't recall you doesn't mean anything at all. I last heard from Tempus near 2000, same old same old.
It's really bizarre to me that there are guys who still try to keep the "ice" name alive and do cheap photoshop stuff on ice.org. Even more bizarre is that where they used to have all the old packs.. now they don't. I bet they'd be very afraid to learn just how juvenile and k-rad an acronym iCE is.
"insane creators enterprise" indeed! tx for the memories.
/derail
posted by cavalier at 7:33 AM on May 24, 2005
It's really bizarre to me that there are guys who still try to keep the "ice" name alive and do cheap photoshop stuff on ice.org. Even more bizarre is that where they used to have all the old packs.. now they don't. I bet they'd be very afraid to learn just how juvenile and k-rad an acronym iCE is.
"insane creators enterprise" indeed! tx for the memories.
/derail
posted by cavalier at 7:33 AM on May 24, 2005
Well, to be honest, I think it looks pretty nice. Not briliant or anything, but nice.
Those of you saying that you think he did this in photoshop, and couldn't possibly have done in it pbrush are idiots. First of all, there are much better programs for creating orgional works then photoshop. Like vector editors or "paint" programs (I'm not that well versed) but photoshop is mainly for working with alread-designed images.
It's not very hard for me to belive this was done with pbrush at all. I've done highly detailed (but very small) images in paintbrush (that was what we called MS Paint back in the windows 3.1 days!)
Also, look at the windows on the red building and others as you go off into the distance. They look pretty bad. Hey should have used diffrent shades between dark blue and red to signify diffrent hights of the windows.
posted by delmoi at 7:42 AM on May 24, 2005
Those of you saying that you think he did this in photoshop, and couldn't possibly have done in it pbrush are idiots. First of all, there are much better programs for creating orgional works then photoshop. Like vector editors or "paint" programs (I'm not that well versed) but photoshop is mainly for working with alread-designed images.
It's not very hard for me to belive this was done with pbrush at all. I've done highly detailed (but very small) images in paintbrush (that was what we called MS Paint back in the windows 3.1 days!)
Also, look at the windows on the red building and others as you go off into the distance. They look pretty bad. Hey should have used diffrent shades between dark blue and red to signify diffrent hights of the windows.
posted by delmoi at 7:42 AM on May 24, 2005
heh. i used to be in hRG (russian group) and DARK (canadian) when i was in high school. honestly, pixel art is nothing new, and its been done WAY better than this before.
posted by atom128 at 7:42 AM on May 24, 2005
posted by atom128 at 7:42 AM on May 24, 2005
delmol - actually, photoshops really great for painting and drawing. I actually sometimes prefer it to corel painter, because of the ease in creating my own brushes.
posted by atom128 at 7:44 AM on May 24, 2005
posted by atom128 at 7:44 AM on May 24, 2005
I don't understand all the hatin'.
I don't hate it. I don't believe it, mind you, but I don't hate it. I think it's a pretty picture and a nice digital copy, I just doubt it's quite the digital copy it pretends to be.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:46 AM on May 24, 2005
I don't hate it. I don't believe it, mind you, but I don't hate it. I think it's a pretty picture and a nice digital copy, I just doubt it's quite the digital copy it pretends to be.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:46 AM on May 24, 2005
Even more bizarre is that where they used to have all the old packs.. now they don't.
You can find old icepacks in scene.org's archives. I downloaded a bunch today just in case the servers go up in flames and all my precious history is erased from the aether forever. Here's an old loader I did (sorry, it's an EXE, but I promise no viruses.)
I used to have a whole bunch of stuff pre-icepack days, had it all backed up on my trusty tape drive. I can't access any of it any more, sadly, so these small bits of history are all I have left. *sniffle*
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 8:13 AM on May 24, 2005
You can find old icepacks in scene.org's archives. I downloaded a bunch today just in case the servers go up in flames and all my precious history is erased from the aether forever. Here's an old loader I did (sorry, it's an EXE, but I promise no viruses.)
I used to have a whole bunch of stuff pre-icepack days, had it all backed up on my trusty tape drive. I can't access any of it any more, sadly, so these small bits of history are all I have left. *sniffle*
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 8:13 AM on May 24, 2005
The iCE Collection and other artscene stuff can be found at textfiles.com which is run by Jason Scoot. He's also about to release The BBS Documentary; there's a clip of an interview with Lord Soth of Insane Creators Enterprises (iCE) and RaD Man of ANSI Creators in Demand (ACiD) here.
posted by nTeleKy at 9:02 AM on May 24, 2005
posted by nTeleKy at 9:02 AM on May 24, 2005
Also, if there are any Deviant Art members, can you ask where this place is, IRL?
I think it's from Venice. This place (Canal Grande) sure looks alike.
For a little Fark fun, go and photoshop that photo to look like the MSpainting...
posted by hoskala at 9:03 AM on May 24, 2005
I think it's from Venice. This place (Canal Grande) sure looks alike.
For a little Fark fun, go and photoshop that photo to look like the MSpainting...
posted by hoskala at 9:03 AM on May 24, 2005
Just because it is easier to do it in Photoshop (or some other software) does not mean that it was not done in MSpaint. I'm willing to bet most of us here have sat in front of our computers for hundreds of hours to complete something trivial and unimportant as well. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. What's he going to do? Spend 500 hours making his Photoshop drawing look like it was done in MSPaint?
posted by Roger Dodger at 9:25 AM on May 24, 2005
posted by Roger Dodger at 9:25 AM on May 24, 2005
nTeleKy -- Thanks for that artscene link; I was able to find more of my old (lost) stuff!
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 9:34 AM on May 24, 2005
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 9:34 AM on May 24, 2005
It figures there would be some ansi scene people on mefi.
/used to be in Dark
posted by helvetica at 11:41 AM on May 24, 2005
/used to be in Dark
posted by helvetica at 11:41 AM on May 24, 2005
Quite apart from any debate on its authenticity, I think it looks awesome. It reminds me of Monkey Island and Broken Sword. Anything that reminds me of Monkey Island or Broken Sword is AWESOME.
posted by fire&wings at 12:39 PM on May 24, 2005
posted by fire&wings at 12:39 PM on May 24, 2005
i used to use mspaint for all my artwork back in the days when all my friends had pentium 3s and my sadistic parents made me use a 486. it's quite possible to do something like this, however, when you start creating custom colors it's a serious pain in the ass to manage the pallette.
posted by Ziggy Zaga at 1:29 PM on May 24, 2005
posted by Ziggy Zaga at 1:29 PM on May 24, 2005
Yoda, just because somebody spent nearly 21 days making a task needlessly difficult doesn't mean it has artistic merit. I'm not denying that the guy put an awful lot of effort into it, and maybe even that doing so has a certain geeky appeal. But that doesn't mean I'm going to abandon my critical faculties and laud this piece like it's some lost Leonardo. The world would be a better place if we all stopped telling each other how wonderful our entirely average creations were.
posted by rhymer at 4:18 PM on May 24, 2005
posted by rhymer at 4:18 PM on May 24, 2005
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posted by baphomet at 10:45 PM on May 23, 2005