Kid Pix and MS Paint masterpieces are easier to find than you might expect

Simplified art programs like Kid Pix and Microsoft Paint aren’t exactly known for their ease of use in the art community. The layers are not available, there are limited undo options, and the blending brushes can only be used a few times. Social media, along with a timely port of Kid Pix have allowed artists to now take Kid Pix/MS Paint as a challenge. It is a test for endurance, creativity and in the case that of Kid Pix some rather silly sound effects.

MS Paint launched alongside Windows 1985 for free. It has only received a few cosmetic updates and has mostly been without new features. That hasn’t stopped massive online communities from rallying around the program. Over 220,000 people are members of the subreddit R/mspaint, where they post anything from sketches to recreations of classic works. #mspaintThere are many masterpieces on Twitter.

The road to repopularize Kid Pix, on the other hand, hasn’t been as straightforward. Since Kid Pix’s initial release as public domain software in 1989, newer iterations have become monetized, while older versions have become relatively incompatible with modern operating systems.

But, Kid Pix is now just as accessible in 2021. Vikrum NijjarThe first Kid Pix web-based version was released by. The port was originally a gift for Nijjar’s daughter, though it became much bigger than he expected after he posted the port on Twitter. Craig Hickman (the creator of Kid Pix) even saw the port and let his grandson test it.

“The summer of 2021 was pretty rough for everyone, so having a moment where people could fondly relive their nostalgia was a welcome respite,” Nijjar wrote via email. “There were so many tweets where people talked about how Kid Pix was what sparked their interest in design and computers, teachers saying they are using the app in their classrooms, people sending me links to their streams where they use the app.”

Unexpectedly, Nijjar’s port became a turning point in the modern history of Kid Pix, reintroducing the software to many artists who had once loved using the program in their schools’ computer labs.

“Having it online also helped me experiment with it a lot,” Twitter user NomiThe online portal of Kid Pix is used by, who creates with its large selection of stickers colorful portraits, via a DM. “Thanks to [the port], my life feels a little bit more colorful now.”

Due to Nijjar’s port, Kid Pix has slowly regained its spot as a somewhat more entertaining sibling to MS Paint, with its kid-friendly interface and playful blending modes taking center stage.

“Honestly, it’s hard not to have fun when the program is constantly making silly noises in your ear,” artist Amanda Carney wrote via email. “Even a mistake makes me laugh whenever I have to hit the Undo button and get a cartoony ‘YIKES!’ Plus, the best part of Kid Pix is all the ways you can squish and melt your work when you’re done.”

Carney assumed the Challenge of 2021 re-creating classics like Vincent van Gogh’s “Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette” in Kid Pix. And while re-creating these works, she was initially forced to deal with the wild uncertainty of the program’s wacky brushes, which would eventually become a driving factor in her creative process.

“I’ve been playing with it for years and I’m still unsure of the logic behind why a tool will change one color to another, or what random squiggle will happen if I push the mouse a certain way with another tool,” Carney wrote.

Carney and many other determined artists have made it a career of creating photorealistic work in MS Paint as well as Kid Pix.

Pat HinesCaptainRedblood has been creating art as CaptainRedblood. photorealistic paintingsFor nearly twenty years, Hines has been creating illustrated books using MS Paint. Microsoft even flew him to the campus of its headquarters in 2017. MS Paint is a challenging challenge for Hines that challenges him to look outside the box.

“Paint doesn’t have layers, and you can only hit undo so many times, but that sort of forces you to get crafty,” Hines wrote via Reddit DM.

The combination of these programs’ low-resolution brushes and the difficulty of controlling a brush with a mouse also creates an instantly recognizable style for artists, with some relying on these limitations to provide an artistic advantage.

Some artists used the two art styles in these programs to their advantage. User of Twitter @KPalbumcovers has spent the past few years re-creating album covers in Kid Pix with an impressive level of dedication to his work — since the account’s origin in 2020, he’s re-created hundreds of album covers with a hilarious yet charming style.

Artists Isabel Buenaventura, MS Paint’s limited brushes and inability to blend colors lend themselves to a colorful, impressionistic style, something that differs from the art style she uses in other mediums. MS Paint to her is a bit of a defiance.

“Everything is possible with these types of softwares,” Buenaventura wrote via Twitter DM. “It’s not necessarily about using software or applications; it’s about believing in yourself and improving your skills.”

Whether artists use these programs to sharpen their skills or simply as a way to make art more entertaining, perhaps the best part of the resurgence of these programs is their ability to bring artists back to a simpler time — a time when sitting down in an elementary school computer lab was the best part of their day.

“It’s incredibly nostalgic for me every time I open MS Paint,” Buenaventura wrote. “It’s always wonderful to revisit some of those memories.”

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