Plenty of us are gearheads (myself included), and we enjoy discussing the latest and greatest technology for any number of reasons. But when should you just stick with the tool you have? What if you took well over a decade just to master that one tool? That's pretty much what Hal Lasko, a former graphic artist, did with a little old program called Microsoft Paint. Hal is now legally blind, suffering from wet macular degeneration, but his patience and determination have allowed him to continue working to this day. You should probably check if you're still alive if you don't feel anything after watching the beautiful film below directed by Josh Bogdan and his grandson, Ryan Lasko.

Here's the description from the creators:


Hal Lasko, better known as Grandpa, worked as a graphic artist back when everything was done by hand. His family introduced him to the computer and Microsoft Paint long after he retired.

Now, Grandpa spends ten hours a day moving pixels around his computer paintings. His work is a blend of pointillism and 8-Bit art.

Meet 98-year-old Hal Lasko, The Pixel Painter.

We're always going to talk about specs and what this thing does or that thing can't do, but a true artist can work with what they have. I think Hal's persistence is absolutely beautiful, and his story is one we should all keep in mind the next time we complain about some piece of gear that we don't have or that we think we need to create works of art.

Hal-lasko-print

Right now Hal's prints are being sold for $98 to celebrate his birthday, and 10% of each purchase will be donated to Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) programs. You can find all of his artwork over on his website.

Links:

[via The Verge & Gizmodo]