Creating Masterpieces Using Nothing but Verve and Microsoft Paint

Creating great art takes great talent. Alternatively, you can follow this easy guide to creating real beauty out of the program Microsoft Paint (I can't find the registered trademark symbol right now, but I doubt any Microsoft affiliates are among my esteemed readers). Today we're creating a beautiful landscape in 4 easy steps. It's sort of like Bob Ross but without the mess of paints or the lovable 'fro.

I'm thinking of trying for a night scene, so the first thing you'll need to do is make a moon. If you want to be a bit more advanced, you can make a sun instead, but then you'll need to compensate by choosing a brighter sky hue. You're probably better off just swallowing your pride and going with the night scene. It's up to you, maverick. To make the moon, make overlapping circles and then fill one in. Erase the other and you have a moon (see Figure 1). Imagine that! You'll also notice that I filled in the sky. You're welcome to get a little crazy with "custom color" feature if you like and go a little darker or lighter. It's your masterpiece--make it your own!


Figure 1
Well done! Now you're ready for Step 2. Let's add some rolling hills to our picture. I like to use the curvy line function. As a word of warning, don't be surprised if when you make the line curve exactly where you want it to and then click somewhere else that it will change into some freakish curve that bares no resemblance to what you intended. Just roll with it! Art is about spontaneity, or at least it is when you don't know what you're doing. Observe the result:

Figure 2
Let's keep this art train rolling and move straight into Step 3. Step 3 is all about letting your creativity shine through. You can add whatever you like. After all, it was pretty much a landscape already after Step 2. The rest is just filler. Suggestions: a village of houses, some stars, random swirling clouds, a large plume or smoke and/or the entirely black silhouette of a tree. The choice is yours. Isn't art fun?

Figure 3
You're so close it's ridiculous! Step 4 is actually the easiest step. Just add some shading and tighten things up a bit. Just make sure to not over-edit.

Figure 4

Now sit back and enjoy your work. You earned it! Feel free to print off your work and put it on your home or office refrigerator. Don't forget to sign it so everyone will know who the artist is. Also, you may want to plug Immature Poets.