Artists somehow keep making masterpieces with Kid Pix and MS Paint

polygon.com:

Simplified art programs like Kid Pix and Microsoft Paint aren’t exactly known for their ease of use in the art community. There are no layers, the undo buttons only work a limited number of times, and blending brushes are sparse. With the help of social media and a well-timed port of Kid Pix, however, over 30 years after these programs were released, artists are now taking Kid Pix and MS Paint as a challenge: a test of endurance, creativity, and, in the case of Kid Pix, some very silly sound effects.

Since MS Paint was released for free alongside Windows in 1985, the program has received relatively little support, only getting a few aesthetic updates that have mostly lacked new features. That hasn’t stopped massive online communities from rallying around the program. The subreddit r/mspaint has over 220,000 members who post everything from quick sketches to re-creations of classic works, and <a href=«https://twitter.com/search?q=%23mspaint&src=» https: www.polygon.com>#mspaint

on Twitter is filled with masterpieces.

Computer Lab Week is our ode to the classic “school” games, like Oregon Trail and Number Munchers, that kept us from being productive. Sure, you should be doing homework, but Carmen Sandiego is on the loose!

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.

However, in 2021, Kid Pix was made just as accessible as it once was by Vikrum Nijjar, who ported the first Kid Pix to release a free web version. The port was originally a gift for Nijjar’s daughter, though it became much bigger