History has taught us that art comes in many different forms and mediums. And we’ve seen it done before — from the Pinoy artist who made superheroes from worn-out slippers to the Korean barista who recreated Van Gogh paintings with coffee foam. These masterpieces come in many shapes, colors, and sizes — and they are made even more extraordinary when you know the materials used to create them.
This sentiment is what makes 77-year old Tatsuo Horiuchi an artist himself because he creates highly-detailed paintings using only the tools found in Microsoft Excel.
As a retiree, Horiuchi wanted to create unique works of art on a budget. “When I started to do this (paint using Microsoft Excel), I had a defiant and experimental mind. [I thought,] ‘how can I paint with my PC?’ [Because with the computer,] you don’t need to spend money on paints and you don’t have to prepare water and so on,” he says in an interview with Great Big Story.
Through the use of the graphs and paint bucket features of the Microsoft Excel, Horiuchi was able to create vibrant and colorful paintings that look like they came out of a modern museum.
Though Horiuchi admits that many still question why he paints with Microsoft Excel. “[A lot of people ask,] ‘why are you making an effort on something that’s not useful? Are you a fool?” [and to that, I reply,] ‘Yes, I am a fool.” But I think even if you don’t have [the] talent for paintings, you can [still] paint as long as you have Excel,” Horiuchi explains to Great Big Story.
Watch him unleash his imaginative spirit in the video below:
