Skip to main content

The Manual may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.

Patrick Hines is a Master at Microsoft Paint–Check Out Some of His Incredible Illustrations

“I always thought of the Paint window like the hole Tim Robbins was digging out of his cell in The Shawshank Redemption, with the “minimize” button being the girly poster that hid it,” said Hines.

Patrick Hines, 34, is a man who hates Photoshop. Just kidding. He’s a man who’s simply enthralled by Microsoft Paint and has been cursor-ing pixels into complex illustrations for over a decade.

During the day, Pat Hines is tied up with duties as an Operations Specialist at a law firm in Boston. Due to a busy schedule and a sense of professionalism, Hines doesn’t work in Paint at the law office. But somehow he still manages to find time to construct complex masterpieces like this:

The Force Awakens in Microsoft Paint. — Patrick Hines (@CaptainRedblood) September 7, 2015

For much of his twenties, though, Hines worked a variety of desk jobs which offered ample time to dabble in Paint. Of all the programs (which there aren’t many on older desktop computers), what was his inspiration behind becoming so proficient in Paint?

Well, to be frank, Hines began working on digital illustrations out of pure boredom.

“I was working at the hospital in 2004, doing overnights,” said Hines. “This was just before Facebook and Youtube, If Wikipedia existed, I didn’t know about it. I hate Freecell, Minesweeper, and Solitaire, so it was Paint or a slow descent into insanity. The early projects were mostly for pleasure until around 2006 or 2007, when I started producing pieces I felt okay including alongside my more “traditional” artwork.”

Hines’ first introduction to Microsoft Paint was in 1995 on his family’s first computer: a Compaq Presario. Even after learning programs such as Photoshop in 2000 or so, Hines never fully enjoyed the work he would produce in it. Then, back to Paint is was.

“…I started getting good at Paint and for the first time began to see something resembling a personal style, which I never thought I had on paper,” said Hines. “On paper I was always trying to be another artist, but in Paint it felt like I’d found my own voice. I kept going back though, trying to learn the other programs because I wasn’t “supposed” to work in Paint, but I always gravitated back to it.”

For a simple program, Hines said Paint has some pretty interesting nuances. Although there may only a few out there who know all its secrets, he now possesses a fairly complex repertoire of techniques that have been procured through years of practice. What they say might be true: practice makes perfect. The illustrations for his 2016 Novel, Camp Redblood And The Essential Revenge, fall nowhere short of incredible.

Illustration by Patrick Hines Image used with permission by copyright holder

“I always loved the idea of summer camp as a story setting,” Hines said. “To me it’s like the Old West—you can tell any kind of story you want there. Adventure, horror, comedy, romance, even a political allegory if you wanted.”

“Yet, I was never fully satisfied with any summer camp book or movie until Wet Hot American Summer. I never cared for the Friday the 13th movies because I always thought Jason was a Michael Myers rip-off, but also because Camp Crystal Lake never had any personality. I wanted to see a camp that had a history and its own weird traditions, that had campers and counselors who were interesting. And I wanted it to be spooky, full of adventure, and flat-out funny.”

“In the story, a group of older kids band together to get revenge for a nasty prank perpetrated on the little kids,” said Hines. “There’s a lot of talk these days about bullying, and what kids can do about it, but this story’s about the kids (and adults) who watch it happen and what they do (or don’t do) about it. The motto of Camp Redblood is simple: “Me Second.”

At The Manual, we believe it says a lot about a man when he steers away from the norm and is determined to stick with what he knows best. It projects a sense of pride and honor. Hines has no regrets about staying with Microsoft Paint all these years.

Illustration by Patrick Hines/Imgur Image used with permission by copyright holder

“I think I’d be decent in Photoshop,” Hines said, “but nowhere near good enough to get noticed. But beyond that — and this is something users on Reddit don’t seem to understand — I just really, really enjoy using the program (Paint).”

The Camp Redblood And The Essential Revenge Special Edition is available for Kindle on Amazon. The special edition version features Hines’ 8 full-color illustrations, the original Camp Redblood short story, as well as an exclusive Chapter One excerpt from Hines’ upcoming piece, Camp Redblood And The Summer of Terror.

If you’re into Pat’s illustrations and art as much as we are, you can see more on his Facebook page, his DeviantArt profile where he gives step-by-step tips on his artwork, or on his Twitter feed.

Bryan Holt
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Bryan Holt is a writer, editor, designer, and multimedia storyteller based in Portland, Oregon. He is a graduate from the…
Everything points to Apple TV+ making a change you’re not going to like
Is an ad-supported tier coming to Apple TV+?
The Apple TV Plus Logo

It turns out that TV worked pretty well under its old model. According to a new report from Business Insider, Apple TV+ may be the latest streaming service that's set to introduce an ad-supported tier and charge those who don't stream with ads a premium fee to access their great shows and movies.

At this point, the report is still speculation, but Apple has made several recent hires in the advertising space that seem to suggest the direction they're planning to take. The company recently hired former NBCUniversal ad executive Joseph Cady to serve as executive vice president of advanced advertising and partnerships, a move that comes following the company's hiring of another former NBCUniversal executive, Jason Frum, who joined Apple's video ad sales team.

Read more
From Gilda Radner to Ali Wong, these are the best female comedians of all time
These women from all generations will make you laugh out loud
Ai Wong comedian 2017 Moontower comedy festival

Hot take: I don’t care for straight male comedians. It’s not that they’re not funny, they’re just … I don’t know, boring? Maybe that’s reductive of me, but I never seem to leave a straight male comedian’s set feeling particularly inspired. And though some may argue that it’s not important for a set to "inspire" its audience, I’d actually argue that the opposite is true. For me, I want to see a comedian use humor to address real issues and say real things about the world, even if they do it in a completely goofy way.

Therefore, I tend to prefer female and female-identified comedians. They’re sharp, tough, and have often seen shit that makes their comedy feel raw and true. Undoubtedly there are male comedians who do this, too, but to a much lesser degree, in my very humble and very personal opinion.

Read more
12 classic sci-fi books everyone should read
If you love science fiction and reading, these classic sci-fi novels are a must
Man reading a book and drinking coffee

It may feel like we were recently living in a science-fiction dystopia life -- and in some ways, we were -- but that doesn't mean that we should simply avoid an entire genre of writing. Hardly. In fact, this is probably the perfect time to explore classic sci-fi books, to see what the masters have written, and maybe even see if someone predicted anything like this. Many, though, simply ignore sci-fi wholly and completely because of an association with robots, aliens, and the like.

Long story short, if you think you don't like sci-fi, you have never read great books from the genre. But indeed, many such books abound, including a number that has delighted generations of readers going back well over 150 years. In fact, one of the best things about so many sci-fi books is their very timelessness. As by definition, this type of fiction breaks away from the norms of the everyday world -- whether slightly twisting things or taking place on entire other worlds -- the stories often feel as fresh and relevant today as when they were published decades ago.

Read more