THE BEST Paintings

Erik Jensen creates art using a non-traditional medium. Instead of paints, pencils, or ink, he creates original works and replicas of famous paintings using computer keys. He dyes the the keys with various colors then painstakingly arranges them into pixel grids. Erik sells originals and prints on his website.

Watch in awe as this unnamed artist works some serious black magic. She first paints what seem to be abstract shapes inside of rice bowls, but they come together to form a detailed portrait. Then the real trick happens when the camera flips to the other side of the room. Two images are based on characters from The Untamed.

Developed by software engineer sato_neet, this online plaything lets you upload a portrait, and then uses deep learning technology to transform your image into a renaissance painting. The resulting outputs range from artful to hilarious.

Vincent van Gogh’s painting Starry Night is famous for its swirly brushstrokes. Rather than replicate the painterly style of the original, dP Art Drawing copied the design with rulers, french curves, and a compass, resulting in a geometrically-structured interpretation. She used gel pens on black paper to make the colors pop.

Artist Thomas Blanchard follows up his stunning short film The Other Side with a more singular effort, filling our screens with colorful planetary bodies and galaxies. Like his other works, there’s no CGI here – the images you see are made entirely from paint, oil, inks, and soap.

Motion designer Agustín Vidal Saavedra takes us through the process of digitally manipulating images from 15th century church ceilings into a trippy moving image using Adobe After Effects. Find more of his wildly inventive animations on Behance and Instagram.

Artists, put down your paint brushes for this one. To achieve this abstract painting technique, you’ll just need some acrylic paints, a mixing cup, and a workbench you don’t mind getting messy. Tiktus Color Art shows how a mix of pouring paints and canvas tilting can create some sweet marbled patterns.

Artist Darian Mederos creates incredible portraits that appear to have been painted behind a sheet of bubble wrap. In fact, every individual bubble – and the light, shadows, and distortion that come with them, is hand-painted. Check out some of his works and process on Instagram.

Artist Young-Sung Kim captured time-lapse footage over the course of ten months, as he painstakingly created a hyper-real oil painting of a fish. Everything looks so incredibly shiny, we just want to reach out and touch it. The painting is currently for sale from Saatchi Art.

Artist Trương Duy Phương creates works in a variety of medium, from paints to pens to pencils, but one of her most intriguing approaches to art is portraiture made from thread. Watch as she transforms 44 white threads into a portrait reminiscent of the waveforms on the cover of the Joy Division album Unknown Pleasures.

Herschel Supply Co. pays tribute to the enigmatic NYC artist’s work with a dynamic print of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s most iconic 1981 painting Untitled (Scull/Skull). The featherweight snap-front windbreaker comes in a water-resistant, polyester diamond dobby ripstop fabric, thin enough to pack inside an internal storage pocket.

Despite his phenomenal posthumous popularity, and having painted thousands of works of art, it’s nearly impossible to find an original Bob Ross painting anywhere. The New York Times dug into the mystery behind what happened to Ross’ numerous paintings in this great short documentary.

Artist Jimmy Swift spent hours getting beat up by the waves and sand to paint this pointy rock off the coast of South Goa, India to look like an angry great white shark. It makes for amazing photo opps for visitors, though smacking into a rock might be just as dangerous as swimming with sharks.

Back when science fiction was considered pulp fiction, art directors and artists had the freedom to run wild with the cover art for sci-fi books. Nerdwriter pays homage to some of these notable people and their work, and reminds us to have a greater appreciation for cover art.

Flying Dog Brewery teamed up with famed artist Ralph Steadman to produce this sweet limited-edition deck featuring 18 classic works in a style sure to be familiar to any fan of his good friend Hunter S. Thompson, who helped bring his surreal, splattered imagery to the forefront.

This 3D-painted anamorphic illusion by artist Leon Keer will mess with your head. Watch as a toddler drives her mini car into the middle of what appear to be a stack of giant Hot Wheels cars. Be sure to check out more of his amazing imagery on Instagram.

Tom Scott recently paid a visit a truly unusual and extraordinary collection – a working research library dedicated to the history of color. The Forbes Pigment Collection has spent decades cataloging and storing rare pigments to help verify the authenticity of works of art.

Filmmaker Pablo Mengin (aka Megalopolis) created this intense and surreal music video for NYC rapper Bashton by painting 2000+ images over the course of 18 months. Each of the video’s individual frames could serve as a framed work of art all on its own.

Artist Dito von Tease turned classical portraits into selfies, alluding to the opposite backgrounds of the commissioned portrait and the digital self-portrait. The former was a privilege of the rich, while the latter is available to anyone with a phone.

Like Ant-Man with a paintbrush, artist John Brosio likes to play with proportions in his works, incorporating larger-than-life versions of animals and everyday objects juxtaposed with realistic images of suburbia. You can find limited edition prints of his works here.

Artist Anna Zhilyaeva has perfected the use of Google’s Tilt Brush VR application. Watch as she creates a 3D interpretation of Eugène Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People while performing live at The Louvre in Paris. See more amazing VR art on her YouTube channel

Unlike most digital displays, Canvia adjusts its screen based on ambient lighting. The result is that its high resolution artworks look incredibly real. The app lets you choose from thousands of curated pieces for free, and there’s also a premium tier for even more choices.

We first came across artist Alexey Zakharov aka seccovan when he created a full CG version of the world of Futurama, and then his wild 3D update to vintage imagery. But he also has an interest in transforming works of art into versions with motion and depth.

They may not be as thought-provoking as Antonio Santin’s work, but Jason Seife’s take on realistic carpet paintings are no less impressive. Not limited by history or fabric, Seife often takes liberties in his choice of colors and canvas.

Artist Bruce White (aka “Velvet Geek“) creates perfect likenesses of pop culture figures using the retro-kitsch technique of painting acrylics on black velvet. His extensive collection includes everyone from Scott Pilgrim to Roy Batty to Dwight Schrute to Derek Zoolander.

“No chaos dammit.” The Art Assignment made this great overview of Jackson Pollock and his divisive drip paintings. He wasn’t the first to do it, nor will he be the last. But the timing and coverage of his short-lived peak marked a new level for abstract expressionism.