Hal Lasko, the 97-year-old former graphic designer known as Grandpa
  • Hal Lasko, the 97-year-old former graphic designer known as “Grandpa”

Check out this amazing video of 97-year-old Rocky River resident and World War II veteran Hal Lasko, known to everybody as “Grandpa,” and try not to choke up. After his eyesight deteriorated, the former graphic designer started using Microsoft Paint because he can zoom in close enough to see his work.

The Pixel Painter from The Pixel Painter on Vimeo.


Directed by Josh Bogdan and Ryan Lasko, the eight and half minute video called “The Pixel Painter” shows how Grandpa “spends ten hours a day moving pixels around his computer paintings” to create “a blend of pointillism and 8-Bit art.

According to Lasko’s website:

Grandpa was born July 28, 1915 in Toledo Ohio – he was one of eight children of Austrian immigrants. As he was starting his career as a graphic designer, he left civilian life to serve in WWII drafting directional and weather maps for bombing raids.

During life after his service he was a graphic designer in Cleveland, OH. Working on projects for companies like General Tire, Goodyear and The Cleveland Browns, he eventually retired from American Greetings in the 1970’s. While Grandpa worked in a creative field – he wasn’t able to fully express his artistic desires on the job – staying up late to paint at home and amassing his own collection of work. His earlier work ranges from colorful drip paintings to abstract design.

He says it wasn’t until he retired that he was able to dedicate the time he craved to his art. In the late 90’s Hal’s family showed him Microsoft Paint – y’know, the one with the “spray paint”? Grandpa was hooked. His work blossomed and he painted on the computer all. the. time. No one knew how important this program would become to Grandpa until he lost some of his vision in 2005 because of wet macular degeneration. Since then Hal has also become legally deaf.

Despite these “setbacks” Grandpa wakes up everyday and is still inspired to create.

Lasko will be 98 on Sunday and to “celebrate,” his website is selling prints of his work for $98, with 10 percent of each purchase donated to Veterans of Foreign Wars programs.

This article appears in Jul 17-23, 2013.

Doug Brown is a staff writer at Scene with a passion for public records laws and investigative reporting. A native of Ann Arbor, Mich., he has an M.A. in journalism from the Kent State University School of Journalism and Mass Communication and a B.A. in political science from Hiram College. Prior to joining Scene, Doug was a contributing writer for Deadspin.com, reporting behind-the-scenes stories about college sports through public records and developing sources. Doug's work as an enterprise reporter for the Daily Kent Stater was recognized by the Cleveland Press Club (2013 Ohio Excellence in Journalism Awards), Society of Professional Journalists (regional and national Mark of Excellence Awards), and the Associated Collegiate Press. He spent the summer of 2012 working for the Metro desk of the Cleveland Plain Dealer and spent previous summers working for Outside Bozeman Magazine and Crain's Detroit Business. His website is dougbrown8.com.