Advanced Technology Revives Paintings with Stunning Precision

Artist Audrey Eve Goulet couldn’t hide her amazement as she watched a robotic arm from startup Acrylic Robotics pick up a paintbrush, dip it carefully into paint, and glide it across the canvas with incredible skill—reproducing one of her works with striking accuracy.

At the company’s headquarters in Montreal, Goulet expressed her astonishment:

“It’s truly fascinating to see the robot up close. It feels as though it handles the painting tools with complete ease, switching colors and cleaning the brush so naturally—almost like a real artist.”

She was impressed by the concept behind the project, which focuses on developing robots capable of recreating artworks almost identically to the originals. This allows artists to sell copies of their paintings on a large scale without having to repaint each one by hand.

Chloé Ryan, founder of Acrylic Robotics, shared how the idea first emerged:

“It started as a personal wish—I wanted a robot that could help me reproduce my own drawings.”

She recalls how, during her teenage years, she would spend weeks fulfilling requests from family and friends, earning no more than two dollars an hour.

After studying engineering, Ryan launched the project in 2021. It took her and her team three years of research and development to produce their first works, which they named “Orographic Paintings”—pieces so precise and lifelike that they are worthy of exhibition and sale.

Ryan explains that the true innovation lies in “recreating the spirit of the artwork by retracing the brushstrokes in chronological order and with a three-dimensional approach—something far beyond what traditional printing or digital reproduction can achieve.”