Acrylic Robotics, based in Montreal, uses a robot arm to paint fine artwork on canvas. The software used by the company to do this is AI software that mimics the painter’s brushstrokes.
The startup demonstrated its technology at AWS re-Invent, Amazon’s cloud services conference in Las Vegas. An AI robot worked diligently on a painting or “Auragraph” live. It would dip a brush into the acrylic paint pools below, and then place the brush in the exact right spot.
It was a bit like watching an automated assembly in a very clear artistic context. Acrylic Robotics aims to combine the worlds artificial intelligence, engineering and robotics into a practical production method. The idea is to not only produce replicas of artist’s works, but also to bring digital creations onto canvas without resorting simple prints. The company’s ethical approach ensures that artists are paid for their work.
Putting together
Walker Singleton, head of engineering for Acrylic, and Chloe Ryan, the CEO and founder.
Chloe Ryan studied robotics at McGill University and will be the founder and CEO of Acrylic Robotics in 2021. Her vision was to create a new outlet for artists, bypassing the “scarcity driven gallery system”and making art more accessible for both artists and consumers. She believes that the “archaic art market” only serves the top 1% of the population, and fine art pieces are out of reach for those who want art but don’t have the money to buy it.
These stats illustrate the steep climb. The fine art market is estimated to be worth over $70 billion USD. However, a large part of this is made up by highly sought-after pieces that are bought and sold by wealthy investors or collectors. Statcan estimates that the Canadian art market will be worth $1.5 billion by 2020, including sales at auctions, galleries, and private sales. These numbers support the fact that more than half of Canadians had never purchased a work of art.
Acrylic has a dual goal. It aims to increase art access for everyone while also allowing artists to sell multiples of a single piece without having to paint it each time.
This is where the robot comes into play. It uses AWS’s machine learning service, SageMaker, to connect the startup’s AI algorithms into an artist-friendly platform. Artists have two options to make this work.
Acrylic’s technology can track every stroke applied to a piece of art created on a tablet, or other device using an illustration app. The robot can then reproduce the exact process including scaling up to larger canvas sizes. AI can create painted replicas of paintings on canvas by determining the best way to paint them with the correct strokes, mixing colors and layering. This includes AI-generated art.
Ryan says that Acrylic does not train on the data of artists without their consent. Artists can expect to receive “credit and fair compensation for their creations” once everything is in place.
The finer points
The technology only works with acrylic because of the texture and the robot’s ability to dabble in it. Watercolour paint is water-soluble and works best on certain types of paper. Oil-based paints require more preparation due to the chemicals.
Ryan says that acrylic is a safer alternative to oil in an interview with MobileSyrup.”We don’t need to wear masks in the offices and use turpentine for oil removal from brushes, so it’s difficult to work with and is not very good to you.”
If she and her team are interested in “really expensive replica art”they will need to learn how to work with oil.
Similarly, the robot cannot replicate all art styles. The unit can’t do finger painting because it doesn’t have a device that can mimic a human hand. The robot can’t splatter paint on a canvas, so abstract expressionist pieces by Jackson Pollock or Jean-Paul Riopelle won’t work. Acrylic Robotics selects pieces that are compatible with the robot.
It is difficult to match the artist’s input, but some variations are already possible, such as the robot’s ability to perform a thicker line in one layer, and a thinner one in another with less pressure. It would be difficult to replicate a historical painter such as Rembrandt because of the precision required.
She says that the limitation is not the robot hardware but rather the difficulty in getting the exact amount of paint onto the brush, in a calculated and reliable way, for the perfect dry stroke. “We have styles that work best for the robot and we continue to improve the robotic capabilities each day.” Ryan would not speculate on how newer robots might change the way this process works in the future.
Acrylic will need to “freeze”the process by which the robot paints, to ensure that multiple copies of the piece look the exact same. Paintings done on the existing system will have to stay that way if robots of this type improve in speed and accuracy over the next few years. Ryan says that the company is planning for this scenario in case production requirements increase.
Speed is a key factor in the future, but she says that efficiency may have to be sacrificed for consistency. The complexity of a painting and the number of brushstrokes will determine how long it will take to finish.
You’re looking at several hours up to twelve if it’s really complex, but it gets faster,” she says. “Our first collection, which we launched a year ago, took us two full weeks to complete each painting. We would have to babysit a robot and I and other members of the team would sleep in the offices and wake up every 3 hours to add more paint to the pots as it would run out.
Now, the system runs autonomously, with automated paint refills and custom systems to prevent running out of paint during the entire process.
Making the business case
Acrylic will gradually onboard artists, as capacity permits. This is a manual process that involves working with each artist individually in a white glove treatment.
Once artists are approved, they can use the self service platform to create work that Acrylic will sell to interested buyers. Acrylic only creates a painting when a purchase is made, so artists can sell their own work. This could also include commercial and corporate opportunities, such as a hotel that wants to harmonize art in multiple locations.
Acrylic has sold a digital artwork created by Claire Silver, an AI artist based in the U.S., to a U.K. private collector in November 2024. Silver, who remains anonymous, has exhibited her work in galleries and museums around the world, including Sotheby’s and Christie’s, both in New York and London.
She says, “My goal as a company mission is to allow all artists contribute.” “I don’t just want to continue to propagate that snooty system of, “who and where have exhibited?” Most artists can’t buy a robot and I want them all to be able use this technology. Silver’s $100,000 piece has also been removed.
MobileSyrup can earn a commission on purchases made through our links. This helps fund the journalism that we provide for free on our website. These links do NOT influence our editorial content. Support us here.