With the introduction of graphical user interfaces, computers did not only become easier to use - they also provided artists with an entirely new motif. Here is a brief overview of artists who explored this new territory by making 'analogizations' of digital interfaces.

'Webpaintings' is an ongoing project by French Artist Valéry Grancher, who claims to be the first artist to make a canvas painting of a well known webpage. Grancher's project began in 1998 but like so many other ideas, this artform spread simultaneously around the world like a meme.

The same year - 1998 - members of the Danish artfoundation Artnode portrayed 100 random parts of their webcontent using pencils and paper. '100 drawings' was later bought by the Danish National Gallery.

Russian artists Masha Boriskina also managed to sell an interface drawing when she in 2000 sold a portrait of www.rhizome.org to Rhizome itself and in 2004 the Japanese group Exonemo did a similar thing when they sold a Google painting to Google for $5000.

In 1999 Ola Pehrson created a more conceptual painting called 'Desktop', which is a 10:1 scale model of a Windows 95 interface. The painting was filmed and presented in real time on a computer screen, thus completing the cycle and giving the viewer the impression that it was a perfectly normal 1:1 desktop.

• Webpaintings! (above illustration: 'Google'. Acrylic on canvas.) 1998 - 2005 by Valéry Grancher. 100 Drawings 1998 by Artnode.org. Desktop 1999 by Ola Perhrson. Masha Draws 2000 by Masha Boriskina. Natural Process 2003 by Exonemo.