Question: How many squares in this 60″x36″ painting?

oil on canvas 60"x36"

Answer: 77,760 gray scale squares!

Here are a few words from artist Ethan Diehl on his process for “Constellation”:
Is my painting method tedious?

“Hell yes. It works for me, though, and I love the meditative state I fall into painting one square at a time.”

How many squares are there in a painting?

“Each square foot has 5,184 squares. So a 2’x3′ painting has 31,104 squares, and a 4’x5′ has 103,680 squares.”

Who invented the grid method?

“I was inspired by Chuck Close to paint the way I do. However the grid method is a paint-based version of the mosaic, which has been around for nearly 2,500 years.”

Why do I paint using thousands of squares?

“When I started painting, I was frustrated by my inability to create realistic images. Painting with squares allows me to paint realistically because my works are based off photographs I take.”