Light is critical for art. It allows us to see color, and can itself be a tool for creating unique pieces of art and design. Here we demonstrate that a laser can be a multifunctional and effective tool for the creation of masterpieces, analogous to the process of an artist creating a canvas with classical paints and brushes. We investigate the interaction between focused laser irradiation and metallic surfaces and analyze the optical effects in thin oxide films for three main artistic operations: color making, multiple color changes, and erasing managed by a nanosecond laser. These processes are possible upon heating the material above the evaporation point and are proved to be dependent on the cooling rate, according to both experimental and theoretical results. Such an interference-based laser paintbrush could find applications in modern art and design.

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This publisher’s note reports a correction to Eq. (1) of Optica 8, 577–585 (2021)OPTIC82334-253610.1364/OPTICA.420074.