Wayan is the great-grandson of Johannes ("Hans") Bartolowsky, an artist and Hollywood notable who worked in the early days of special effects during the first half of the 20th Century, known for his skills as a glass painter as well as designing and creating film sets. Beginning with the silent movies, he worked for many years as a special effects artist for Cecil B. DeMille.
Bartholowsky started working in 1918 at the Lasky Studios when the glass shot technique was in use. He also worked as scenic artist for Paramount during the thirties. He latter became matte artist working at Columbia studio until he moved across to Warner Brothers probably some time in the early forties to work under Byron Haskin.