A method for drawing pie charts illustrating comparative data on the display of a client computer in a client-server environment with horizontal parallel lines each having a height of one pixel. A circular or elliptical pie is first defined in an array of endpoints of a set of horizontal lines from which the pie is constructed. Each slice of the pie is assigned a start angle and a stop angle as a function of the datum that it represents and its proximity to other slices. Pixels on the horizontal lines forming the pie are then tested to define segments of the horizontal lines for inclusion in the slices. The pixels of each line segment are illuminated on the display to form an image of a pie with each slice proportional in area to its respective datum.