Happy Clouds

Thursday evening I did something I've been wanting to do for 20 years. Ever since the first time I saw the calm, happy man with big, fluffy hair make landscapes flow from his paint brushes within a half-an-hour PBS show, I knew I wanted to paint like Bob Ross. He has the wonderful philosophy that there are no mistakes, only happy accidents.

From Bob I've learned that trees live in your fan brush, every little tree needs a friend, and that the canvas is your world and you can make it however you want. I still need a lot of practice, but Bob says something like "anything worth doing takes a little practice," so I don't mind.

I think my first painting is kind of swampy looking. I like the reflection of the water in the middle and I like my big old dead tree. I'm not super happy about some of my foliage trees or the waterline along the shore. My painting didn't turn out much like the painting that Bob did. I think I put on too much liquid white because I had a really hard time getting my sky and clouds right. I kind of felt like a "mud mixer" near the end because everything I tried to do ended up blending with things I had previously done. Even though my painting didn't turn out anything like I wanted it to, I'm glad I finally tried the Bob Ross way and I'm excited to try again soon.

If you've ever painted (and even if you haven't) I'd love to hear what you think and any suggestions for future works of art.

P.S. Even though Bob can paint in half-an-hour, it took me about two hours from setup to cleanup. I'm sure I'll get faster now that I know what I'm doing.