My Bob Ross Adventure

I'm calling this one "Mona Lisa Bob" because it reminds Doug of that painting. Today went by super fast and I found that painting two full paintings in a classroom setting to be not as difficult as I had imagined. Without ceremony, I'll just get straight to today's paintings. .....and this is the way I feel about them.... I'm not taking myself too seriously, and it was a successful day in the respect that I learned a great deal, however,...one of these paintings I want to take and use for target practice! ...perhaps a shotgun, the prospect makes me absolutely giddy. Look at all these happy little trees. So I've been struggling a bit with my trees using the new to me, but proper, method of fan brush trees. I use to love my trees before I came to certs, but I've been doing them all wrong. Practically everyday Eddie has spent time with me on trying to get them right. He must have thought I was a moron all this time! Well today, he wa...

Other than catching up on sleep, I spent the majority of the day hanging out with Bob. Do you like my Bob notebook? I've customized it, and I keep it near at all times to document all Bob's quotes and tips. I even have a page in it for each of our CRI Friday instructors, yes Nic, Rachel, Faye, and Lynn, I have learned valuable things from each of you! I have sectioned off a big portion for all three weeks of certs, so my pages are rapidly filling up. This makes me happy! I thought I would share one of my life hacks; I'm pretty decent at coming up with ways to make life a bit easier. I have shared this tutorial before but not here on this blog. I made the whole thing for under $15. It's been dead useful in class. Several fellow students have said they plan to make one when they get home, and even Doug and Eddie approve! I found that Netflix is streaming Heiner Hertling. He is touted as the "Outdoor Bob Ross". His show is called "Your...

As I mentioned before I have terrible and limited access to the Internet back home. But I have awesome access to it here, and it is CRI Friday AND my friend Rachel is painting so I figured, why not give it a try! So I got my palette and canvass prepared, the only thing I didn't know was the orientation of the canvass. I had a 50/50 chance of being right so I chose "landscape"..... And this is why I don't gamble people... Anyhow, I was so excited, but I had the hardest time getting Twitch to work. I would see a frozen image of Rachel on my tiny phone screen, but the image kept glitching and I couldn't hear her. So I stopped and updated the app. By this time, we were already 15 minutes in, I was getting frustrated but I was too committed at this point to be defeated. So I just rolled with it. I missed a lot of her instructions so I relied heavily on just the visual. Also, I should mention that I painted this outside so it started getting dark about halfway t...

Today is bittersweet.  It's sad because it's the last day of my first week, and many of the students I've met will be going home to return another time. And also sad because the rate at which time flew, means it will be over before I know it, and I'll have to return to life as usual. It's happy because it's the last day and I successfully completed the requirements and learned so many new and valuable things! If you are new to my journey, I am wearing a new and different Bob Ross T-shirt every day of the 15 day course. Here is today's shirt: I call this one "Space Bob". I've gotten a ton of compliments on it! However, "Mod Bob" seems to be the clear favorite so far. Yesterday was a tough day for everyone I think. The rigorous pace wore everyone out. We all seem a bit overtired today.  You wouldn't believe how mentally demanding it is to be so focused and engaged for several hours on end. Enough chatter, let's get s...

A short backstory to regale how I got "here". I have always been a huge fan of BR. We have a lot in common,  we both adore nature and animals and bringing joy to others. Currently I live on a farm with no television or internet, but I got a new phone and was able to figure out how to download Bob Ross episodes from Netflix and Amazon and cast them to my television. I was enamored all over again, and even though I am an artist,  preferring watercolors, I never had an interest in oils. I found the medium expensive, tedious and messy. But I decided what the goob! There's no time like the present, and set my mind to giving it a go. What I didn't know was how stinking FUN oils can be! And the way Bob set up his teaching format, even someone with no previous painting knowledge or skills can have a measure of success with their very first painting. My first attempt was off the charts awesome! (At least that was what I thought in my head at the time lol!) So I kept go...

Still woke up tired, but I've finally pinpointed why. I just started watching this show on Netflix called "Skin Wars" over the past 3 days, it's a realty show about individuals who paint on human bodies. What's not to love right? Well, it has been giving me disturbing dreams, so no more watching it right before bed for me. Now here is the crazy thing, one of my fellow students is an accomplished body painter and some of the contestants on the show are friends of his. Serendipitous! https://www.facebook.com/BodyArtofMykeMagyck/ Here is his link. His work is amazing. Anyhow, this is just to prove my point about the caliber of talented artists taking this class. So, here is today's shirt. How can anyone not love the Bob?!? This particular photo of him is the bomb dot com! Today was a fun day. We used contact paper to paint one of Bob's classic ovals. We covered the interior of the oval with black gesso and denoted the horizon with masking tape...

Day two. Woke up a bit tired today, I guess that is to be expected with all the excitement. As opposed to yesterday we jumped right in with loading our palettes and slicking our canvases. After that we actually took a little time to get to know one another. We have a very full class with so many already talented artists of all ages and backgrounds.  It's a very exciting environment. Here is me and Bob just chillin. I love painting in a room where every wall is covered with Bob's originals. Seriously, it's hard to put into words the sheer magnitide! How do you like my shirt today? I have 20 more T's to go. I bought a bunch of t-shirts that averaged around $2 a piece so I kinda went nuts with designing and had a ton of fun! We don't know what we will be painting each day and today we started with a somewhat limited palette: I guessed it would be some kind of snowscape and I was correct. Here it is: Make sure to come back tomorrow and share this ad...