The Joy of Painting

[Guest]

One of the boys in our ward decided that he wants to be Bob Ross for Halloween this year.  So, he's already begun growing out his hair and beard.  Given his facial structure, I think he could be a dead ringer.  He tried to slick back his hair this last Sunday so it wouldn't look so bad when he was behind the table blessing the Sacrament.  It didn't work.  It was worse than if he had left it alone.

But it got my kids to ask,"Who is Bob Ross?"

We got on Youtube and found The Joy of Painting Season 1 Episode 1.  Wow!  A cultural icon was born.  I had no idea how many people actually knew who he was.  I thought PBS type stuff was pretty low viewership.  But, no.

You could see him looking back and forth between cameras, so he didn't quite have the hang of things in the first episode.  I also learned that he used the same 8 paint colors and three brushes for the entire series.  This was so that people who were just learning didn't have to spend a fortune on materials to simply get started.  Amazing.

And there were something like 30 seasons!!!  Even the Simpsons don't have that longevity.

Ahhh.  Nostalgia.

[Vort]

My now-23-year-old son learned to Bob Ross paint before his mission, and painted my wife a beautiful picture before he left. It's one of her treasures.

1 minute ago, Carborendum said:

a dead ringer

Now I feel the need to retell this ancient but still hilarious joke.

Oh, wait. I already did.

[Guest]

Did you know that Bob Ross used to be a drill sergeant?  He got so sick of having to yell at people and be mean to people all the time that, upon retiring from the military, he became a painter because it was a job where he would never again have to yell at people.

Edited March 29, 2018 by DoctorLemon

[zil]

I love Bob Ross.  He's relaxing.  He's encouraging.  He's positive about everything (except taxes and taking out the trash).  I've got a lot of his painting supplies and have painted half a dozen or so.  They may stink compared to real painters, but that's OK, I enjoyed making them.  Even if you don't want to watch / don't like the paintings, flip on the TV at 3pm on Sunday afternoon and his voice will lull you into a nap.

[anatess2]

I think it was Bob Ross that taught me how to paint an elephant.  Not that my painting actually ended up looking like an elephant....

There were also 2 Christmases where I gave candles and trays out for presents that I painted following along Donna Dewberry's TV show.

[Ironhold]

Spirit Halloween has a pre-existing Bob Ross costume, complete with wig and beard. 

Might want to check out their website. 

[Guest]

59 minutes ago, Ironhold said:

Spirit Halloween has a pre-existing Bob Ross costume, complete with wig and beard. 

Might want to check out their website. 

I just sent him the link.  We'll see.

[hadl]

11 hours ago, DoctorLemon said:

Did you know that Bob Ross used to be a drill sergeant?  He got so sick of having to yell at people and be mean to people all the time that, upon retiring from the military, he became a painter because it was a job where he would never again have to yell at people.

He was also a First Sergeant, very accomplished Airman.  

[Guest LiterateParakeet]

I can't imagine planning your Halloween costume in March, LOL!  But that aside....I know ho Bob Ross is and have seen his show back in the day...but I never actually watched it to learn about art and painting.  I'll have to give it a try when I have a minute...

[zil]

52 minutes ago, LiterateParakeet said:

I can't imagine planning your Halloween costume in March

Well, if you're hair is normally short, and you wanted to grow it out to the size of Bob Ross's, you'd have to - hair generally only grows 1/2 inch per month.

[Guest LiterateParakeet]

9 minutes ago, zil said:

Well, if you're hair is normally short, and you wanted to grow it out to the size of Bob Ross's, you'd have to - hair generally only grows 1/2 inch per month.

Yeah, I'm guessing maybe he actually got the idea last Halloween.  Wouldn't it be funny if I?   Or maybe he is just tired of winter and loves the fall and Halloween?  

[mirkwood]

Did someone mention Halloween!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NeuroTypical]

Whenever I turn on the tv and start to lose faith in humanity at all the horrible people we idolize, I remember how many people (including surly teens) like Bob Ross, and things don't seem as bad.  Even the professional snarky meme pages I frequent, have a certain respect for the guy, and their satire seems more directed at his followers than him.

My family was into painting for a few years - no homeschool experience is complete without teaching girls to paint, right?  Lots of canvases, brushes, paint.  For a lot of years.  We all got better and have many wonderful paintings under our belts. 

But sad to say, I just put everyone to shame.  It was hard for my family to compete with my natural painting genius.  My raw talent soured the experience for everybody, as they unsuccessfully fought a losing battle against their own envy.   Even though I have my masterpiece scanned digitally, I'm hesitant to share it on a forum like this.  My stuff tends to evoke powerful and intimate emotional responses in people, that they themselves don't understand.  The experience of viewing my art leaves them with a fleeting glimpse into perfection and wonder, which is replaced by a hollow emptiness as they realize they can only partially grasp my insights into the soul.  They can only avail themselves of a fraction of the experience that my art makes possible, and awareness of their personal limitations brings only sadness or sometimes anger.   So I'm hesitant to share.

 

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, NeuroTypical said:

Whenever I turn on the tv and start to lose faith in humanity at all the horrible people we idolize, I remember how many people (including surly teens) like Bob Ross, and things don't seem as bad.  Even the professional snarky meme pages I frequent, have a certain respect for the guy, and their satire seems more directed at his followers than him.

My family was into painting for a few years - no homeschool experience is complete without teaching girls to paint, right?  Lots of canvases, brushes, paint.  For a lot of years.  We all got better and have many wonderful paintings under our belts. 

But sad to say, I just put everyone to shame.  It was hard for my family to compete with my natural painting genius.  My raw talent soured the experience for everybody, as they unsuccessfully fought a losing battle against their own envy.   Even though I have my masterpiece scanned digitally, I'm hesitant to share it on a forum like this.  My stuff tends to evoke powerful and intimate emotional responses in people, that they themselves don't understand.  The experience of viewing my art leaves them with a fleeting glimpse into perfection and wonder, which is replaced by a hollow emptiness as they realize they can only partially grasp my insights into the soul.  They can only avail themselves of a fraction of the experience that my art makes possible, and awareness of their personal limitations brings only sadness or sometimes anger.   So I'm hesitant to share.

I've hacked into NT's computer archives and extracted the pinnacle of his artwork.  His masterpiece.  His Raison d'etre.  His Magnum OPUS.

Never have I seen such glory, such grandeur, such majesty, such exalted strokes of the brush, such brilliancy and sublime geometry!!!

[NeuroTypical]

8 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

I've hacked into NT's computer archives and extracted the pinnacle of his artwork.  His masterpiece.  His Raison d'etre.  His Magnum OPUS.

Never have I seen such glory, such grandeur, such majesty, such exalted strokes of the brush, such brilliancy and sublime geometry!!!

Now see, this is what I mean.  Dear Carb, you lose yourself in sarcasm as you try to grapple with my greatness.  And all this before you've actually even seen my work.  Surely, were you to view it, you'd go mad.

My latest masterpiece, for example, is a character work.  It portrays an emotion so clearly, that one immediately feels it as their own.  They are unable to determine where the work of art ends and the viewer begins.  I call it "When Bob doesn't believe that you know an apostle, and he turns around to see you hugging elder Holland like old friends and you give Bob this look"

But I dare not share it, out of respect for everyone's sanity here. 

[Vort]

1 minute ago, NeuroTypical said:

Now see, this is what I mean.  Dear Carb, you lose yourself in sarcasm as you try to grapple with my greatness.  And all this before you've actually even seen my work.  Surely, were you to view it, you'd go mad.

My latest masterpiece, for example, is a character work.  It portrays an emotion so clearly, that one immediately feels it as their own.  They are unable to determine where the work of art ends and the viewer begins.  I call it "When Bob doesn't believe that you know an apostle, and he turns around to see you hugging elder Holland like old friends and you give Bob this look"

But I dare not share it, out of respect for everyone's sanity here. 

You are a generous man.

[Vort]

16 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

I've hacked into NT's computer archives and extracted the pinnacle of his artwork.  His masterpiece.  His Raison d'etre.  His Magnum OPUS.

Never have I seen such glory, such grandeur, such majesty, such exalted strokes of the brush, such brilliancy and sublime geometry!!!

It must be understood that the paint brushes and canisters are themselves an integral part of the work. Indeed, the emotional punch is diminished if not lost altogether if one imagines -- if one even CAN imagine -- the opus without those integral elements.

Bravo, I say! Bravo!

[anatess2]

6 minutes ago, NeuroTypical said:

Now see, this is what I mean.  Dear Carb, you lose yourself in sarcasm as you try to grapple with my greatness.  And all this before you've actually even seen my work.  Surely, were you to view it, you'd go mad.

My latest masterpiece, for example, is a character work.  It portrays an emotion so clearly, that one immediately feels it as their own.  They are unable to determine where the work of art ends and the viewer begins.  I call it "When Bob doesn't believe that you know an apostle, and he turns around to see you hugging elder Holland like old friends and you give Bob this look"

But I dare not share it, out of respect for everyone's sanity here. 

I saw it when I went to Colorado last Christmas and took a picture.  I thought it was just okay, personally.  So here, I'll show you:

[zil]

And when I hacked into NT's email, I found this personal note from Bob, filed away in the "Inspiration" folder:

Quote

We have no limits to our world. We're only limited by our imagination. Use your imagination, let it go. You can create beautiful things - but you have to see them in your mind first. So often we avoid running water, and running water is a lot of fun. Each highlight must have it's own private shadow.

You can't have light without dark. You can't know happiness unless you've known sorrow. Trees grow in all kinds of ways. They're not all perfectly straight. Not every limb is perfect. I want everbody to be happy. That's what it's all about.

Don't fiddle with it all day. Let's put some highlights on these little trees. The sun wouldn't forget them. There we go. We want to use a lot pressure while using no pressure at all. Only think about one thing at a time. Don't get greedy. A fan brush is a fantastic piece of equipment. Use it. Make friends with it.

We'll have a super time. You are only limited by your imagination. Don't be afraid to make these big decisions. Once you start, they sort of just make themselves. Let's make a nice big leafy tree. Just a happy little shadow that lives in there.

Be careful. You can always add more - but you can't take it away. Little trees and bushes grow however makes them happy. In this world, everything can be happy. But they're very easily killed. Clouds are delicate. You could sit here for weeks with your one hair brush trying to do that - or you could do it with one stroke with an almighty brush. Maybe there's a happy little Evergreen that lives here.

You want your tree to have some character. Make it special. How do you make a round circle with a square knife? That's your challenge for the day. God gave you this gift of imagination. Use it. The more we do this - the more it will do good things to our heart.

You can do anything here. So don't worry about it. This is your creation - and it's just as unique and special as you are. You better get your coat out, this is going to be a cold painting. You can work and carry-on and put lots of little happy things in here.

(Get your own inspiration here: http://www.bobrosslipsum.com/)

[NeuroTypical]

13 minutes ago, anatess2 said:

I saw it when I went to Colorado last Christmas and took a picture.  I thought it was just okay, personally.  So here, I'll show you:

We see a second poster, so threatened by the mere possibility of witnessing truly great art, they respond with slander.  Imagine what anatess2's reaction would be if I actually posted it?

Nothing against that emoji - it isn't a half-bad representation of giving Bob an "I told you so" look.  It's just that mine is so vastly superior that there's little doubt it will one day hang in the Louvre. Plus, that one only has three fingers. 

Edited March 30, 2018 by NeuroTypical

[Vort]

1 hour ago, NeuroTypical said:

Plus, that one only has three fingers.

The thumb is a finger.

[mirkwood]

Bah...you guys.  @NeuroTypical showed me his private collection that he considers his masterpieces.  Here is the best of the best.

 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, NeuroTypical said:

 Surely, were you to view it, you'd go mad.

You mean... that it's just too awesome?

 

[mordorbund]

2 hours ago, NeuroTypical said:

Plus, that one only has three fingers. 

Why would you point out digital circumcision? Do you want to get this thread shut down?! DO YOU?!

[Guest]

2 hours ago, NeuroTypical said:

Plus, that one only has three fingers. 

Bob did lose part of his left index finger. So, it's an approximation.