This year, what with the coronavirus situation, I have been watching more TV than usual. One delight I found in the schedules was The Joy of Painting. At first I just enjoyed the ASMR aspects, with the soft voice of the artist Bob Ross, and the sounds of the brushes swishing against the canvas, providing a soothing soundtrack to an evening. However, Bob Ross's encouragement that 'Anyone can paint' caused me to remember that I have a set of acrylic paints that I had hardly used, so I wondered if I could have a go at creating a similar artwork myself.

I picked an episode that looked fairly easy - a sunset scene with a few trees and bushes and a little cabin. It was not as easy as Bob Ross made it look, but thanks to the ability to pause the video, I was just about able to follow along and was quite satisfied with the end result. I learned a lot about the differences between the oil paints that Bob Ross used, and my acrylic paints¹, but that helped me to adapt my technique to create other paintings.

Not all of my attempts turn out how I hoped, but every painting I try teaches me something new. Here are a few of my favourites so far.

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23.11.20 Front Page

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