Mountain Multiverse.

After the interesting events that unfolded on Sunday, I got back on the canvas yesterday on 4/6/2019 (May I add, it feels absolutely fantastic to write it that way around. I’ve had to write the date ‘backwards’ at work pretty much EVERY day for the last three years…. sorry Americans…your turn to be confused by the date format this time) I found the PERFECT Bob Ross episode Season 10 Episode 1 – ‘Towering Peaks’.

Watched it two times before even picking up a brush….third times a charm? Let us find out children.

I purchased some new brushes so I had some spares for when the intense times come and there are dead soldiers everywhere. Picture Forrest Gump in that one scene when he runs back and forth saving all those poor soldiers that got injured during the conflict and puts them down on the lake and saves their life…thats usually me…. with the brushes…. about half way through a painting. Not me, not this time. I am now Tom Hank’s other famous character, Woody, screaming ‘no toy gets left behind’ …does that fit as an analogy? I think it does and if it doesn’t …it does because this is my house that you’re in! Footnote – If you have not seen Forrest Gump stop reading as you’re not welcome here. If you stop reading here and watch Forrest Gump…feel free to continue like nothing happened.

ANYWAY me and my brushes are going to war in the name of blank canvases…. I have a lot more brushes AND I am being a thoroughly good person by actually cleaning as I go too…. I’m learning more than painting here, guys! Not to bore you but I get the sky and water done and here’s the evidence, please read the captions.

Clouds were next on the agenda and I have only really had one positive experience with clouds. But I was determined to do so today. So I start shaping them in and it occurs to me what I think clouds look like and what they actually look like are apparently really different… never really studied them in great detail before, apart from the odd ‘wow look at this great sunset tonight’. Now I have given myself a task… study the clouds and how they dance with each other. So here is the end result… P.S you’ll notice that the sky is not exactly the same as the blended picture above. If you were to ask me, did I try the clouds three times? I would say yes, but I will not admit to anymore times than three… OKAY, OKAY, IT WAS FIVE!! LEAVE ME ALONE, I’M LEARNING!!!!…

Cometh the hour, cometh the mountain(s)

I have probably said this is my FAVOURITE part of all. The mountains always look so spectacular and I don’t know about you but…. it is the first place I look when seeing a Bob Ross painting, so I am determined to get them right. Here are the two other photos from this session:

I learned quite a lot about the mountains. Scraping the excess paint off with the palette knife to create the other peaks is useful and this helps with two things, the blending afterwards but also saves paint! There is a step before this that I will promise to take a photo of next time, but the paint is thicker and the mountains are darker. When removing the excess paint it allows for the canvas to create those gaps and the ‘splitting’ technique that makes the mountains look almost real and come alive! This picture was taken after I had blended the mountains out making them softer and ready for the snow. Here is the final part and as far as I got with this painting.

I felt like they were looking great and I was ready to move on until something happened. Here is a direct quote from the man himself right at this point of the episode:

“I get carried away sometimes, I really like to paint mountains, and I’d cover up the whole canvas with mountains. And that’s not bad when you’re learning. Take an old canvas and start at the top and paint all the way down with mountains and just zip them right off and do it again”

So, sorry to say I just zipped those mountains off and got absolutely lost in the world of mountains, just using the same backdrop. The shape of the mountains did morph a little and I had to fix them, but I had so much fun in the multiverse of mountains. Unfortunately there are no photos of this round as I was just slapping the knife everywhere working out the pressure, angles, the right load of paint and the right texture of the paint before I took it to the canvas. It was a highly productive period of time. Please remember that I am a beginner and have never thought of painting this deeply before.

PLOT TWIST

I am left handed and everything I do is left sided, I play guitar left handed, eat, write, when I play football (soccer) my strong foot is my left. I started to flip the angles and saw a GREAT improvement in how it felt and I was able to get the paint more evenly distributed. It might not be a game changer in appearance right now, but I feel like this could help. So here is my plea… if anyone can reverse image all Bob Ross episodes and just send them to me so I can avoid getting all confused with the angles, I would be forever in your debt.

I am going to sign off with a progression photo rather than the things I have learned section that I usually sign off with. The top is the most recent, middle is before that, and the bottom is one of my first attempts. Thanks for reading I am flattered by all the clicks I am getting so again, big thanks. Have a great rest of the week!