This is my 41th painting. I continued with my idea of remaining in self-isolation as much as possible and just painting. I painted yesterday using a black canvas and liquid clear and I wanted to try it again. This really became the ultimate exercise in painting highlights. I tried really hard this time and I'm sort of starting to get it, both how thin the paint needs to be, how to load the brush, and how to actually hit the canvas with the corner of the brush. I spent a good amount of time adding in little details at the end, like sticks and twigs in the dark areas of the bushes as well as the tree foliage to add depth to the painting. It's also nice to see some branches showing through the foliage here and there. Overall, this took me around 2 hours and it was a really fun, laid back painting. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is having trouble making tree highlights stick. I started getting it more and more as I painted this one. 18x24
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For this painting, I put on the actual episode of The Joy of Painting and followed along to get an idea. This was one with Dana Jester guest painting. I try as much as possible to not think too much and to just do, which I think is at the core of this painting style. It's not always easy but it's trying to tap into that belief that everything will be fine because oils are forgiving and we don't make mistakes - all that stuff. It may help that I have absolutely no art background whatsoever, so I've never been taught things like color mixing or contrast or depth or all of those aspects of painting, so while they are something I've come to understand through experience and I try to pay attention to, I can't really "see" anything before I actually begin throwing paint on the canvas. I am now starting to see, with consistent practice, how Bob Ross was able to crank these out in less than a half hour. Another thing is that I'm always constantly busy and have a million other things to do so, as much as I'd like to try, I just can't spend all day on a painting unfortunately. I'll have a window maybe 2pm-4pm or something like that, then I want to spend time doing something else, so that also helps! Sometimes it feels like being on the show and having the mean ol' director breathing down my neck, except the mean ol' director is me and my eyes are regularly on the clock!
This was the 4th painting I did, and seems to be my friends & families favorite! I love how you still have a lot of darkeness, unfortunately I covered up too much of mine! I too usually only spend 2 hours or less to paint and some prep time & clean up time after.
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I am impressed with the amount of depth and detail you consistently achieve. Especially in such a short time. My paintings always take 4, 5, or even 6 hours. I think you are onto something! Do you have any time-saving suggestions?