The Joy of Painting

Quite the stack Matt. OK, I have a couple questions:

I see writing on the sides/tops of paintings. Is that tape, or do you write on edges?

What are the 5ish smaller canvases in stack 1?

Do you have a separate stack for non Bob Ross paintings?

How many paintings have you done lifetime. (estimate is acceptable LOL)

What are you going to do with them all?

Ever have an art showing?

Ever sell paintings in a flea market type setting or at any other venue? If so, how did you do?

Do you varnish or do anything to preserve/protect paintings?

Sorry for all the questions bud, but inquiring minds want to know ;)

That's a lot of paintings, i prefer to paint on boards as they take up less space and can be framed. At the last count i had amassed 137 paintings but god only knows what i will do with them, i rarely look at them as they are in storage....Thanks for sharing!

Whoa! That’s a lot of paintings! Don’t oils take months to dry? how do you prevent them from sticking to each other? Or are these the ones that have already dried and you have a separate place for the ones drying?

Tony, here are your answers:
- I write the season and the name of the piece on each painting
- The couple smaller paintings are still Bob Ross paintings. I believe I didn't have any 18x24 canvases at the time so I used 16x20's instead
- I do have another stack of non-Bob Ross paintings that I keep under my stairwell
- I've probably done 550-600 paintings in my lifetime
- I will sell what I can. Otherwise I do rotate paintings at my house and at my work throughout the year.
- I am trying to do./have more art showings. I actually have a small one going on now at the local country club
- I think next spring/summer I am going to try to sell some at various farmer's market type settings. It has taken a bit but I am starting to see a larger interest in them
- I do varnish some of the paintings. Basically the ones that I like and hang up are all varnished. Now if someone buys a painting then I varnish that when the time comes.

Your welcome tel

WOOOOOOOW!!!! It's amazing Matt. Did you build the painting storage rack yourself? I have done only 42 so far. So this is what I can expect to have when I complete all 31 series. Which one is your favorite? Which one was the most challenging to paint?

When you are done painting all series, what are you planning to do? I hope you will keep posting here. Thank you very much for sharing.

Lilikins, I do have a separate spot for the ones that are still drying

That's quite an outstanding collection! Also curious about your favorite(s)?

Nancy & Pam,

My favorites are probably: Fisherman's Trail, Blue Ridge Falls, By the Sea, The Northern Lights, and Hidden Delight. Really a very difficult question to answer. I usually judge on two things how much do I like the scene itself and how well did I execute it.

Most challenging to paint were probably: Royal Majesty, Not Quite Spring, and maybe Hint of Springtime

Then once I'm done with these Nancy I plan to start using Bob's technique and painting pictures I've taken while on vacation. I've been a lot of places and I have great pictures that I'd love to paint.

Thanks for sharing Matt, it is unbelievable what you have painted,. a very big amount of paintings all in super high qualitiy. I had the same question as L:ilikins: never had paintings that sticked togetherin the storage? And an other question: did you ever had a painitng that was awful and not worth to upload in your opinion?

Jos, I appreciate the compliments. I wait until the paintings are 100% dry before I put them in the storage area. To answer the 'awful' painting question, I don't think I've had a too awful one to post. Now when I look back at the first ones I did I say ehh I would like to redo some because they are not quite up to my standards. And maybe I will redo some of them sometime down the road.

Storage and drying space are certainly an issue, my wife does not like paintings all over the place whilst drying (understandably) i have a garage but it's damp and dusty. Oils often take many weeks to become touch dry and often months to become "contact" storage dry. I have a couple of record racks which are great for boards.