Painting in Layers
Once, not too long ago, I very rarely watched TV. Then I bought one for my room. Oops. Now I watch probably a half hour to an hour a night, after I go to bed and before I turn out the light. So I like…happy stuff. Queer Eye. Tidying Up. Wildlife documentaries (I skip the episodes about climate change because I KNOW ALREADY, I KNOW, BELIEVE ME) and sometimes conspiracy theory silliness. I save my movie watching for the weekend. Lately my go-to has been Bob Ross. Have you watched him? The series is “Beauty is Everywhere” on Netflix. It’s so relaxing, without being boring. Bob Ross has this kind soft voice, and he works magic and explains every step while insisting that I can do it too, and it’s just…lovely. When he’s doing something repetitive, he’ll show a short video of him charming wild animals, like injured baby squirrels he’s hand-raising, or an orphaned deer a friend is taking care of… via GIPHY He cracks dorky jokes, too. While putting in a shoreline in a painting, “Don’t let the trees fall in the water, that’ll make a big splash and scare that little beaver that lives here.” Note–he hasn’t painted a beaver. Or on balancing out the highlights he’s putting in, “We don’t want these trees left out. Nothing worse than an angry tree coming after you.” When he washes his brush, he bangs it on the easel to finish, and he always gets a kick out of it…