Bob Ross Thoughts

I read the other day that a Bob Ross painting sold for $10 million dollars. When I was a kid Bob Ross was the first person I ever saw painting. When he was on I was hooked to the TV, mostly wishing I had all his art supplies, but also feeling like the way he painted a tree was magic. It is strange to look at his paintings now after 4 years of art school and years of life and see them differently. I am not as amazed as I was as a kid. I can see how I would paint it differently now. I can see where some reference material might be helpful, where slowing down might be helpful.

But lately after watching the movie Paint (some parts were so funny, Owen Wilson is so good, and I loved the thoughts about what art is but there were a lot of confusing detours so ultimately do not recommend) I think of Bob Ross as a performance artist more now. He was putting on a show. The words he said were just as important as what he was painting. Also painting is slow and often painstaking and he found a way to make it engaging and quick.

I do love his philosophy of just painting and not overthinking, just creating and enjoying. It made me think of this article about AI art. Some people hail AI art as making art more accessible. I don’t know everything about it but Bob Ross proved that anyone can paint. The fact that his painting just sold for $10 million dollars proves that anyone can paint. You just need to paint. I am not good at singing. I have never taken lessons or worked on it. I don’t play an instrument. I am often off key and all over the place. But that is not going to stop me from singing my heart out at The Eras Movie next weekend. And I find that singing is very cathartic and healing even if I am not good at it.

We don’t need AI to make art more accessible, we just need to let go of our perfectionism. We just need to be willing to be bad.

And maybe I have been thinking about this because I need to let go of my perfectionism. I would like to make art faster, looser, and with more freedom. Maybe make an entire painting in 30 minutes. Like Bob Ross. Because honestly it is more fun that way.