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I have a Bob Ross habit.
Jun. 29th, 2010 12:15 amI'm going to be straight with y'all. I fuckin' love Bob Ross and I love watching him paint.
It's probably not a popular opinion in fine art circles, but that's because most fine artists are snobs. But I have this opinion that art is for the people. Art is about communication, and if you're not communicating with anybody, what's the bloody point of it? It looks nice, but art comes alive when it lives in someone else's mind.
Bob Ross did that on a huge scale, probably bigger than anyone had before at that point. He was a speed painter before speed painting hit the internet. He helped people who couldn't paint to paint things they were happy with, that looked like something to them. Sure, it's not a Carravagio, but I really doubt that someone that would become a serious artist would stop at learning a thing or two from Bob Ross. When I had it in my head that I wanted to be a proper painter, I was 7 or so, and you couldn't stop me from asking my parents for paints and pencils and textas so I could draw my pictures, and scrap paper, and scrapbooks and you name it. And I asked *everyone* I knew in my family that could do art about drawing. I looked at books, I watched TV, I looked everywhere.
Bob Ross isn't about the serious hardcore world of fine art. He's not about modelling the human body or capturing scenes that are really there. It's almost a meditative therapy, creating something out of nothing in easy steps that anyone can emulate. It's not high art, but it has a value in itself that is clearly helpful to people, otherwise so many people wouldn't be still watching his shows and going to the classes his certified teachers run. Sure, it's a little culty, but it seems pretty harmless to me.
The thing that warms my heart about Bob Ross and his phenomena, is the idea of people who would never normally give art a go, never consider themselves an artist, pick up a paint brush and oils and give it a try. I am all about people who don't think they can be artists giving it a try anyway. No, we're not all going to be Rembrandt. Some people do have a natural, inate, amazing talent. I don't know how it happens or why.
But communication is something that most human beings like to take part in, and art is about that. Art is about telling the story that's inside of you, waiting to get out. Bob Ross helped people do that, I think, and I can't hate on that.
Mainly, when I can't sleep, I put on some Bob Ross and then man, I am so ready to hit La-La land. God damn, it's a pity the man couldn't bottle the sound of his voice. I'm just watching a special episode with his son. His son doesn't have a somnolent tone to his voice, it's more... buttery. If that makes any sense. Bob is hot chocolate on a cold night. I'm not sure where I'm going with this.
I'm going to keep watching episodes of Bob Ross in the hope that I'll get some sleep. Wish me luck.
It's probably not a popular opinion in fine art circles, but that's because most fine artists are snobs. But I have this opinion that art is for the people. Art is about communication, and if you're not communicating with anybody, what's the bloody point of it? It looks nice, but art comes alive when it lives in someone else's mind.
Bob Ross did that on a huge scale, probably bigger than anyone had before at that point. He was a speed painter before speed painting hit the internet. He helped people who couldn't paint to paint things they were happy with, that looked like something to them. Sure, it's not a Carravagio, but I really doubt that someone that would become a serious artist would stop at learning a thing or two from Bob Ross. When I had it in my head that I wanted to be a proper painter, I was 7 or so, and you couldn't stop me from asking my parents for paints and pencils and textas so I could draw my pictures, and scrap paper, and scrapbooks and you name it. And I asked *everyone* I knew in my family that could do art about drawing. I looked at books, I watched TV, I looked everywhere.
Bob Ross isn't about the serious hardcore world of fine art. He's not about modelling the human body or capturing scenes that are really there. It's almost a meditative therapy, creating something out of nothing in easy steps that anyone can emulate. It's not high art, but it has a value in itself that is clearly helpful to people, otherwise so many people wouldn't be still watching his shows and going to the classes his certified teachers run. Sure, it's a little culty, but it seems pretty harmless to me.
The thing that warms my heart about Bob Ross and his phenomena, is the idea of people who would never normally give art a go, never consider themselves an artist, pick up a paint brush and oils and give it a try. I am all about people who don't think they can be artists giving it a try anyway. No, we're not all going to be Rembrandt. Some people do have a natural, inate, amazing talent. I don't know how it happens or why.
But communication is something that most human beings like to take part in, and art is about that. Art is about telling the story that's inside of you, waiting to get out. Bob Ross helped people do that, I think, and I can't hate on that.
Mainly, when I can't sleep, I put on some Bob Ross and then man, I am so ready to hit La-La land. God damn, it's a pity the man couldn't bottle the sound of his voice. I'm just watching a special episode with his son. His son doesn't have a somnolent tone to his voice, it's more... buttery. If that makes any sense. Bob is hot chocolate on a cold night. I'm not sure where I'm going with this.
I'm going to keep watching episodes of Bob Ross in the hope that I'll get some sleep. Wish me luck.
