Let’s Have Some Fun

Building a painting with whatever is at hand…

Two minute video below. No sound.

“We don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents.”

- Bob Ross

I remember building entire villages in my sandbox as a child. The goal was to build structures and roads so I could drive my make-believe bus around the village, picking up passengers along the way.

The buildings were crumbling sand and the bus was anything at hand - a piece of wood, a stone - but I remember the experience well. The messy, random play brought me hours of joy.

That’s the wonder of creativity. You can leave expectations behind and just have fun. Build layer after layer with only a hint of what might happen, accept what actually DOES happen, then continue adding using paint, paper, glue, graphite…whatever you can find in those studio drawers.

Don’t think of it as work, it’s play. Add whatever you like to a surface and just keep adding. There are no mistakes. Work with those “happy little accidents” just to see where they take you. And only stop, hmmm, perhaps when it’s time for dinner.

The painting above was created over a couple of days where I just stopped thinking and just started doing. There was no end goal so whatever happened I could live with it.

I started with some hand painting, literally, painting with my hands, and some random colours. I used old brushes, a wallpaper spreader, torn and glued paper and some charcoal along with acrylic paint. I let each layer take its own shape. I added something new to each layer then stopped when I thought I couldn’t add any more.

It wasn’t meant to be a masterpiece. It wasn’t meant to portray something. It was simply meant to be an expression of random enjoyment. And, serendipitously, I think I even like it!

Thanks for reading.

I hope you’re doing well.

Cheers

Bob