Dawn on Overcast Morning

Bob Ross, the “Happy Painter” from Public Television’s Joy of Painting, painted a series of pictures on black canvasses (which were ordinary canvasses covered in black gesso.)  By using transparent colors as undercoats that were then covered by more opaque colors, Bob created dramatic effects as the hidden undercoats suddenly bloomed into life.  My efforts to duplicate Bob’s spectacular results were, alas, doomed to failure (probably in part because Bob painted with slow-drying oil paints with media such as “Liquid Clear” added, while I painted in quick drying acrylics with only water for a medium.)

The results were not all bad.  For example, I rather like this piece as it reminds me of the “lumenists” who formed the Hudson Valley School in the late 19th century.  As Bob Ross often said, “There are no mistakes, only happy accidents.”