Leave your brushstrokes alone.

My first blog post will begin with a nod of gratitude to Bob Ross and the many life lessons I learned from "The Joy of Painting." Thank you Bob Ross, and other under-appreciated teachers.

This is likely to be just the first of many tributes to Bob Ross. My mother can attest to the fact that while my peers were out drinking, playing video games, and otherwise being normal kids, I was often glued to the TV, mesmerized the daily lesson on "The Joy of Painting" with pencil in hand and an apple or some other orb-like subject matter lying between me and the television. I have many past teachers' voices in my head, including several professors - some wacky and kind, some militant and brutal. But Bob Ross sits on my shoulder whispering sweet nothings of pretty little trees into my ear most often. Today it was about the fan brush.

This tribute is with the utmost respect in the form of a rebutal. I remember the first oil painting I did after watching Bob use his fan brush. I was seduced by its ability to make a skyline glow. But over the years I have found it is easy to overuse the fan brush, and for a while I was even stubbornly boycotting it. While this tempting tool can beautifully soften and refine a painting, it can very quickly blend your brushtrokes into oblivion. Your brushstrokes are sacred. They are what make your painting your painting. Just as we are encouraged to soften the unique edges of our personalities, we are tempted to blur and blend our brushstrokes to the point of imperceptibility. This isn't the 17th Century - revel in the spontaneous aliveness of your unblended strokes!

Today's thought is short and sweet - Leave most of your brushtrokes alone! I've come to realize that there is a time and a place for the fan brush. But we all can be overly-seduced by the glowing softness it yields.  Be brave enough to leave most hard lines and courageous unfussy strokes untouched, and let your painting reflect your own raw beauty.