Bob Ross Goes Skiing

FRESH TRACKS | Mixed Media on Canvas Panel | 5×7”


This is project #2 from the aforementioned Textured Painting workshop at The Contemporary at Laguna Gloria. This was a real Bob Ross experience, as my original plan was to simply experiment with texture and some pottery tools to see how they manipulated the joint compound, as well as experiment on canvas board with my newfound medium. Lo and behold, I discovered ski tracks in the snow – an abstract painting exploration turned “real” composition.

The coloring of the snow is actually tinged with yellow and muted with purple, which is very hard to see in the photos. The first step was to paint the canvas panel all black, let it dry, then cover it with the off-white spackle. The pottery tool was some kind of metal prong with a very small, circular tip. Dragging this tool through the soft spackle exposed the black board underneath, sometimes closing back up over itself in the thicker sections, much like skiing through fresh snow. 

On day 2, after the initial spackle had dried, using a water spritzer, I applied some kind of sparkly dust provided in the instructor’s box of goodies, which created a very cool reflective effect, like sun on snow. The last step was to apply a sky-blue acrylic mix to some of the wider tracks, which added color and the effect of the sky reflected in the snow. 

Overall, I’m very happy with this abstract turned ski tracks realism piece. I think it would be a very marketable piece, too, at a larger size in a black frame for someone who loves skiing. Thank you, Bob Ross!

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Workshop Day 4 – winter storm cuts things short

Day 4 turned into a hurried 1/2 day due to the winter storm that blew in during the morning.  A couple of inches of sleet and icy roads forced me to head home around 12:30 before the roads south became impassable for the night. Good thing I did because the drive was very precarious for that first hour. But before I had to leave…

David spent another 90 minutes working on the cellophane objects, bringing the piece to its glorious completion. While it’s not as refined and polished as some of his other work of the same subject, it was still very impressive given the timeframe. It was very interesting to see the cellophane come to life, but he also spent a lot of time getting the drapes in the tablecloth just right, which was surprisingly fun to watch. Nothing in his composition is done half-ass; it’s all-in on every element.

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David’s completed cellophane objects. About 4 hours of effort. Amazing!

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I had a little time to work on my vase and cellophane composition before having to head out to avoid the worst of the winter storm. I was able to apply a lot of what I had learned, along with hands-on guidance from David during class, to get the painting in a good position for success. The vase is coming along nicely, and while I didn’t get to start on the cellophane elements, I’m excited to work on this project, very excited!


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I’ll definitely take another Cheifetz workshop next year. He’s an excellent teacher and a true master of his craft. It was also nice to meet so many skilled artists and friendly people during the workshop. It was a great group and there wasn’t an annoying person amongst the lot, which is saying something given there were 10 students. I can’t wait to get the painting knife back in my hands this weekend!

Workshop Day 1

I’m attending a 4 day workshop taught by David Cheifetz in Lindale, TX. Learned a ton on the first day alone, especially regarding what makes up a great still life composition and how to set it up. I always knew David was a great artist, but he’s also a very engaged, effective instructor, too.

Each student has their own still life setup, but you get to learn so much from his discussions with the other students, some of whom are professional artists! More on that in a later post. My first composition gave me some challenges with getting the ellipse shape of the tea cup just right, so I spent a lot of time working through that challenge. Got started painting with just a short time remaining, so no photo of work in progress yet.

David did a couple of demos to illustrate his knife painting technique and explain the details of his composition. Before I knew it I had a long page of notes. Awesome!

Gotta run to day 2. Couple of quick photos from day 1.

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Class in session at studio

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My first composition layout. Focal point is the blue water pitcher.