Friday, March 29, 2024
ADVT 
Interesting

VIRUS DIARY: Always learning from 'happy little accidents'

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 18 Sep, 2020 09:16 PM
  • VIRUS DIARY: Always learning from 'happy little accidents'

I'm not alone in confessing that I have always enjoyed those Bob Ross instructional painting programs that ran on PBS for many years. Perhaps it was his soothing voice as a tree appeared like magic on a lake with the flick of his wrist. Maybe it was his Mr. Rogers-like guidance that there were no mistakes, “just happy little accidents.”

Bob died 25 years ago. But his legacy lives on, thanks to YouTube videos, books, even a collection of T-shirts.

Sometime in March or April (who can remember anymore?), as it became clear that the coronavirus pandemic was going to be keeping us out of movie theatres, restaurants, concert halls and ballparks, we came across a Bob Ross video as we searched through our obscene number of cable channels and streaming services.

“Did you know, I used to enjoy doing paint-by-numbers when I was a kid,” I said to my sweetheart, the person destined to share our couch for more hours than we had ever contemplated. “You should do it again,” she said. “You're getting ready to retire, and this might be something you would enjoy. Besides, what else do you have to do?”

In an instant, she was searching the internet for paint-by-numbers kits. Turns out that craft supplies, like many things in the pandemic's early days, were hard to come by. We finally came across a modestly priced painting of the Beatles' “Abbey Road” cover that could be obtained in a week to 10 days.

“Sure, order it,” I said almost dismissively. “I'll give it a try."

Before long, a 16x20 blank canvas with John, Paul, George and Ringo had arrived with two dozen tiny paint containers, each embossed with a number to guide you down the long and winding road. I learned quickly that this was not going to come together in the half hour that old Bob Ross took to create one of his babbling brook masterpieces. But where was I going, anyway?

Little by little, the No. 2 black filled in Paul's pants legs, No. 12 yellow brought the Volkswagen parked up the street to life, and Nos. 12, 16, 18 and 19 of various shades of green helped the trees frame the Fab Four on their stroll across the legendary London crosswalk. With daily encouragement from my muse, it was finished. She ordered a wooden frame to give the work a proper place in our alcove.

I was hooked.

Soon, we found an online paint-by-numbers company that had more products ready to ship. Next: a bucolic scene of an old red barn adorned with a faded American flag and a rusting old farm truck sitting in a field nearby. I was on my way. Streaks of reddish brown came down the barn; tiny birds found themselves flying across a blue sky filled with puffy white clouds.

Then, as I was nearly finished, disaster struck. I had put some of the dark blue paint for the truck on a paper plate and laid it on a corner of the painting. It seeped through the plate, leaving a streak of navy blue running through the clouds and into some trees. I was distraught.

Then I remembered Bob Ross. I got out some very fine sandpaper, gently sanded away the blue, then took some white and painted two coats over the scar. After it dried, I restored the sky without numbers to guide me. The trees came back to life with a little freehand technique I had seen on those shows.

When I was finished, no one would know how close I came to tossing the picture, and the hobby, in the trash. But I was inspired by the rescue and am now working on more masterpieces.

No mistakes. Just “happy little accidents.”

MORE Interesting ARTICLES

RIGHT AT HOME: Dining in the great outdoors, stylishly

RIGHT AT HOME: Dining in the great outdoors, stylishly
Squeezing the most out of summer — especially this coronavirus summer — has often meant eating and entertaining outside, for those with the space to do it.

RIGHT AT HOME: Dining in the great outdoors, stylishly

As NBA returns, so must an NBA writer in early hot spot

As NBA returns, so must an NBA writer in early hot spot
I couldn’t wait to watch basketball in March. The schedule in New York was as good as I could remember in my years covering the NBA for The Associated Press.

As NBA returns, so must an NBA writer in early hot spot

In an upside-down summer, 'Jaws,' 'E.T.' are hits again

In an upside-down summer, 'Jaws,' 'E.T.' are hits again
Over the second weekend in July, “Empire Strikes Back” — 40 years after it was first released — was again No. 1. “Ghostbusters” claimed the July 4th weekend, 36 years after opening.

In an upside-down summer, 'Jaws,' 'E.T.' are hits again

To photograph comet Neowise, it takes patience and placement

To photograph comet Neowise, it takes patience and placement
The newly discovered comet Neowise is only visible from Earth once every 6,800 years, and photographers who want to document it seek places with high elevation and little smog or light pollution. A place like North Carolina’s famed Grandfather Mountain.

To photograph comet Neowise, it takes patience and placement

Ships not complying with whale rules: study

Ships not complying with whale rules: study
A study of ship speeds in the Cabot Strait shows that two-thirds are not complying with a voluntary speed restriction meant to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales that migrate through the area.

Ships not complying with whale rules: study

How does COVID-19 affect kids? Science has answers and gaps

How does COVID-19 affect kids? Science has answers and gaps
What role children play in the coronavirus pandemic is the hot-button question of the summer as kids relish their free time while schools labour over how to resume classes.

How does COVID-19 affect kids? Science has answers and gaps