Lessons I learned from Bob Ross
We all know Bob Ross... Yes the painter guy of our childhood. In case you do not know, he was guy with goofy hair who could paint you a perfect forest,lake,mountain and river scenery in 5 minutes that looked like a photograph.
Many could say he was a cult icon of the 80's. He was more... First of all, he was a motivator, showing that drawing is simple and anyone can do it by following simple steps, much like business. The key things he taught me in his shows(by the way he repeated this stuff in almost every show) are lessons in life that can be put in use in business too.
First of all he preached patience, not to hurry finishing the painting.His motto "one stroke at a time" is a priceless one. Can we really remember this and do it daily,or are we hurrying things up? A thing will happen only when its time has come and when we have done all the preparation and steps necessary towards it.
The most famous quote is "we don't make mistakes, we just have happy accidents". That should sum it up! I mean WOW! What a wonderful way to look at it. In painting you mess something up then you can cover it somehow. In life?Business? The same. Opportunities are all around us and something can be improved as long as our attitude towards it is simple and positive.Look at it the Bob Ross way and you will see the problems disappear.
Watch a show of his and you will feel the excitement with every stroke. Every time he dipped the brush in the paint and on the canvas you could see the happiness of creation and of a fulfilling work. make your every move important and happy,only in that way you can enjoy really and provoke the results you want.
Imagination. He could turn a white boring canvas into a window! By head, just imagining the scenery he made a great picture that looked like real. You would look at it and would want to go out for a walk.Didn't use photos to paint,all by head. What are you imagining for yourself?Visualize and go to action!
Simplicity. The guy used to draw one line and it would transform into a tree. Big thick brushes,no detail drawing but at the end, you could see every little detail in the picture. Simple is the best path to excellence. Do not complicate. I mean Bob used a knife to make the tree branches with only one move of the hand. Others would spend 10 minutes drawing a branch with the small brush. Not Bob.
And the most important is "we got to make some decisions now". He would always come to the point where he would say this. The point to decide where his painting was going. What would it be all about? And then it transformed into raw beauty. That is our life, making decisions. As someone put it "I am not a winner or a loser, I am a chooser" we all have to take responsibility for our actions.Decide and be ok with it because YOU did it,it is Yours. But noone else is going to do it for you.
Happy painting on your canvas! put those colors up there!
