I want to go to there...

So I took another Bob Ross class this weekend. I have ... very mixed feelings about it!

Okay, so first of all, painting-wise, I think this one turned out a lot better than the last one I did. Honestly, the pictures here don't do it justice. Just something about the glare and the way my phone captured the pictures, it looses a lot of detail in the background trees. That being said, I still have some issues with the final image. This time, however, it mostly has to do with things a bit out of my control.

Namely, the class itself. Don't get me wrong, the teacher is really cool. This was my third class with her and I think we may have a few different ways of approaching a couple techniques or whatever, but all in all, she is fine! But man oh man, a couple people in my class really got on my last nerve this time around. First, as a general note that applies to almost all of the painting classes I've ever taken, I do not understand why some of these people sign up when they clearly are not interested in following instructions or even just putting in any sort of effort whatsoever. They whine and complain the entire time and it's, like, do you not have anything better to spend almost $60 and a Saturday afternoon on? For crying out loud people, what did you think you were signing up for? And more specifically to this class, we had to share certain materials, and a lot of people that take these classes seem to almost delight in how sloppy and messy they can be, so by the end of the class, a lot of stuff had been wasted, leaving me literally scraping the bottom of the barrel to make due, and it led to me not getting the effects I was aiming for in a few places, most noticeably in the bushes not really getting the highlights I feel they needed. I had also wanted to put some more detail into those background trees. Like I said before, the pictures here don't really do them justice, but they're still not as good as I had hoped.

I could go on about how annoying some of these people were, but I'm afraid it would start getting mean. I think working retail is starting to kill my tolerance for dealing with people.

But, there are some big positives this time. First of all, the whole reason I decided to take this class in particular was because I'd never done cabins or waterfalls before despite always wanting to and this class had both. And as far as those two bits are concerned, I'm pretty happy, especially on the waterfalls. I'd maybe do the cabin a bit differently on my own, and to tell you the truth, that was basically the last thing we did, so by the time we got to it I wasn't exactly in the best mind-space, but nevertheless I'm satisfied with it for a first time effort. Also, I personally believe this is the best water effect I've ever done. In the past, I've always tried to do water detail with the pallet knife, but this time I used the fan brush and I liked it soooo much better.

Anyway, when all is said and done, I'm ultimately glad I took the class. Some of my classmates might have driven me up the wall, but nevertheless I always feel energized to paint more after these. Maybe I'll try repainting this one again on my own and see how it goes without outside distractions.