# Outdoor scene painted at the Mystic Seaport in Mystic Connecticut



## Mike

My wife and I visited the Mystic Seaport in Mystic Connecticut a while back. For a few dollars they give you some canvas, a few brushes, and some acrylic paint on a pallet. 

I'm hardly an artist, but I took a stab at it and ended up with the painting below. We framed it and put it on our bathroom wall, not because it's anything special but because it's the only thing I've ever painted. I wish it didn't have the vertical white line on the left side, but it was clipped to a clipboard that rested on my knee while I painted and I hadn't thought any better of it at the time. Unfortunately it's not a very good photo between the glare off the glass frame and the fact that it was taken with a mobile phone to begin with, but I thought I'd share it, regardless.

I really enjoyed painting it and may pick up some art supplies to try painting again at home.

Thanks for taking a look.


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## PencilMeIn

That's great Mike for your first painting! I am terrible at scenery, (animals come easier), but you've done a great job at the different values of the trees. I think you should definitely get some supplies and keep it up.


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## Mike

Thanks, PencilMeIn! I only recall watching Bob Ross once, but I distinctly remember saying "there, there" to myself as I blotted the canvas with the brush to create the trees.  I think I got the idea to turn the brush around and use the other end to create the suggestion of tree trunks from the same show as well. 

Hmm, I may try to track down episodes of his show since watching it just once seems to have proven very helpful.


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## PencilMeIn

> I distinctly remember saying "there, there" to myself as I blotted the canvas with the brush to create the trees.


LOL! Bob was a great teacher. A while back I actually ordered a video of his and some paints and brushes, but all I learned was oils just aren't my thing. I got very frustrated with them because they are much less forgiving than acrylics. Acrylics dry fast and if you mess up you can just paint over it, not so much with oils. If you want to try your hand at oils I could hook you up.


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## NaturePhoto1

Nice job! Looks good!


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## Mike

PencilMeIn said:


> LOL! Bob was a great teacher. A while back I actually ordered a video of his and some paints and brushes, but all I learned was oils just aren't my thing. I got very frustrated with them because they are much less forgiving than acrylics. Acrylics dry fast and if you mess up you can just paint over it, not so much with oils. If you want to try your hand at oils I could hook you up.


Did you mean that all you learned from the video was that oil painting isn't your thing? Was the video geared toward oil painting, then, or did you just happen to buy oil paints? I would have thought that his techniques would be helpful when painting with acrylics as well. 

Thanks for offering me your oil paint, but I am extremely fond of the idea of being able to paint over mistakes via acrylics. It sounds like it means the difference between wasting _some_ paint vs wasting a lot of paint and the entire canvas it's on. 



NaturePhoto1 said:


> Nice job! Looks good!


Thank you, NaturePhoto1!


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## PencilMeIn

> Did you mean that all you learned from the video was that oil painting isn't your thing? Was the video geared toward oil painting, then, or did you just happen to buy oil paints? I would have thought that his techniques would be helpful when painting with acrylics as well.


Oh, I didn't mean anything against his teaching! Yes, it was geared toward oils and that's what I bought, but just didn't care for them.


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## killmaven

If doing that painting sparked something, and I'm guessing it did based on the fact that you came here, you should ABSOLUTELY continue. I suck at this painting thing, but I continue to do it because of the feeling I get when I'm doing it. If what you've shown is what you do on a whim, I'd love to see what you can do when you're REALLY into it.


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