Hello and introduction

[raybeau528]

Hello, my name is Ray Beausoleil. You can call me Ray, or Raybeau, or ...

Attached is my first painting - of any kind. I do some amateur photography and was looking for some software, outside of Photoshop Elements, to do some touch up and came across Art Rage. I checked out the free version and was so impressed with the UI and its capabilities I immediately purchased the full 2.5 application. Then I started reading through the forums and was absolutely floored with all the talent and awsome paintings. So much so that I started searching for some place to take painting lessons. Yes, you all really motivated me!

My wife and I live in Connecticut and we 'temporarily' moved to Denver, CO to spend time with our daughter and our only grand child (and our son-in-law of course ). We're retired and got an apartment for 6 months. Yes, I know, most people go south for the winter. We just changed longitude. My daughter suggested I check with the Colorado Free University for painting/art courses. The only one I found was Wet on Wet Oil Painting - Bob Ross Method so I signed myself and daughter up. Then I did a quick search on the net for Bob Ross and the first comments I found weren't very complementary. I mentioned that to my daughter and she said she used to watch him on TV when she was younger and that it would be a lot of fun to do it together. So we're on for a January class which I'm looking forward to. I was happy to see many favorable comments in this forum regarding Bob Ross.

Anyone in the Denver area know of other introduction to painting classes? I also ordered the Bob Ross New Joy of Painting book.

Apologies for the long winded intro! I hope to one day be able to contribute to this forum. Right now I'm just trying to absorb everything I can and learn from all of you!

Ray

[Peter Pinckney]

Welcome Ray............you're going to love it here.........great first painting!!

[Docsmith626]

Now, that is a very promising beginning. I love the color choice. As a photographer, you already have delved into composition and likely have sharpened your observation skills. With ArtRage, translating that into good paintings is easier than you might think. The rest is practice.

RE: Bob Ross. My late wife watched him on TV and turned out some nice landscapes. The art snobs consider him a hack, but I suspect you could learn a lot from his methods.

[saddy]

*Salutes a new master* (sorry for Star wars reference)

Welcome to the forums! I hope you enjoy here with us.
Great painting you got here! Do plenty more, that's how others advised me when I hit the gallery.

[Raybrite]

Welcome to the forum. I am sure you will find a new family here as many others have. Enjoy and have fun.

[raybeau528]

Oh, and one other thing I forgot to mention in my first post, and I consider it the most important, it was all the friendly and helpful people in these forums !!!

[RobertSWade]

Welcome to here, Ray. I've seen a lot of positive comments here about Bob Ross. No, he's not ever going to be considered a painting master. What he accomplished was to get people involved in exploring the creative process through painting, and always with an accent on having fun with it. He helped people believe that they could participate and develop ... that art didn't have to be the enclave of some mythical elite.
As DocSmith noted, you already have a leg-up on the creative process by virtue of your photographic experiences.
I predict that you're going to love it here and make some impressive contributions. ArtRage provides a wonderful toolbox and you've already noticed what a wonderful and supportive community this is.
Excellent first offering. Jump in and have fun.

[Jester2001]

Welcome to the forum Ray! You're first post is really beautiful. I hope you have a great time when your painting classes start. I'm sure you're going to be posting some great artworks here.

[Juz]

Welcome to the forum Ray, I thought your introduction was one of the best i've seen.
This is a beautiful first painting, I just love the sky and the warm colour.
I agree with Robert on Bob Ross, he was able to teach a lot of people who never thought they could paint that they could achieve something successful. Plus he's got to have been the most laid back dude to have ever walked the planet. I only saw his show once or twice since moving to Canada from Australia, but that was enough to make me 'awww' when he passed.

[Judith Tramayne]

Welcome! Actually Bob Ross was one of my favorites because he made Art fun!!!! I loved what he could do with a palette knife. Think of the fun he would have had with our new palette knife

Judith