Re:A 73-year-old Japanese artist took YouTube by storm
by jordache on Friday December 11, 2020 @04:30PM
(#25391282)
Ross' attempt at realism fails. The paintings are neither realistic, nor an appealing stylistic take on realism.
I would apply the uncanny valley dynamic to his landscape paintings. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley
I've seen plenty of motel paintings, watched plenty of Bob Ross episodes, but the comparison doesn't seem fair. Motel paintings are often printed - you can tell by the CMYK dots if you come close enough. Ross at least seems to use actual oil paint on canvas supported by real solvents which seems a lot higher quality than the usual school process using acrylics or temperas. (Although granted using liquid white seems a bit dodgy).
So what is Ross missing. Not enough detail? Does not take enough time to paint a painting? Not enough paint on the canvas? Not photorealistic enough? Too photorealistic?