‘The Joy of Painting’

“Being able to pass on knowledge is a good feeling,” observes NRHEG twelfth-grader Brady Koopal.

 

In Koopal’s case, the “knowledge” is a set of techniques for painting landscapes on canvas using acrylic paint. Earlier this month and also back in March, NRHEG teacher Cynthia Gail invited Koopal to step to the front of the art classroom and help his fellow students create various effects in their paintings.

 

Koopal says he has always enjoyed drawing, and was inspired by artwork his mother, Lacey Koopal, created and set out in their home. Around third grade, as he recalls, “I realized it was something I might be good at.”

 

He sees it as nothing unusual that, having discovered a certain level of talent, he began searching out resources that would help him develop it into skill.

 

While in middle school, he came across videos of the show “The Joy of Painting,” which features artist Bob Ross. He made use of the information there to improve his own work, but it wasn’t as simple as following Ross’s directions.

 

“Bob Ross uses oil paints,” explains Gail. “Brady uses acrylic paints.” When Ross provides his instructions, he provides the specific names of paint colors. Koopal was working mostly with primary colors, and so had to create the hues himself. But perhaps more importantly, Gail explains, “Oil paint stays wet much longer than acrylic. That makes it easier to blend colors and make changes. Acrylic paint dries.”

 

Another adaptation Koopal mentions is that, unlike Ross who often mixes white paint in with colors when he wants to mute them, he began using water.

 

“I’m not the first to adapt oil techniques to acrylic,” he observes, while acknowledging, “it required a lot of experimenting.”

 

Nor does Koopal believe he’s perfected his technique. “I saw improvement in what I was producing,” he says of his personal art. “I became happy with the direction it was taking me.”

 

Despite the improvement, however, “You’re never fully satisfied,” he commented. “You’re always looking for ways to improve.

 

“As long as you’re dissatisfied, it’s fun to keep going and getting better.”

 

Teacher Gail mentions from the moment Koopal began producing landscapes in her art classes, she could tell his work had been influenced by Bob Ross. As he continued to produce high-quality paintings, the idea came to her that Koopal’s work would help his fellow students see the techniques were potentially within their skill range as well. She felt having a fellow student at the front would provide an interesting dynamic which could benefit both the temporary teacher and the learners.

 

Once Gail had suggested he might provide lessons, Koopal admits he was initially nervous, but he set himself a goal: “What I aimed to do,” he describes, “is to make the steps as easy as possible to understand for people who had trouble understanding them–to help them find a perspective that allowed them to be successful.”

 

He jokes, “Nobody booed or threw things at me, so I decided it was going okay.

 

“After the first couple days, I wasn’t as nervous any more.”

 

He says he found it fulfilling that his classmates’ work improved.

 

He chose a winter scene, he explains, because it allowed him to demonstrate technique with as few complicating elements as possible.

 

“You don’t need many colors,” he pointed out. “But you can use the steps to put light in the sky, shadow on the land, and reflections in the water.

 

“The more colors you add, the more complex it is. Then you need more equipment and more time.”

 

A side effect of having taught his classmates is that word got around he produces beautiful landscape paintings; a number of NRHEG teachers have since commissioned Koopal to create paintings for them.