We artists are a different breed of people. We’re a happy bunch. Here’s something that’s fun. These things happen automatically. All you have to do is just let them happen.

A beautiful little sunset. Just a little indication. Sometimes you learn more from your mistakes than you do from your masterpieces. Maybe there’s a little something happening right here. Take your time. Speed will come later. Trees grow in all kinds of ways. They’re not all perfectly straight. Not every limb is perfect. The only prerequisite is that it makes you happy. If it makes you happy then it’s good.

I can’t think of anything more rewarding than being able to express yourself to others through painting. We’ll put some happy little leaves here and there. So often we avoid running water, and running water is a lot of fun. When things happen – enjoy them. They’re little gifts. That is when you can experience true joy, when you have no fear. Use what happens naturally, don’t fight it. That’s what painting is all about. It should make you feel good when you paint.

Get tough with it, get strong. We spend so much of our life looking – but never seeing. Absolutely no pressure. You are just a whisper floating across a mountain. Be so very light. Be a gentle whisper. Without washing the brush, I’m gonna go right into some Van Dyke Brown, some Burnt Umber, and a little bit of Sap Green. You’ve got to learn to fight the temptation to resist these things. Just let them happen. We need a shadow side and a highlight side. We’ll make some happy little bushes here.

There comes a nice little fluffer. We tell people sometimes: we’re like drug dealers, come into town and get everybody absolutely addicted to painting. It doesn’t take much to get you addicted. Let’s go up in here, and start having some fun This is a fantastic little painting. The very fact that you’re aware of suffering is enough reason to be overjoyed that you’re alive and can experience it. See. We take the corner of the brush and let it play back-and-forth.

It’s cold, but it’s beautiful. You can do anything your heart can imagine. All you need to paint is a few tools, a little instruction, and a vision in your mind. You gotta think like a tree. Just a happy little shadow that lives in there. You create the dream – then you bring it into your world.