# Thomas Kinkade...Urinator of Light. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 6, 2006, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-urinator-of-light/347202 "2006-03-06T00:58:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-urinator-of-light/347202/41 "2006-03-07T03:27:43Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > So people criticize kinkead because he’s a popular artist, who churns ouit trite stuff? People forget that artists like Maxfield parrish and Norman Rockwell were the same way-in their day, widely derided as "hack’ artists who churned out trite subject matter. Just you wait! My Kinkaid will be worth SCADS od dough…in 2106!! I still say Rockwell is kitschy crap. I haven’t seen much Parrish. Re Bob Ross A lot of Generation X is realizing just how much they miss him. “To make the sun, I like to put a drop of white on my thumb and turn it like so. Now, we need to pain the glow around our sun.” ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-urinator-of-light/347202/42 "2006-03-07T03:47:07Z")
**DocCathode** , Parrish was a member of the Art Nouveau movement, IIRC. Similiar to Louis Comfort Tiffany and my personal favorite, Alphonse Mucha. “It’s your world-it doesn’t matter what anyone says-you put in what you like.” “Happy painting, and God bless my friend.” Then he’d do that little Jedi-like hand wave. RIP, Bob. We miss you. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-urinator-of-light/347202/43 "2006-03-07T03:56:27Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I miss Bob Ross. That man was cool, I don’t care how trite his paintings were. Maybe because unlike Kinkade, he was just totally relaxed and unpretentious. “Happy little trees!” You forgot the best part! After painting the happy little trees, he’d start painting a scrub of brush saying, “And maybe here the tree has some little friends keeping him warm. We don’t know, it’s their world.” I still watch the reruns any chance I can. Someday I may brave the step and try some techniques he makes look so easy. The problem is, if I fuck it up, I may be discouraged from even watching anymore. I grew up affectionately thinking of him as “The Hippie Painter.” It was never derogatory, it was something I think he would have chickled at if he knew me. Man, I miss him. BTW, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas?” :dubious: I can’t beleive I escaped the last 2 trips unscathed and out of the news. :eek: 😛 ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-urinator-of-light/347202/44 "2006-03-07T10:00:54Z")
Where’s the pukey smily? Kinkade’s “art” is like the stuff you put on chocolate boxes…horrid. He seems like he might have just the teeniest alcohol problem- what with the public urination, heckling, falling off barstools, blacking out whether he groped anyone and whatnot. I hope his “faith” is a cynical marketing tool, because I don’t think anyone with actual conviction could be that much of an asshole. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-urinator-of-light/347202/45 "2006-03-07T14:42:36Z")
Is Ross that white man with bushy hair(very '70’s) that I used to see sometimes on PBS? He sort of talked of techniques and colors, all while painting a mountain or a sunset. He had kind of a breathy, but gravelly voice. I liked that guy! I didn’t see him often, but it was quite wonderful how he created such pictures–I could _see_ that a smear of white gave dimension to the nose or whatever–I just could never replicate it. (not that I tried, but it brought back flashbacks of art class in HS). He’s dead? That’s too bad–I’d love to see reruns. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-urinator-of-light/347202/46 "2006-03-07T17:18:35Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > Is Ross that white man with bushy hair(very '70’s) that I used to see sometimes on PBS? He sort of talked of techniques and colors, all while painting a mountain or a sunset. He had kind of a breathy, but gravelly voice. > > I liked that guy! I didn’t see him often, but it was quite wonderful how he created such pictures–I could _see_ that a smear of white gave dimension to the nose or whatever–I just could never replicate it. (not that I tried, but it brought back flashbacks of art class in HS). He’s dead? That’s too bad–I’d love to see reruns. Yep, that’s the one. He was the man. Just such a soothing, happy guy. He had fun painting, and I think that’s what he was all about. I don’t mind bad art necessarily, if the artist had fun creating it. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-urinator-of-light/347202/47 "2006-03-07T17:26:17Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Yep, that’s the one. He was the man. Just such a soothing, happy guy. He had fun painting, and I think that’s what he was all about. I don’t mind bad art necessarily, if the artist had fun creating it. The funny thing about him, though, was that I would watch him and admire his speed and technique etc. And just when I thought the picture was done–he would embellish all this other stuff onto it–and ruin it (for me, at least). but he was cool. Can you imagine anything getting on the air like that today? Maybe, _maybe_ on public access cable, but nowhere else. Too bad. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-urinator-of-light/347202/48 "2006-03-07T17:32:06Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Yep, that’s the one. He was the man. Just such a soothing, happy guy. He had fun painting, and I think that’s what he was all about. He wasn’t the only one, though. Who was that older German guy? “Und zen vee paint zee happy cloud, happy cloud, happy cloud!” ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-urinator-of-light/347202/49 "2006-03-07T23:03:39Z")
Yesterday, I got around to watching my recording of the Boondocks “Riley Was Here” episode, where a Bob Ross clone teaches art to Riley Freeman and takes him out at night, where Riley spray-paints his projects on houses. The whole time, Rossclone has his benign smile and soothing voice. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-urinator-of-light/347202/50 "2006-03-08T06:45:22Z")
A Bob Ross clone also appeared in an episode of Doug. Doug is imagining life as an artistand his mental image is an older Doug with Ross’ hair, clothing, and mannerisms. Unfortunately, unlike Quail Man or Smash Adams, Happy Colors Doug never became a recurring character. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-urinator-of-light/347202/51 "2006-03-08T08:19:32Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > He wasn’t the only one, though. Who was that older German guy? “Und zen vee paint zee happy cloud, happy cloud, happy cloud!” Max Ernst? Otto Dix? George Grosz? ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2006, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-urinator-of-light/347202/52 "2006-03-08T09:22:04Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > He wasn’t the only one, though. Who was that older German guy? “Und zen vee paint zee happy cloud, happy cloud, happy cloud!” [William](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Alexander_%28television_painter%29) (Bill) [Alexander](http://www.alexanderart.com/bill.asp) (1915, East Prussia - 1997) “After appearing on numerous U.S. public television shows (including “The Magic World of Oil Painting” and “The Art of Bill Alexander”), Alexander became known as the “Happy Painter”.” “Television painter Bob Ross of “The Joy of Painting” was a disciple of Alexander.” CMC fnord ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-urinator-of-light/347202/53 "2010-09-10T10:51:18Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > [QUOTE=elelle] > Oh, man, **Sausage Creature** , thank you so much for that link to the Painter of Blight parodies on Something Awful. I’ve had a long weekend of work, and that made me belly laugh, still gut chuckling… > > Especially the Ostrich and Bob Ross screaming. Lovely! I miss Bob Ross. That man was cool, I don’t care how trite his paintings were. Maybe because unlike Kinkade, he was just totally relaxed and unpretentious. “Happy little trees!” [/QUOTE] Yeah! I was just discussing this with a friend the other day. Bob Ross was, AFAICT, doing an instructional program for untrained, wannabe amateur painters to learn a few techniques so that they might find some pleasure in creating self-satisfying paintings for themselves. He wasn’t pretending he taught at a fine art institute. Would you put a van Gogh or a Michelangelo on a public TV show trying to instruct laypersons with little or no talent how to become a master? Or worse yet, trying to teach completely untrained “painters” how to paint a basic landscape? Of course not. You’d find a Bob Ross with his awesome 'fro. Kinkade, OTOH, tries to actually pass his feces off as true art, and takes real money for it. Fucking blasphemy. Ross rocked! ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-urinator-of-light/347202/54 "2010-09-10T11:03:26Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Maybe Kinkaid should emulate Jackson Pollock? Now THERE would be a marriage made in hell! :smack: I personally don’t like it when people knock Pollock. For one thing, he could actually paint. For another, even when he was in the “Jack the Dripper” mode, that stuff was still lightyears ahead of a schlock like Kinkade. Knock me for it if you will, but I like Pollocks “dripper” stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-urinator-of-light/347202/55 "2010-09-10T13:06:31Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > > [@ralph124c](#): > > > > Maybe Kinkaid should emulate Jackson Pollock? Now THERE would be a marriage made in hell! :smack: > > I personally don’t like it when people knock Pollock. For one thing, he could actually paint. For another, even when he was in the “Jack the Dripper” mode, that stuff was still lightyears ahead of a schlock like Kinkade. Shouldn’t that be “knock Pollock” _and_ "blockade Kinkade? aaaah zzZOMBIESsss aaaah I mean, you wanna be consistent. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-urinator-of-light/347202/56 "2010-09-10T13:19:14Z")
Would Kinkade paint a landscape with zombies? ---
**Author:** ![Ninja\_Lauren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/46a35a/32.png) [@Ninja\_Lauren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ninja_Lauren)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-urinator-of-light/347202/57 "2010-09-10T14:02:46Z")
I’m glad I’m not the only one with a Bob Ross obsession! When I lived at home, we didn’t have cable or satellite. We had rabbit ears and got seven channels, nine on a good day. Every day about one Bob Ross would come on PBS and I loved it! I’m not a connoisseur of art by any means, but the man could paint. I loved how at the beginning it was just some random paint streaks, then in a half hour it was a beautiful landscape.I heard somewhere he died of a heart attack, which would be tragically ironic for someone so effing calming! He’s with the happy little clouds now. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-urinator-of-light/347202/58 "2010-09-10T14:03:35Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > Is Ross that white man with bushy hair(very '70’s) that I used to see sometimes on PBS? He sort of talked of techniques and colors, all while painting a mountain or a sunset. He had kind of a breathy, but gravelly voice. _“And behind this happy little tree is where I hide my happy little weed!”_ ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-urinator-of-light/347202/59 "2010-09-10T14:22:58Z")
Painter of light!!! _The_ painter of light (and to whom the the soubriquet was first applied) was Turner, Kinkade isn’t fit to wash the great man’s brushes. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2010, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-urinator-of-light/347202/60 "2010-09-10T14:23:44Z")
Linky in OP no worky. Not upset, no desire to view shitty artwork no doubt displayed in article. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-urinator-of-light/347202.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-urinator-of-light/347202.md?page=4)