Painting With John

Painting With John is, like its predecessor, a true original. It’s about a man who has seen a lot of the world, made a good living off his art, and — with the help of producers Adam McKay and Todd Schulman — has hand-crafted yet another work for television.

Magnetic ... “Painting” is a hand reaching straight through the solar plexus to squeeze. And squeeze, it does. It’s a rare thing to encounter a work of art you can describe as both daffy and mournful, yet “Painting” is certainly such a creature.

A hypnotic, meandering, surreality-TV walk into the knotty jungle of Lurie’s mind that explores living as an art form in itself. ... Lurie isn’t teaching painting. But he’s teaching something. Patience, purpose, attentiveness to your inner voice. It may seem rambling or self-indulgent at times. But the digressions are the point. The show, which at six half-hour episodes does not overstay its welcome, is like an apprenticeship with a crotchety bohemian Yoda.

Lurie’s reminiscences resound with both humor and sly profundity.

The mood is mostly meditative. Plants sway in the breeze, tree frogs sing, Lurie sits and stares. Much of it is devoted to watching paint move from brush to paper, very close up, and it is pretty and satisfying. ... There is a sort of arc to the series, in that Lurie’s circumstances come increasingly, if never completely, into focus; that what we’re watching is by the end framed in a slightly different way. ... That it also concludes with the title card, “The End,” suggests we have been told a story as much as having been shown a life.

Painting With John does take some getting used to, but once you’re into the show’s rhythms, it feels like a relaxing way to end your day.

The pacing, the insouciance, the music (Mr. Lurie’s) and the surprising vividness of the colors and the artwork make for a show that engages a viewer sincerely, even while being a semi-spoof. ... At one point he asks why’s he’s doing the show at all. “In fact, if you’re watching, turn it off.” I couldn’t oblige.