Because instruments were scarce
Wooden or rattan furniture and handicrafts, woven abaca or pinacloth, and various handcrafted or carved toys and trinkets seen in rural regions, were manufactured from indigenous raw materials. Weaving is often done using natural fibers such as rattan, bamboo, nipa leaves, abaca, and pina.
Definitely Bob Ross looks like something he’d do
Before photography, visual arts was one of the only way to capture the world. Famous artists painted portraits of significant people and beautiful landscapes which are very time consuming. I would say photography in its early days is simply a realistic window to see the world and the people in it. The inventors of photography believed that photos are no longer drawn by hand, but "written by light".
An article on petapixel says: The use of cameras has allowed us to capture historical moments and reshape the way we see ourselves and the world around us.
