The Best of the Joy of Painting with Bob Ross

[Music] Hi, welcome back.

Certainly glad you could join us today.

I thought today we'd just do a fantastic little seascape, and I think you'll enjoy this one.

So I tell you what, let's have them run all the colors across the screen that you need to paint along.

While they're doing that, let me show you what I've got done up here.

Today I have my standard old pre-stretched canvas.

The top is just plain, and I've covered it with a little bit of Liquid White.

The bottom we've covered with black gesso.

Allowed that to dry completely.

Then I went back and I had to make some major decisions already.

I'm going to have a big crashing wave in here.

So where that wave is, I've put a little bit of Phthalo Green and Phthalo Blue mixed together, but it's to the green side.

The top and underneath here I've covered with a little lavender made from Alizarin Crimson and Phthalo Blue.

And the very bottom here I've put a little Van Dyke Brown.

All of these colors are transparent enough that against this black gesso they still look black.

Oh, and one other thing.

I covered the entire canvas with a thin, even coat of liquid clear before I put these transparent colors on.

And that allows you to put a very small amount of paint on there instead of having to put it on so thick.

And works better.

Okay, let's have some fun today.

Let's do something maybe that looks sort of like a little sunset.

I'm going to start with a tiny bit of the Indian Yellow.

Don't need much.

On the two-inch brush.

Just a little.

Okay, let's go up in here.

Maybe we'll have a little sun up here that's setting in the distance.

So we just start off and just drop a little yellow right in here.

A little bit of the Indian Yellow.

Something like so.

And without cleaning the brush, I'm going to go into a little Yellow Ochre.

Just a small amount.

Because it'll mix with the Liquid White and automatically you'll get all of these beautiful tones and values here.

Okay, maybe a little bit of that Yellow Ochre up above.

A little up above and a little down below.

There we are.

All right.

And we're just using little X's, little criss cross strokes.

Something about like so.

Maybe just a touch more to that.

We'll let that sort of drift right on up here into the sky.

Wherever.

Okay, now then.

I'm going to reach up here and grab the least little touch of Alizarin Crimson.

Still in the same old brush.

And we'll just work a little bit of that in.

And we'll sort of let it work down into the yellow.

And it'll blend together and make some beautiful, beautiful colors.

There.

Okay, now.

Maybe a least little touch more of that.

Okay, good, good.

I like that.

Now for the very top, I'm going to take Alizarin Crimson and a little bit of the Phthalo Blue.

And we'll just mix them on the brush, because we don't need much.

And we'll come right up in here.

Maybe we'll put a little more blue.

I want that a little more to the blueish side.

See, you sort of test it, and if it's not exactly what you want, change it.

Because this is your world, and on this piece of canvas you can do anything that you want to do.

We'll bring it right down to the red and stop.

There we are.

See that red acts as a barrier between the yellow and the blue, and that way we don't end up with a bright green sky.

Sometimes those bright green skies have a tendency to bother you.

All right.

[laughing] That's the fun part of this.

Of course the camera crew here doesn't think so.

[chuckles] Now with a clean, dry brush, and be sure it's dry, you want to keep this as dry as possible, I want to just blend all this together starting in the light area and working outward.

There we are.

These are the kind of colors that just make you happy.

They really make your day better when you have all these beautiful little colors.

And you blend this till you can't tell where one color starts and the next color stops.

And when you're doing this at home, sort of step back and take a look-see, because it's very difficult if you're standing right up against it to tell if your colors are blended properly.

So stand back, get the old glass of ice tea and just relax for a second and look at it.

And if it needs more blending, then go back and blend it a little more.

I tell you what, let's have some more fun.

We'll get crazy today.

I'm going to take a little of the Bright Red.

A very small amount.

But we don't need much.

Just tap a little into the brush.

Just a very small amount.

Let's go right in here.

And let's put a nice, warm glow right here at the horizon.

Something maybe about like that.

Just a little pink.

A little pink.

And by tapping, we can give the indication maybe there's a little cloud-looking thing there.

Whatever, whatever.

And then blend it.

Good.

And that'll look like a little pink area right at the horizon when we're done.

Okay.

Let's get crazy today.

I'm going to make some lavender using some Phthalo Blue and Alizarin Crimson.

Proportionately, much, much more crimson than blue.

Much more crimson than blue.

All right.

Wipe off my knife.

Now it's very difficult to tell what color that is, because it's going to look black.

Put a little white out there.

And mix it.

And you can see what it's going to value down to.

Or what it's going to look like when you put it up on the canvas.

Great.

Today, let's use the old fan brush.

What the heck.

I'm going to take the fan brush and put just a small amount of color on it.

Because it's very dark we don't need a lot of color.

Just a little.

And let's go up in here, and maybe in our world there lives some happy little clouds that just float around all day.

Just take the corner of the brush and begin creating basic cloud shapes.

But don't just throw them in at random.

Make a basic shape when you do this.

There we are.

Something like that.

Maybe there's some little stringy ones right down here at the horizon.

Little stringy clouds.

There.

And then maybe over here there's one that comes drifting in.

Give him a friend here.

Just however many you want in your world.

Sort of look at it.

Make a big decision and decide where you think they should be.

Watch here.

Watch here.

I want to show you something.

Take your finger.

Look here.

Take a little white.

Let's have a sun up here.

Let's have a little sun.

I think it would really work nice in this particular painting.

And just blend it a little bit.

Let's have a little cloud that lives right here.

Right there.

Just a little floater.

There he is.

He floats right around the sun here.

Really, he has the view of a lifetime right here.

So he can see everything.

He's got the best light here.

There.

Okay, maybe, maybe he's got a friend that maybe it floats right around here.

I think everything needs a friend.

Even an old cloud, shoot.

Got to give him a friend, too.

Maybe this one comes right out.

It comes right across the sun.

But make up little stories about these little clouds and characters and whatever you have in your painting.

There.

Speaking of little characters, in this series several times I've showed you my little squirrels.

I want to show you another one.

I'm just going to make a few clouds here while you're looking at these little rascals.

But I think you'll really enjoy them.

They're some [chuckles] special people.

Here's one.

He was on my settee one day, and I had some magazines out.

And he had to sneak up and look at the magazines.

And there's a fox if you can see it on that "Florida Wildlife," and it sort of shook him up.

I think he recognized the picture of that fox and knew he was sort of a natural enemy.

But he did his little war dance and got out of there.

But when squirrels get excited it's easy to tell, because their little tails will just go crazy.

I mean they will do a dance.

And that's so cute.

There.

Isn't he something else?

And I have two males and two females.

Shoot, who knows, maybe pretty soon we'll have some little squirrels.

If they calm down enough.

There we are.

And we're still putting in some little clouds here while you're watching the little rascals.

All right.

Shoot, we just going cloud crazy here.

I'll tell you what.

Let's really get crazy.

Here's a big one that lives up here.

Maybe there's an old big one up here.

Still just using the corner of the fan brush.

We'll just let these old clouds float around the sky.

Clouds should look very free.

But you do need to do a basic cloud shape when you do this.

In classes sometimes, I see people just bang a shape up there, and then they don't understand why it didn't turn into a cloud.

[chuckles] You do have to do a basic shape.

And we'll just blend it a little bit.

I want these clouds to remain quite dark today.

So we're not going to do a whole bunch more to them other than blend them, soften the edges, and leave them alone.

There.

All right.

I live in Florida right outside of Orlando where Mickey Mouse's house is at.

And I'm not far from the ocean.

I go down and study the ocean.

Or that's the excuse I use.

Actually, I'm down there sort of playing and enjoying a few rays.

But I act like I'm studying it.

And watch how water works.

But if you have time to do that, or if you're close enough to an ocean to do it, it's a super way of learning how to make it all work and come together.

If you don't, you can get books, or now they have videotapes that you can sit and study.

You can see exactly how that water works, and it's a lot of fun.

A lot of fun.

There.

All right, now all we're going to do today is just blend that a little bit.

Just blend it.

See there?

That easy.

Now these little stringy ones, all you have to do is just blend over the top of them, and they work just fantastic.

They just sort of drop right in there.

All right.

And sometimes I like to play a little bit with clouds and maybe have a little projection in one that's... Maybe this little projection's coming out a little more.

So you can do that just by putting a little change of value in there.

All right.

Then we'll just blend that a little.

It'll help give that illusion that that sort of projecting out when it's all done.

And if you ever do one you don't like, just blend it into the other clouds.

It'll just go away.

There.

I just beat the brush to knock any excess paint off.

All right.

Okay, let's wash this old brush.

We wash our brushes with odorless thinner.

Shake them off.

[laughs] And just beat the devil out of them.

Okay, I have a little piece of masking tape put up across here so we have a nice, straight horizon line.

Now then.

Right along there, I'm going to take a little of my lavender color, because I didn't cover it.

Naturally, because there was masking tape there.

And just fill that in.

Now.

We're in business.

As I mentioned earlier, we had to make a major decision in this particular painting when we first started, so we know where the wave's going to be in this one.

Because I wanted a little bit of green in it.

So I'll take a little touch of the Titanium White.

We'll just use a fan brush.

And come right up in here.

Let's make our first decision.

Let's say our wave lives [Bob makes "sshht" sound] right there and over.

And maybe it'll just sort of float on out like that.

Okay?

That's really the only big major decision that we have to make at this point.

And we'll go back in here.

Start right at the horizon.

And I'm going to exaggerate.

I'm making little strokes like that.

So it'll look like little things are happening way back here.

Now the white's going to pick up that nice lavender color that's already on the canvas.

All these little things will happen.

As you get closer to you, leave more of these darker areas.

Don't kill them all.

This begins to work and it gets to be fun, and you have a tendency just to knock them all out.

Don't kill them all.

They're going to end up being your good friends here.

There we are.

Okay, I'm going to wipe some of the paint off that brush.

Now we can begin...

I better clean it.

Now we can begin...

I want to blend some of this back a little bit.

Just blend it back so it looks like there's little troughs between them and these ones that are right up close here.

There.

Okay, we'll come back and drop some highlights on those in a little bit, and that'll separate them.

Really make them nice.

There we go.

Now then.

And that gives us a background already.

Okay, now maybe our wave's going to turn right over like that.

So let's go in here.

We could use a Filbert for that.

It doesn't matter.

Filbert, fan, whatever.

Take the least little touch of the Cad Yellow with white.

Just Titanium White with the least little bit of the Cad Yellow in it.

Just enough to give it a tiny little yellowish hue.

And we can go up in here.

This is going to be the eye, or the transparency in our wave.

Whatever you want to call it.

Make a big decision and really get in there and scrub some of that color in.

Just scrub it in.

There.

And we'll sort of let it just sort of work back a little bit as light plays through there.

Now see, that's going to pick up that Phthalo Green and Phthalo Blue that we put in.

And beautiful things will happen.

Automatically.

Now we'll take a two-inch brush.

Be sure it's dry.

It's most important.

Take it and go right in here.

And it's going to look like the whole brush is moving.

It's not.

The hair stays in one place.

There, you can see it.

See how slow?

Only I'm going to do it quite rapidly.

But the brush is barely moving.

You just wind it up.

Mix it up.

Stir it.

And you could make this as smooth as silk.

Just absolutely as smooth as silk.

It's unbelievable the effects that you can create using these tools that are quite unorthodox.

But look at that.

See that glow beginning to appear?

There.

And it's so easy.

And you could do this with a one-inch brush if you wanted to.

Now we begin thinking about shape and form and how that old water is working in here.

There we are.

Already we're beginning to have some of the basic things in here that we need.

And maybe while we have that old brush going, here's our sun that's shining through here, and down underneath here, we maybe, we're going to have some light reflecting.

I'll take some of that same color, go underneath here, and just pull it straight down.

Straight down.

Like so.

And I know you're saying, "Bob, you really messed it up this time."

And you may be right.

We'll see.

Then go across.

Like that.

And it'll create that illusion of wetness and the sheen coming across where the light's reflecting across there.

See, already you can see how wet that is.

This is going to be a... We'll have some... Yeah, we'll have a beach up here.

And already we have wet sand laying up there.

Okay, I have several old fan brushes going here.

Let me grab another one.

I'll take a little white.

Now then, up in here, this is the fun part.

We have to make a big decision.

Maybe our wave's coming here and going [Bob makes "tchoo" sound] Got to make those [chuckles] little noises.

Grab it and pull it.

Just pull it.

There.

Just let that turn and crash.

Now if you pull this down too far...

Here, let me see if I can, I'll just do it.

Take a clean fan brush and you can grab it.

This one's okay, but I just want to show you how, because this happens.

You take a clean fan brush, grab it and pull it back up.

Can you see that?

I don't know if you can see it or not but...

There, you can pull it right back up.

And you can pull that darkness back into the light, or you can pull the light into the darkness.

Either way that you want to go.

Up to you.

That's a good little thing to know, because sometimes you get into a little problems where you've pulled too much light, and that'll save you.

Okay, let's take a little white and a little bit of that lavender color.

A little bit of the blue.

I want it to the blue side.

A little of that green, too.

Oh, that's pretty.

That's pretty.

Let's go up in here and let's throw this in to create the illusion of a nice shadow in our foam.

There it comes.

There it comes right on around.

Shoot, maybe it just crashes over there a little bit.

I don't know.

I don't know.

When you do your seascape you figure out where it crashes over and where the waves deteriorate to the point it's collapsing.

Let's see, while we have lavender on that old fan brush, let's have some fun.

[laughs] You know me.

I like to get crazy with these.

I like to get crazy.

Take a little of that lavender color.

Maybe way back here there's a little headland.

Pokes his head way out in here.

We can just put that on with a fan brush.

There.

Bumps.

There.

Okay, and we'll let it come right down there a little ways so it's not just setting right on the horizon.

It's setting a little bit down.

And maybe a little darker color while we have it going.

Maybe right in here there's a bigger one.

It's a little closer so it's darker.

And there's more detail in it, of course.

Shoot, who knows, maybe it goes way on up like that.

And this is still just that same lavender color.

A little bit more to the blue side now.

There we go.

And we can take a little bit of white.

A little of the Bright Red.

There we are.

Just mix them on the brush.

So we have the lavender, Bright Red, and a little white.

And we can go up in here and just by tapping, just tapping with a fan brush.

I don't want this to be too distinct yet.

As it gets closer, we're going to see more.

Right here, I just want to make some basic little shapes.

Make these little stones look like they're setting right out here.

But all you have to do is just tap with a fan brush and form your stones.

Form them.

Just don't tap, though.

Think about all the little cracks and stuff in that stone.

And with a clean brush, very gently, very gently.

Three hairs and some air you can grab that and make it look just like a little rock.

Be careful to pay attention to angles though when you're blending with that big brush.

Barely touch it.

Just whisper-like.

Now then, we'll take a little white on the old fan brush and maybe there's some little foam.

We could use a Filbert for that, too.

It would work just as well.

A little foam splashing right along in there.

I like to make this.

This is the fun part of making seascapes is this foam.

Just work it right around like that.

There it goes.

Maybe it comes around and around.

I don't know.

Something like that.

Maybe there's a little down there.

But that'll give you an idea of how easy that is.

Pull a little bit of that over so you can see something collapsing in the background back there.

See, there it goes.

[Bob makes "tchoo" sound] Now that one's crashing over also.

Back to my fan brush that has the lavender colors on it.

I'm going to add some Van Dyke Brown and Dark Sienna to that same lavender color, because things are getting closer to us now.

Maybe in our world, [Bob makes "tchoo" sound] we'll have a big stone that lives right there.

Big old stone.

Comes right down.

And we just fill that up, all you got to do.

Maybe, [Bob makes "tchoo" sound] part of it's in front of the crashing wave.

Okay, now.

I have several fan brushes going, so I don't have to spend all my time just washing them.

We'll take a little Titanium White, a little Dark Sienna.

Just throw it in there.

Maybe even a little of the Bright Red into it.

Not much.

Now then, once again, by just tapping, you can literally shape these stones.

Just tap.

Make all kinds of little things in there.

See, there's another stone.

Comes right down.

I'll take a nice, clean, dry brush.

Very lightly, very lightly touch it.

Pull.

Touch it and pull.

If you want to pull a little of that color down you can do that.

But you can literally shape and form these stones doing just like this.

Because stones sometimes are sort of hard to do when you first start.

Now then.

Back to our brush that has the white on it, and we can crash a little more of this right up here on these, on all these little doers.

Just let it go.

A little bit over in here.

Wherever you want them.

Okay, now we've got to start thinking about how this water's going to work in here.

All these little things going on.

A little foam.

But as it lays down over here, this gets flatter.

It just lays down.

Maybe sometimes there's another little doer right in here.

A little wave.

There we go.

Mm, let's have some fun.

Let's have some fun.

We'll take a little of that lavender and mix it with some Titanium White.

And maybe right in here, see, highlight that.

And shoot, let's put another one.

We'll be brave here.

We'll just lay this on by pushing the knife very firmly.

Very firmly.

And if you want to get really crazy, maybe there's another one.

Add a little of that Phthalo Blue to that.

Not much.

Oh yeah, that helps.

That helps.

Maybe there's another one way out over here somewhere.

There it goes.

And all you're doing is laying on a little layer of paint.

Then we'll take a clean fan brush and blend that back.

Just blend it back.

Grab it and blend it back.

Let it work.

There.

But you can make all kinds of beautiful little effects just like so.

With our liner brush, I'm going to take a little Van Dyke Brown.

Maybe right up here there's an old tree.

Poor old tree.

Maybe, maybe there's just some arms hanging out here.

It's just about had it.

Times are rough up here.

With the fan brush I want to take a little Sap Green, a little yellow.

And let's pop in a little grass down here around his foots.

We want a little grass in there.

And you can take your liner brush at home and put in all kinds of little details here.

See, there's a little line right around there.

But we're again putting in all kinds of little lines and foamy things.

A little yellow and white.

And you go back in here and begin highlighting all these little waves like that.

See?

[Bob makes "tchoo, tchoo, tchoo" sounds] There.

And with that, we about have a finished seascape.

And the old clock on the wall tells me it's about time to call it a day.

So I think we'll call that one finished.

Hope you've enjoyed this little seascape.

And from all of us here, I'd like to wish you happy painting and God bless, my friend.