The Best of the Joy of Painting with Bob Ross

[Music] Hello, I'm Bob Ross and I'd like to welcome you to the 17th Joy of Painting series.

First of all, let me thank you for inviting me back for another series of painting shows.

It's very special to me to be here with you.

And if this is your first time with us, allow me to extend a personal invitation for you to drag out your old brushes and your oil paints, and spend a relaxing half hour with us as we enjoy some of nature's masterpieces.

So, tell you what, on this series we're going to use some unorthodox brushes, great big old rascals, about a dozen colors and I'm going to show you some of the most fantastic things you've ever seen in the way of painting.

So come on up here I'm going to tell you what I've got started for today.

Today I thought we'd start this series with an oval.

So I've taken a piece of contact paper and just cut a little oval out of it.

And then we've covered this part of the canvas with a thin, even coat of liquid white.

And the liquid white is on here just to make the canvas wet and slick.

What we do here is a wet on wet technique so the first thing that we need to do is to make the canvas wet, and that's all that liquid white is for.

So we have it covered.

The biggest mistake made is applying too much liquid white, so just put a thin, even coat.

And I thought today, it's such a fantastic day, we'd just do a beautiful little painting that's nice and warm, soft and I think you'll enjoy it.

Let's start with the old big brush here.

This is a two inch brush.

We'll use a little bit of the yellow ochre, I'll be right back, I'll reach up here.

Get a touch of dark sienna.

So we have yellow ochre and dark sienna.

Just mix it right on the brush.

Shoot, no use working too hard.

Ok, let's go up here.

Now maybe today we'll have just a beautiful warm little scene with some trees and maybe a little sun.

So let's just start up here.

Just making little criss cross strokes, and begin placing in some color.

Dark sienna and yellow ochre, and that's all we're using at this point.

Now then.

Just like so.

And I'm going to go right back and get a touch more of that yellow ochre.

I want this center here to be a little bit brighter.

A little bit shinier, so we'll just put a little yellow ochre right in here and let it blend outward, outward, outward.

Just like so.

There we go.

And we've been running all the colors across the screen so you'll know exactly what we're using.

And if you're going to paint along with us, that way you can have your palette all set up and ready to go.

Now maybe, without cleaning the brush, I'll add just the least little touch of alizarin crimson.

We don't want much.

Just a very small amount.

And just tap it into the bristles.

That helps ensure a nice, even distribution of color all the way through the brush.

Now, maybe right up in here we'll just let a little bit of that shine through.

It's a very warm, beautiful painting.

There.

Mmm.

That's nice already.

There we go.

And right on around.

Now then, maybe, if you've painted with me before you know I'm an absolute fanatic for water.

I love water.

I think it's so beautiful.

So let's have a little water.

I'm going to take a little touch of cad yellow, cadmium yellow, just the least little amount, and mix it.

I want this to be a little brighter.

And if this is going to be our sun area right here, we'll have a little sun, I'm just going to pull down a little streak of color.

This is a very simple little painting.

A little yellow ochre.

Even if you've never painted before, this one you can do.

This one you can do without any problem.

A little dark sienna and we'll just pull that straight down.

There we are.

Okay.

A little dark sienna on this side.

So basically we have light in the center and it's getting darker toward the edges.

Maybe you want to make this light area a little stronger, so you take a little titanium white, decide where your lightest area's going to be and pull it straight down.

Now very lightly we're just going to go across this whole thing.

That's all there is to it.

Okay?

Now we said we was going to have a little sun in this painting, so, we will do that.

Now we can use, we'll just use our finger today.

Decide where the sun's going to be.

Maybe it lives right here, right up here.

And all we do, is just make a little circle.

There.

Okay now we can take our knife and very lightly, [Bob makes "zoop" sound] zip it off.

The value still remains in the canvas so now all you have to do is just very gently blend that a little and you have an instant sun.

And that yellow we put in, becomes sort of like a halo around it and it's very, very attractive.

There.

That's a super, effective, very easy little sky.

Now let's take a little bit of the dark sienna, a little dark sienna, I'll be right back, get a little yellow ochre, a little yellow ochre maybe a little bit of that alizarin crimson, just to warm it up.

There we are.

I'm going to get a touch more of the yellow ochre.

Ooh, that's nice.

Looks good enough to eat there.

Now then, I'm just going to pull the brush so I load both sides of it.

Both sides.

Let's go ahead up here.

Maybe there's some nice trees, and this is probably the simplest, easiest way I've ever found of making some very nice little trees.

Take the brush, touch, and just give a push.

See there?

Lookie there.

Now, turn it over, give it a little push and do the other side.

Just let the bristles work.

That easy.

Maybe he has a friend.

You know me, if you've painted with me before, I think everybody needs a friend.

Friends are the most valuable things in the world.

And even a little tree needs a friend.

There.

See, sometimes we avoid this big brush, put one right here, because it's so large.

but it'll do fantastic things and do them very easy for you.

Very easy.

And this is a lazy man's way of painting.

There.

Maybe we'll have another one there right here.

In your world you decide how many trees live here.

And all you have to do is just drop them in.

You need these trees out here so the birds have a place to sit.

There we go.

Maybe, maybe, maybe... yep, you're right.

There's another one.

And you decide, once again.

Painting is as individual as people are.

So, when you're doing a painting you look at it and you decide what makes you happy.

If it makes you happy then it's good.

Then it's good.

Now we're just going to tap the brush right into those same colors.

Just tap it, firmly.

I'm loading paint right into the corner.

Okay, just go right up here.

Same colors.

Let's begin putting an indication, just tapping downward very gently of little trees and bushes that live all back in here.

There.

You have to make some big decisions, where they live.

How many are they?

All kinds of things.

There's one, and we'll let them come right on over here.

We don't know where they go.

Shoot.

Maybe there's a big one here.

You can make big ones and little ones, and small ones, fat ones, skinny ones.

And these trees are just like people.

They're individuals, they each have personalities.

So, make them that way.

I'm going to take a little paint thinner on the liner brush.

We want this to be to be very, very thin.

Consistency of ink.

And the liner brush has long bristles, so turn the brush.

It loads it full.

Just turn it.

And maybe back in here, just here and there, we'll just put the indication of some little trunks and stuff.

Maybe even some of these trees, just here and there.

Don't over do.

Just wherever you want them.

Maybe there's an old tree.

There.

And a few sticks and twigs and all kinds of happy little things.

Now then, let's allow that to begin coming forward.

Let's mix, we'll take some phthalo blue and some bright red.

I'm just going to mix that up with a knife.

Like so, this will make sort of a lavender color.

A little white in it.

Maybe a little more white in it.

There.

Now you can mix this to the blue side or to the red side, depending on how much of the bright red that you put in, or the blue that you put in.

It's up to you.

Make a decision.

Alright.

That's beautiful color, just beautiful.

I like lavenders.

Okay, let me clean my knife off.

And we just wipe the knife on old paper towel.

Now then, I think we'll use a fan brush today.

And just load it full of color, just both sides back and forth like so.

Let's go right up in here.

Now you have to make some big decisions.

Maybe, and I'm just using the corner of the brush and just wiggling it.

Just wiggle it.

See?

That's all there is to it.

Just give it a little wiggle.

But you have to make decisions where these little things live.

Maybe there's a little bush that lives there, and another one here.

Give them names if it helps.

It's alright.

You know, people who paint have an artist's license, says you can do anything on this canvas that you want to do.

Anything.

And if you want to talk to your bushes that's alright.

If you want to give them names that's okay.

Because this is your world right here.

And there's no right or wrong.

As long as it makes you happy and it doesn't hurt anybody else then it's fantastic.

There we go.

See there?

And this is just using the corner of the brush and just wiggling it back and forth.

It's very similar to making foam on waves if you ever do seascapes with me.

Now maybe down here at the bottom we want to create the illusion of mist.

So for that we'll take a nice clean brush and I'm just going to tap the base of this.

Just the base.

I want to create a nice, soft, misty area at the bottom of these bushes.

Very calm, peaceful.

Very soft.

And the more you tap, the softer it will become.

There you are.

See?

Now the thing that gives paintings distance and depth are different plains or different layers in the painting.

So it's very important to have a lot of layers in here if you want to create that illusion.

So, now, this mist that you placed in here is extremely important.

It's your best friend, don't kill it.

Treat it good.

Treat it nice.

See?

See how that mist right there, though, separates those two entities?

There, it can be the same color but the mist is your separator.

As I say, that's your very good friend.

And like all good friends you treat it with respect and love, and you take care of it, and it'll do fantastic things for you.

There we are.

Okay.

And we're still just basically using nothing more than the corner of the brush.

Just the corner of the brush.

There.

Now.

Once again, I want to create that illusion of mist at the base so I take the big brush and just tap.

Just tap.

Like so.

All the way across.

There we go.

See how soft that becomes?

Just instantly.

And maybe here and there you want to put the indication of some little things that are standing up back in here.

Because you have bushes that are all different shapes and sizes.

Some are in front, some are in back.

Just use your imagination and let it go.

You know painting allows you to literally play strings on canvas.

And that's what we'll show you how to do.

There.

And you can do it.

You can do anything that you want to do.

Okay.

Very nice, I like that.

Now then.

We'll take, once again, paint thinner, put into the same color, we want this to be very thin.

Turn that brush, turn the brush.

And here and there we want a few little sticks and twigs and little trunks and things.

These little details make your painting special, it'll make it stand out.

There we go.

And it only takes a second to put some of these little rascals in there.

Okay.

Now maybe in our world, shoot who knows?

Maybe, maybe there's some land back there.

Let's take a little Van Dyke brown and a little bit of dark sienna, we'll just mix them together there.

Pull it out as flat as you can get it then cut across.

Get that small roll of paint, there you can see it good right on the edge of the knife.

Now then, with that roll of paint, hold it just like so and you can begin just making big decisions.

You decide where your land masses live in this.

See, all you gotta do is just sort of scrub it on.

Just scrub it on.

And maybe, it comes right under here, we don't know.

We don't know.

And if you've painted with me before you also know we don't make mistakes.

We have happy accidents, and we learn to work with those accidents.

And things that happen sometimes are more beautiful than things you really sit and planned.

So, tell you what, let's make a little reflection here.

I'm just going to take a large brush, take a little bit of that same lavender color.

Let's go right under here and touch and pull straight down.

It's important that we go straight down.

Straight down.

When I was a traditional painter, reflections were one of those things that were so beautiful but they drove me crazy.

And look how easy they are.

Pull it straight down, then come across.

That's all there is to it.

That's all there is to it.

And you have instant reflections.

Now then, maybe we have, tell you what, now that we have reflection in there let's bring this down.

Maybe it comes right down... there.

Like so.

We'll have a little peninsula of land coming right out there.

Now once again, when you're painting make big decisions.

Maybe you want your peninsula way down here, or up there, or not at all.

There's freedom on this canvas.

There's absolute and total freedom.

Here you can do anything that you want to do.

Anything.

A little bit more of the reflection.

Straight down.

It's important that you go straight down.

Sometimes a tendency to sort of go to the side, but it won't look right.

It'll make your water look like it's going to drip off the side.

Okay now then, I'm going to take another fan brush, and I have several of each brush going here so I don't have to spend all of my time just washing brushes.

It is fun.

But we want to do some other things.

I'm going to take a little bit of the yellow ochre, a little touch of the bright red.

Not much just a little bright red.

A little cad yellow.

Be right back, get a little touch of the dark sienna dull it down.

Okay, let's go right up in here.

Now then, maybe there's some little grassy things back here.

Don't let this color get to bright on us, though.

There we are.

Just some little things.

I'm just pushing upward with the fan brush.

Now, when you're doing this if you begin getting smiley faces just big faces with your fan brush, or smiley frowns, no that's not right [chuckles] you know what I mean it goes the other way, turn the fan brush and use more of the corner of it and it'll work right out for you.

There we are.

Now then, tell you what, maybe back here in our world there lives, there lives a happy little tree.

And I'll just take some of that same lavender color that we used and let's build us maybe there lives right there.

There's his trunk.

And all we're doing is just tapping.

Now we'll come back, use just the corner of the fan brush and let's put in a few leaves.

I want to leave some of his trunk showing.

I don't want it all to go away and leave me.

This is far away and we're looking mainly for a silhouette back here.

Just mainly a silhouette.

There.

Just enough so it stands out a little.

That's all we want.

Now then, and we'll dip a fan brush into a small amount of liquid white.

The liquid white only thins the paint, that's all it does.

And that's one of our golden rules in this technique.

A thin paint will stick to a thick paint.

Thin to thick.

Add the least little touch of phthalo blue to it.

Least little touch.

And maybe, maybe in our world maybe there's a little water lives right back in here.

And just floats along and has a good time.

Water's free.

But it's lazy.

Water's lazy.

It always goes to a recessed area, or a low area, otherwise it'll lay flat.

Keep these lines basically straight, basically straight.

Or it'll look like your water's going to run right out of your painting.

Get your floor all wet.

Okay.

Tell you what, let's do.

Now I put the water in because you do the thing that's farthest away first and then continually work forward.

Now then let's put some land over here on the other side.

So we'll go back to our brown, that's Van Dyke and dark sienna.

Just mix them together, pull across pull it out flat pull across and our little roll of paint.

There we are.

Now we have to make some big decisions.

Maybe our land lives, [Bob makes "bloop" sound], right there.

Gotta make those little noises or it don't work.

Maybe it comes right on up here, we don't know where it goes.

Wherever you want it to go, that's just right.

And, and comes right there.

And all we're doing here is just filling that in with color, just blocking it in.

You could put this in with a paint roller it doesn't matter.

Any old way you can get it on there.

There we are.

Now then, take our brush with a little lavender on it, come back, and we want a nice dark reflection under that.

Grab it, pull it straight down again.

Very lightly go across.

Very lightly.

Notice I'm going across only in this direction.

If you start out here and come across it'll leave a big straight line out here, which will, it will upset you.

[chuckles] You'll be unhappy with me.

Back to my fan brush with the yellows and a little touch of the bright red.

I'll load it with some color.

Let's go back in here.

Now then, we'll just pop in some little grassy areas that live right out here on this land.

And if you want to you can just wiggle in a little bush and shrub here and there.

Just make a decision.

Drop it in.

There.

Wherever, wherever you want it.

As I say, to me painting represents freedom.

On this canvas you can do anything that makes you happy.

Okay, maybe we'll make that like a little, little bank.

And sometimes it's nice to have just a little stone in here.

Just a happy little rock that lives there.

We'll take a little white, a little of the Van Dyke brown and we'll come back in here and we'll put a little highlight on him.

There.

Just a little.

Then we can just pull that.

And a little baby rock lives there right now.

Right there.

And he's our friend.

Put some grass right around him.

I tell you what, I tell you what, I tell you... sometimes you get excited, you see things when you're painting.

And when you're painting this method don't worry about drawing patterns or tracings, look at what's happening.

Let your imagination guide you.

Learn to compose as you paint.

You see things.

I see another peninsula here, so let's drop it in.

Don't be afraid of it.

Because you can do anything, and I know you can.

I know you can.

There we are.

Like so.

This would be a nice place to fish.

[chuckles] I love to fish but I'm not a very good fisherman.

Shoot I make other fisherman mad, I guess, Because I catch a fish and I'll put a band-aid on him, pat him on the tutu and put him back in the water, give him a little CPR if it's needed.

And let him go.

The next time maybe I can catch him again.

There.

I lived beside a little pond one time and I'd caught some of the fish so many times I think they had scars on their mouth They would just come on up and say, "Put it here."

Didn't even bother to bite the bait.

Maybe a little bit of grass right along in here.

But they literally got to where they would eat out of my hand.

And if you have, you have a little patience it's unreal what you can do with animals.

Unreal what you can do with them.

And they're very nice.

Now then let's go back to our brush that has the liquid white, titanium white, a little touch of the, little touch of the phthalo blue, don't need much.

Maybe the water's coming along here and all of a sudden just [Bob makes "zoop" sound], falls over.

We'll just make a happy little waterfall that lives right there.

Go, over, pull down.

Over, and down.

That's all there is to it.

Where it hits, we'll push with a corner, make a few little happy splashes.

Now this is a thin paint so you can work over top of this thicker paint without becoming a mud mixer.

Now if you stand and just keep rubbing it you will become a mud mi... but just work right over it.

But you need these thick and thin paints.

If you don't have that you're in trouble.

The paint that we use the dark colors is extremely firm, very dry.

And that's an absolute necessity.

Okay, shoot this is looking nice.

I'm having a good time today, and I hope you are.

Let's go back to some of our lavender on the old fan brush and maybe in our world there lives, right there, [Bob makes "doop, doop, doop" sounds] you know me, I like these old big trees.

There he is.

We're still looking, mainly, for silhouettes.

We're not looking for a lot of detail.

Maybe he's got a little friend.

Lives right there.

There we go.

Now let's take, we'll just use the corner of the brush.

Yeah.

Put the indication here and there of a few old limbs that are hanging.

There we go.

Just however many you want.

I don't want to lose all that background so we won't put too many.

I like that background, it's very soft and gentle.

Very quiet.

There.

My mother likes these kinds of paintings.

And maybe we'll dedicate this one to her.

She's my favorite lady.

She likes these little soft paintings.

There we go.

Now then, now then comes the fun.

Tell you what, let's bring the camera right up close here and I'm going to pull the contact paper off and let you see what we have.

This is the moment of truth.

Look at that.

Isn't that fantastic?

Now.

Shoot let's really have some fun.

We've got a minute or so left here.

So let's have some fun.

I'm going to take a bunch more of that bright red, and we'll put in some blue, and I'm going to reach up here and get some black.

I want this to be darker.

Midnight black.

Just sort of mix it all together.

Okay, and clean the knife off.

And grab the old fan brush.

I'm going to load a lot of color into the brush.

Really load it up.

A lot of color.

Now then, maybe in our world there lives a big tree.

Get brave, this is your bravery test.

And it comes right down there.

Like so.

Big strong tree.

There he is, right there.

Okay.

Now, I'm going to take the brush that has the light color on it, this is just white, and I'm going to come right along this edge and just tap it.

I want a little bit of light on this one.

It's a little bit closer, you'll see a little bit more detail.

Now then, go along the edge first and then begin just tapping and gently blending it over.

So it gets darker, darker, darker as it comes around the tree.

That'll give your tree the appearance and the feeling of roundness.

Now then, we go back to our dark color and here and there let's just put in just an indication of a nice limb here and there.

Now be careful because you'll cover up all your background.

I'm going to leave some big spaces here.

There we are.

I just want to show, just some little things in here some in there.

Alright.

Shoot, tell you what we'll take our liner brush a little bit of thin paint, and we'll put the indication of just a little limb.

There we are.

And I think we have about a finished painting.

Take a little paint thinner, go right into my bright red.

Thin this down like water and I'll sign this one.

I certainly hope you've enjoyed this painting.

It's very simple, it'll give you a lot of experience.

And from all of us here, I'd like to wish you happy painting, God bless, I look forward to seeing you next time.