The Best of the Joy of Painting with Bob Ross

Hi, welcome back. Certainly glad to see you today. Today is the last show of the 30th series, so I thought today we'd do something that's just a lot of fun. Let's start out and have them run all the colors across the screen that you'll need to paint along with us. While they're doing that, let me show you what I've got up here today. Have my standard oak canvas up here today, but I've taken a little bit of black gesso and a natural sponge. I use a natural sponge because it has more design to it than a man-made sponge. And I've just taken and tapped black gesso on the bottom part, like so. We've allowed that to dry completely. Then I went back and covered the entire canvas with liquid clear. On top of the clear on the bottom part only, only on the bottom, the dark part, I've covered that with a very thin mixture of Sap green, Prussian blue, and a little Van Dyke brown. And we just put a thin coat of that over the dark area, other than that, we're ready to go. Let's start with a little two-inch brush today, and go run into a small amount of the Phthalo Blue. I like Phthalo Blue. It is a very warm, nice blue. Okay, let's go up in here. Maybe in our world here, let's just dance in the indication of a little sky here. We don't care. We just sort of dance it in, let it go. Something about like that. Wherever, wherever. But I'm using little X's, little crisscross strokes. Something about like that. And that's all we're looking for, and I've intentionally left some light areas in here. Just leave 'em in. Don't just make your sky one ol' dead color. Let it have some action in it. But you can always go back, pick up a little Titanium White, as I just did, and just paint these in if you want to. But I like to have some little light areas in the sky, makes it a little more interesting. There we are. Something about like that, and that's really all I'm looking for today. And that's gonna be our sky. Alright, go across just to take out the little brushstrokes, bring everything together. Shoot, we're in business. And that easy, we have a little sky. Let's take... We'll use a little Prussian blue, some Sap green, maybe a little black in it. Some brown to dull it. Now, take a little white and put in there and we'll find out what color we have. Too bright, put a little more brown in it. We just use brown to sort of dull it. Maybe a little dark sienna, that's what I'm looking for. Just sort of play around til you find a color that you like. There, now I'll just use that same ol' brush, it's working pretty good. Tap a little color into it, like this. In our world, maybe there's a little... Maybe there's a big mountain lives right here. There, it just comes right down. (swooshing sounds) I don't know, wherever it wants to go. But little trees and things are growing on this mountain. Maybe, comes down right over in here, too. You decide. Just make a decision, drop it in. Just drop it in. Now I've got several brushes going, so I don't have to spend all my time just washing brushes. I'm gonna take a clean, dry two-inch brush and tap the base of that, severely. Really getting in there and tapping it. I want to create the illusion of mist. Right there. See how misty that looks already? Looks like little trees growing right up the side of the hill, alright. Now going back to the same brush, same color. Same ol' color. And, maybe... Maybe we'll put another little doo doo right there. You can have as many or as few as you want in your world. Just drop 'em in. But once again, get the clean brush, and I want to create that illusion of mist down at the base of this, too. And already, you see how that mist separates? That's your separator. That's what keeps them apart. You need that little area in there, becomes a very good friend. You can even tap a little Titanium white on your brush if you want to increase that. And just tap it in, it look like little mist is just floating around down in- (gasps) Nice, I get excited. I've probably painted 20, 30 thousand paintings in my life, and I still get excited when I see it work. And it does work. Alright, clean off a little spot to work. Let's see, maybe today, let's get crazy. Prussian blue, Midnight black, some browns, some crimson, and there's some Sap green. Most of your dark colors, all your dark colors, it doesn't matter. There, wipe off the knife. Let's grab... We'll use a number three fan brush. Just mix some color on the brush, load both sides full of color. Something about like that. Maybe in our world, back in here lives a little tree. Right there, see? There he is. These little trees live right in your fan brush, just sort of shake them out, there. Start with just a corner of the brush, don't go straight in, though. I'll show you one more time. Get another one right there. Turn the brush way around and use just the corner. And basically, we're using that same corner all the way down the tree, we're just applying more pressure to bend it. Get tough with it. And you can just go back, scrape in indication of some little trunks. And you can turn a few trees into a lot of trees, just by doing that. And maybe, touch right there and lift up, just wanna lift up. I know that's hard to see, but we'll see it in a second. Looks like little things that are happening way up in there. Now, I just take that same brush, wipe off the excess, and I'll go right into the Cad yellow. The color that's on there mixed with the yellow will make a gorgeous green color. We just load both sides, like that. And we can come back, put a few highlights on our little trees, and that way they'll stand out more. There they go. (swooshing sounds) And maybe in here, just give it a little upward push. Look like little grassy areas that are growing around the foot of this tree. Something like so. Let's have some fun today. Shoot, let's get crazy already. I'll take some black, some brown mixed together. I'll be right back, I'm going over here and get some paint thinner in this. I want to make this very thin. So I'm just adding paint thinner, just dipping into my washer bucket there, put a little paint thinner on the palette. Black and brown is all it is. Okay, now I'm gonna take some white. A little bit of white, brown, little black, making the same color only lighter, and I will also thin it down with paint thinner. So we have two piles of thin paint. Dark and light. Something like that. Now then. Let's take the filbert brush. Make sure it's clean. I'd like to paint some rocks, so let's do it by going through the dark, both sides. Then I'll take one side only through the light. So I have light on one side, dark on the other. And up in here... There lives a whole bunch of little happy rocks right up here, that easy. That easy. You can put rocks wherever you want them, and you can do it in a single stroke. Ready to get crazy? I'm a take a little, little bit of liquid clear and go into Titanium white, I want to thin the color. Get a little Phthalo blue in there, too. But this color is thinner, I put liquid clear with it. And it's time to have some fun. We going to do... Maybe there's a little bit of water just running along right here underneath that, just having a good time. It's a wonderful day. Just flowing along, singing a little song And then, all of a sudden somebody pulled the stopper out. Oh my gosh. Water just fell down. There, see? That easy, though. You can create the illusion of a beautiful little waterfall. Isn't that fantastic? There now, let's take our little... I'm gonna use the little blender brush, it's very soft. And we'll create the illusion of some mist down at the base of this. Little blender brush, I'm tapping into a little touch of Titanium white. Very soft, though. Very gentle brush. It'll just create the misty illusion that easy. Very soft. Now, let's go back to... We'll just use that little filbert. Same thing, and we'll put dark and light on it. We need something here. We need to contain this water so it doesn't get away. So we'll just start here, and just decide. Maybe there's a big ol' rock that lives there. And we'll let it disappear right down into the mist. There, that easy. And in our world maybe... Yeah, big ol' rock lives right there. He's got the best view of all. And we'll have something over here just to contain it. You just need something to contain your water, so it doesn't get away. Alright, maybe. You just put these ol' rocks and stones wherever you think they should live. Little dark color right in there. Then you turn the brush over and just put a little highlight on, it don't need a lot. Do not need a lot. Something about like that. Okay, let me find... We'll use a fan brush. We have some dark color mixed up here. Load the brush full of the dark color. It's time to really get crazy here and have some fun. Let's go up here and make some big decisions in our world. You ready? This is your bravery test already. Right there. Big tree goes all the way off the canvas. We use the dark first, just so we have something to put our light on, it's the only reason it's there. There we go. Just make a basic tree shape here. Big tree, phew. He lives right here right next to the waterfall. What a view. He would have it made. I'm gonna add a little paint thinner on my brush just to make this flow over this other paint a little easier, and put one right in there, too. We will have a whole forest today. There he comes. Big ol' tree lives there. And maybe we can see a little one that's hiding back in there somewhere. Just a little quiet tree. He didn't get much attention. There's one, there's one. And down here where the black gesso is, and we have color on top of the black gesso, it doesn't much matter. The gesso does the work for us. This black gesso is great. It makes painting so much easier when you're doing areas that have a lot of dark in them. I don't know why somebody didn't come up with that years ago. It's logical. I want one more tree. I like a lot of trees. He lives right there. But once again, you don't have to mess with the bottom at all, you don't even know. And if you do, don't tell nobody. Shh, secret. Here's one here. See all the stuff here with the black gesso? I'm going to leave some of that showing through. It'll look like background material, trees and bushes that are growing far away, and you did basically nothing. It'll drive people crazy trying to figure out how you got all the detail in your painting. Shh, it's our secret, don't tell 'em. Just paint 'em a painting and give it to 'em. That's better. There we are. That's one thing I hear everyday from people all over the country. Is that these paintings make some of the most fantastic gifts, and that friends and relatives appreciate them so much more then something they went out and just bought and handed them. This is something that you created with your own hand, that came out of your imagination. It's special. It is special that you care enough about someone to do a painting for 'em. And it may be about as close to immortality as any of us are gonna ever come. 'Cause we know that paintings last.. If you take care of them, shoot they can last hundreds of years. I'm a tell you what, I'll go back to the same brush. Put some highlights on them rascals. Just that same color, we're going to the yellow ochre, Cad yellow. Make a nice green color. Let's go up in here. Now we can come back, and we can begin highlighting some of these rascals. Then they'll stand out a little better. You have to make big decisions, though. Where do they live? I want it to go right down here and disappear in the mist. Disappearing tree. Here it comes, there's one. You decide. You decide where they are. Disappear, disappear. Darker, darker, darker down in here. Darker, darker. This little tree over here, don't wanna leave left out. Something like so. This one here. Just let it go. Don't want this one to feel neglected, so we'll put something on him, too. Darker, darker, darker as it works it's way down. And we go to the other side. And put a few over here. We don't want any jealousy between trees. So we'll take care of all these little rascals. Take care of them all. My little squirrel would like to live out here with all these trees. There we go. Hope you've enjoyed in this series, seeing all of our little animals, we've shown Pea Pod Jr. several times. We even had a little flying squirrel. Had one bird. I really do like these little animals, they're so special to me and I hope you enjoy sharing 'em with me. See, down here we sort of just let it go. Maybe we can't even determine which tree belongs to which. Doesn't matter. Alright, now then let's get crazy. Back to my little blender brush. I want to create the illusion that this waterfall is crashing over here and it's making a lot of mist, and it's floating up way up here and amongst all these trees. This brush is soft enough that you can literally paint right over the top of paint without destroying your mixing. That's why we came out with the little blender brush, it really does work great. Look at there, just sort of lay that mist right in between those. Mm, I get excited when I see that. I used to work myself to death just trying to create effects like this. And now they're so easy. So easy. I think this style of painting has opened painting to every person who's ever wanted to put a dream on canvas. Because everybody can do this. You don't have to go to school half your life to paint like this, you can do it. All you got to do is practice a little and just believe in yourself. I know you can do it. If i know, you certainly do. But, look at that mist, see it just sort of blowing up there between the trees. I like that. I do like that. Now, let me find my little fan brush, it's got the liquid clear, a little Phthalo blue and white on it. And maybe back out here through the mist, just some little water sneaking back out. (Breathes out) Here it comes, here it comes. It's just wandering around. Gonna be a rock there, let's do it. Take some Van Dyke brown, midnight black, little dark sienna in it. There he is. I know it's hard to see, but I'll put some highlight on him, make him stand out a little better. Little brown and white, and here we go. Just a little highlight on that rascal. Just enough to make him stand out. Don't want it to get too bright, I want this to be pretty dark down in here. But we know there's a happy little rock down in there. Alright, something about like that. I mentioned at the beginning of this show, this is the last show of the 30th Joy of Painting series. It's almost unbelievable to me. That in the past ten years, we've done basically four hundred Joy of Painting shows. And it has become the most popular art show in the history of television, and it's your fault. It is absolutely your fault. You have invited us into your homes, you've made us feel like part of your family, and I appreciate that, more than you'll ever know. So in case we don't have time, I'd like to say thank you. Thank you very much for sharing the joy of painting with all of us here. There we are, we're just making a little water that just, maybe it'll wander off over here. About like that. I really like these little waterfall things. As you make rocks under the water, you can just make as many as you want and have them go anywhere that you want them to go. Up to you. On this piece of canvas, you can literally do anything that you want to do. Take some black, Van Dyke brown, I'm gonna have a cliff, big ol' rock lives right here. Big ol' rock. Big rock. There he is. Something about like so. Least little touch with the brown and white, just enough that you can see it a little bit. Don't overdo it. Just a little bit on the edge. Now let's take some of that nice dark color that we had just to cover up some of this mist. I'm gonna have a little- Maybe there's a little bush lives up here with the tree. It's getting bigger. My bush became a tree. Bushes do that sometimes, they just keep growing til they become trees and that's okay. Let's take a little bit of that same color, a little the yellows, just mix them together. Like so. Give a little tap, a little push. Get a little ridge of paint, lives out here on the paintbrush. You can do this with a one-inch brush or with a two-inch brush, it's up to you. Thought today we'd just use the two-inch 'cause it's what we got going so we just keep using it. There we go, just load a little more color on there. If you have trouble making this stick, add a little tiny bit of paint thinner, small amount of paint thinner, to your brush then go through the paint. The paint thinner will thin your brush. Thin your brush. Thin your paint. (laughs) Old age is setting in here. It'll thin the paint just enough that it'll go right on top of there without any problem. There we are. All kinds of little grassy things that live in there. Maybe it comes right on down in here. Wherever, wherever. There we go. But you can just make layer after layer after layer of these. As many, or as few, as you desire in your world. Alright. Something about like that. We just sort of let that wander off into nowhere. We don't care, just don't care. Here's a few that hang over the edge. They don't just grow on the top, some of them hang over. Big ol' mossy things, they hang over there and have a good time. Going back to my little filbert brush, dark on one side, light on the other. Try that, this works great. Dark, go through the light. Now you have light on one side, you can see it good, and dark on the other. It's one of the neatest ways I've ever come up with of making a lot of little stones very easy. You just put 'em wherever you want 'em. And in one stroke, you can make both sides of the stone. Maybe there's one lives out here in the water, jumped in when he was just a little one. When he was just a little guy. Maybe his mother wasn't watching him, he jumped in the water and he's lived there ever since. Few little splashes right around the bottom here. Got to cover up his foot or he won't look right. Just have the water work right around that little rascal. Now it sets in the water, and the water's going (swooshing sounds) This is a super place to come and fish for trout, I know there's one that lives right in here. Big ol' trout. There. Add a little watery fall there. You can get carried away making these things and just get a little bit crazy, but that's okay. In your world, you make as many, or as few, as you want. Once again, it's a very individual thing. Little more of the green on the brush. Notice that little ridge, I keep pointing it out. Give it a little push and that will load the paint right on there for you, in the right way. And then you go up here, use just the corner of the brush, tap in some little bushies that live right there at his foots. I think we're about finished. I'm gonna find my little script liner brush, and I think I'll sign this painting. I really hope you've enjoyed this painting and this entire series with us. We look forward to seeing you again in the very near future. And once again, if you have a minute, let the station know that you like this program. And maybe we'll be with you for many, many more years. Until next time, on behalf of all the personnel here, my partners Walt and Annette Kowalski, I'd like to wish you happy painting. God bless, my friend. (upbeat banjo music)