The Best of the Joy of Painting with Bob Ross

[music] Hi, welcome back.

Certainly glad you could join us today, because it's a fantastic day here and I hope it is wherever you're at.

I'll tell you what, let's get right to it today and have them run all the colors across the screen that you need to paint along with us.

And they'll come across as usual in the same order as I have them on the palette, starting with Titanium White and working around.

But you load your palette however makes you happy.

Alright, let's see what we have up here today.

Today, I've got my standard old 18-by-24-inch canvas, but any size will work; we just use that size for the television cameras, and I've covered this whole area with black gesso, as you can see, and allowed that to dry completely.

On top of that, then I've taken a thin, thin coat of liquid clear, covered the entire canvas, and then we've taken Phthalo Blue and Alizarin Crimson and mixed it together and just made a little lavender color here.

And a little bit just right over the top of that liquid clear.

I used the clear because you can put a very small amount of paint then on top of the canvas.

If you didn't have it there, it would take a lot of paint, and when you hit it with white it's too much color.

We just wanted a little bit today.

I like these paintings because they work so easy and so well, and I like to do this back lighting.

So, let's start off and just have some fun.

We'll start with the old two-inch brush, take a little of the Titanium White, and just put a little on both sides of the bristles.

That's all we're looking for, something like that.

Now we can go up in here, and in my world, I think I'll have the light right behind this tree so that it comes out of both sides.

So we'll start right here.

And it doesn't matter if you get a little bit on this tree because we're going to come back and put some color back on top of it.

Make little X's, and then just start blending outward.

And automatically, automatically it's going to pick up that beautiful color that's on the canvas, and you'll get this glow.

It's one of the neatest, nicest effects that you've ever seen.

And if you're painting for people that, that are just going to watch you, put the color on the black first.

I'll get a little more white while I'm talking.

And don't let them see you put all this color on.

And all they see is you take a little white paint and start doing this, and it's like magic happens.

It will excite your friends or family or whoever's watching you do this, it will really excite them when they see all this happen.

But that easy.

You can make that beautiful back lighting.

Just something like so.

And you can do this as many times as you want to achieve a desired lightness or brightness.

It's up to you.

Just sort of stand back and take a look see, and decide if it's what you want.

You can always add a little more.

There we go.

Something like that.

Now, very gently we just go across and that takes out all of our little brush strokes, brings it all together.

But look at that glow happening behind the tree already.

Isn't that fantastic?

This black gesso is one of the neatest things that we've ever come up with.

I invented this several years back and I don't know why it hadn't been done many times before.

I'm going to put a little bit of glow right here.

There.

So, now we'll have a little glow coming out of the top there, too.

Just decided that'd be a good place to have some.

Alright.

Okay, now then.

Let's take, we'll just take that same old brush.

This is the color I put on the canvas, it's just Alizarin Crimson and Phthalo Blue.

And I'm going to tap the brush right into a little bit of that.

Just want a little paint right on the end.

And let's go up in here and begin making some little trees and bushes and all kinds of little things that live way back here in the distance.

We don't want a very dark color at this point.

It's too bright and too much light hitting things.

Just the corner of the brush.

Just tapping, just tapping.

There.

And just sort of put in some very basic little shapes.

Very basic little thing.

Let's go on the other side over here and give him a couple over here.

There he is.

Don't want this side left out.

It'll get upset.

[chuckles] We want everybody to be happy in our world.

So, we'll give him some little trees over here on this side.

There they are.

But, once again, all we're looking for here is very basic little shapes.

We're not looking for a lot of detail yet.

We'll work on that later.

Right now we're just putting in some little background shrubbery and trees.

This is one of those scenes like you're walking deep in the woods.

And you come upon some places like this when you're in the woods, where the light's shining through.

And they're gorgeous.

Absolutely beautiful.

Take a little paint thinner, liner brush, want to make some very thin color here, almost like ink.

Turn the brush, brings it to a nice sharp point.

Okay.

Now then let's go up in here, and maybe right in here lives a little tree trunk.

A little tree trunk.

There he is.

Put a few little arms on him.

There.

And, wherever you think they should be, but very light, very light.

Don't overdo.

There.

Just a few little things.

You decide where they should be and how many.

Strictly up to you, strictly up to you.

Let's put a few over here on the other side.

Just a few over here on the other side.

We don't want it left out again.

There it is, there it is.

Okay.

Maybe there's one right there, we don't know.

Don't know that we really care.

Just, wherever this should be.

There.

As we've mentioned before, that's what's so fantastic about this technique of painting.

It allows you to actually compose your painting as you're doing it, as you're doing it.

That way, you look at each painting and you see different things in it.

And we try not to teach you just to copy.

We really want to teach you how to do a technique, then [chuckles] turn you loose on the world.

There.

I'm going to go back in to...

I'm going to take a little more of that Titanium White, reach up here and get a touch of Alizarin Crimson.

Just a touch, and the least little touch of blue.

Not much yet, not much.

I want it to the pink side.

Tap a little color right on that brush.

See, you give it a little push.

That's what puts a little ridge of paint right on the edge of the bristles.

And we can go up here, and let's just begin highlighting some of this.

Back here.

In my mind, this would be very bright because a lot of sunlight's striking this, a lot of sunlight.

Don't want a great deal of detail back here either.

If you put too much detail, it'll ruin that illusion of distance.

There's a nice little bush.

There he is.

The little rascal lives right there.

A little more color.

Very nice.

Very soft and gentle.

There we go.

Alright.

Maybe right there is another one.

You make the decision, where you think they should live.

And wherever you think they should live, that's exactly where they should live.

There.

Okay maybe...

I'm going to add a little bit more blue to my color, not much, but just a little, and begin toning it down as it works back here.

A little cooler.

Blue will make it look like it's a little more in the shadow.

A little more in the shadow.

There they are.

See all those little doers?

They live right there in your brush.

And it's just the corner.

That's what makes all those little shapes, just the corner.

There.

Think about little individual branches and little individual shapes inside of each bush.

Take a little bit more color, maybe down in here there lives, yep, there's another one.

But begin working in layers.

These layers will create the illusion of depth in your painting.

Distance.

That's what we're looking for.

Alright, let's go on the other side.

Let's go over here on the other side.

Back to our... use a little Alizarin Crimson and white.

Make us a nice pinky color.

[chuckles] And then, then, then with that, same thing as we've done on the other side.

There.

This would be a good place for my little squirrel to live.

You know, speaking to my little squirrel, we showed him in a series or two back, and he was just a little tiny baby.

Won't you look at him now?

This rascal.

[chuckles] When I showed him to you the first time, he looked like a little drowned rat, but look how big he's gotten.

And he's the most fun.

And he lives in my house.

Believe it or not, the little devil sort of runs around loose about half the time.

And Annette and I, we just sort of let him run around when she's there with me writing the books, and et cetera.

We just let this little rascal run around and she even lets him run on her computer sometime.

Of course, we've had some little accidents on her computer, too.

We won't talk about those.

There.

But it's all fun.

I hope you enjoy seeing those little critters.

Take a little Bright Red and put it in there too.

Not much.

Very strong.

These little animals are a very important part of my life.

They just about my best friends.

There we go.

Tell you what, let's go back up here.

We'll start here.

You have to sort of decide where to go.

I'm putting a little more of the blue in and we'll start dropping this back so it gets darker and darker.

There.

Okay, maybe right in there, wherever you want them.

It's up to you.

But just think about all the little individual shapes and pop them in, just pop them in there.

Tell you what let's do, let's take another brush, I have several of them going, and let's begin working forward.

And as we come forward, each layer should get a little darker in value, a little bit darker as it comes forward, forward, forward.

And that way it will, once again, create that illusion of depth and distance in your painting.

So let's go right on back here to the same lavender color that we used to cover the back.

It's just Alizarin Crimson and a little Phthalo Blue.

And let's just go right in here and drop in some very basic little shapes.

Very basic, just to give a indication of some big limbs that are hanging out here.

We have the black gesso back in here, so we don't have to do much back here.

It's just where we want them to protrude over.

That's about all we have to worry about.

Okay, maybe there's a nice little bush that lives right there.

I don't know.

Not that it really matters.

Wherever you want them.

Let's put one on the other side, too.

Once again, we don't want that side left out.

Let me grab a little more paint.

Crimson, a little bit of blue, and just mix it on the brush, doesn't matter.

There we go.

See?

There's another little tree.

Just hangs right out over here.

It has a good time.

There.

Yeah, my little squirrel would have a ball in here though.

He could run and hide; he'd get in more trouble.

Of course, that little devil gets in more trouble now than you can believe.

There.

Okay.

Let's take, let's take, we'll use the old liner brush, the old liner brush, take a little Dark Sienna and put it in there.

Ooh, that's nice.

I want this color to be very thin, though.

Okay, let's go right up here.

Now then, maybe there's a little trunk that lives right in there.

I hope that shows up well enough.

Maybe I'll add a little white to that just to brighten it so you can see it a little bit better.

Yeah, that's better.

Now you can see it much better.

Much better.

Maybe, yeah you know me, I think everybody has to have a friend.

Put another one in there.

Let's put a few little arms on him.

Just a few, just a few; there they are.

There.

Okay.

Maybe there's one.

Some little bumps and sticks and twigs.

These little things make your painting interesting.

Even though we're going to put leaves on here and cover up a lot of them, a few of them will show through, and they really do help make your painting more interesting.

While we've got that color going, shoot, just take a little of the lavender that we had back here, put a few little sticks and stuff in there.

Okay.

There's one.

Don't want a lot, just a few.

Okay, maybe a couple showing over here on this side too.

Not many, not many.

Now, as we're moving back, we begin to see more color.

When light is this intense and strong, it almost washes color out, but as we move back from it, hopefully, hopefully, it'll get a little bit darker and we can begin to see color.

So, I'm going to take a little, I'm going to put a little Sap Green and a little bit of Yellow Ochre here.

I want to begin getting a little greenish flavor.

I'm right into that little lavender that I had on the palette.

But a light green color.

Okay.

Now, then.

Oh, that's nice, that's nice.

Now we begin making out a little bit of color here.

There it comes.

Think about shape and form.

I know you get tired of hearing that, but it's most important.

Anybody can just hit it random, but the thing that makes your painting special is that you pay attention to these little details.

And if you just get in the habit of doing it, it comes natural, it comes natural.

But just practice a little bit when you first start, then it gets easy.

Then you really do experience the joy.

There we go.

Maybe something like that.

I'm going to add a little bit more yellow, Cad Yellow.

Right there, make that one a little brighter.

I'm going to add a little Indian Yellow to that.

Boy, that'll make it really sparkle, because in my mind, the light's going to zing right through there and really make those little bushes sing in the sun.

It seems like there used to be a song about that years ago.

Now I'm dating myself.

I better hush.

There we are.

It sure was a pretty song, though.

Okay.

All kinds of little doers.

And maybe back in here, who knows?

Maybe, maybe right back in here, tell you what I will get a little more color here, maybe.

There we are.

Maybe there's a little land living right in here.

It's a nice soft little grassy area, this is one of them places where you take your shoes off and let your feet run naked through there.

That's nice.

Feels good on your bottom of your foots.

That's a very nice little Yellow Ochre and Indian Yellow, Cad Yellow, maybe even a little touch of the Bright Red here.

Oh, lookie there, see?

Look, look, look.

[chuckles] I've painted, 20, 30,000 paintings probably, at least, and I still get excited when I see this work.

It is so fantastic.

Because for so many years, I agonized over paintings.

Just agonized over them.

They weren't fun.

They really were not fun.

This is fun.

There.

Maybe there's a happy little bush that lives right there.

Just a little, cute little devil.

There we go.

I'm going to make that a little darker back in there, right around that area.

There, see?

Isn't that super?

Nice grassy area.

Let's go on the other side.

Don't want to leave this side out.

And this old tree right here, there it comes.

See here?

Here comes some nice leaves that are hanging right over.

And once in a while, maybe in your mind, maybe the sun really zings though, you can put a little white with your green, not much, not much.

A little bit of the white, Titanium White.

See there, and sparkle it like there's sun striking right across the top of those nice leaves there.

See there?

But don't overdo this.

If you overdo it, it'll lose its effectiveness.

And be, be stingy with this.

[chuckles] There.

And it gets darker and darker as it moves back out of the light.

Just add more of the Sap Green or put a little black with it, because black and yellow make a beautiful greenish color.

Okay, maybe a little Yellow Ochre.

Put another little bush that lives there.

Put a little Bright Red with that.

I like that Bright Red, oh, look at that.

Isn't that a firecracker?

Beautiful little bush.

That's where my little squirrel would go.

He's attracted to bright colors.

He'd go right there, right there.

I know that little devil.

[chuckles] I'm going to take a little bit more of the green.

Maybe over here on this side we'll have a little land area.

It's a little softer.

I don't want that left out, some little soft areas.

See them?

There they come.

Just sort of let them flow.

Think about the lay of the land, though.

It's most important.

Just keep in mind the way the land flows.

That's what we mean when we say lay of the land.

There.

Okay.

Just by changing the angle of the brush you can change the direction that the land flows.

There.

Little highlights here and there.

Make them sparkle.

Make them sparkle.

There.

Shoot, I tell you what, I think it's time we worked on this big old tree.

I've been saving it because it's the fun part of this whole painting.

Let's go up here; we'll use some Van Dyke Brown, some Dark Sienna, just together here.

Maybe even grab a little black to darken it up.

There.

Good.

Okay, let's go up in here.

Now then, we can just sort of follow our little outline we put in here with the black gesso.

But I want the edge of this tree here to be bumpy; I guess that's a good word.

Gnarly.

I want it to have some things happening in it.

I just don't want a old straight tree standing there.

This old tree is about to fall over.

It'll make a big crash out there in the forest.

There.

Got a little arm there.

There we go.

Just give that little tree some arms.

There we are, one over here, wherever you want them.

Totally and completely up to you.

Painting is as individual as people are.

So you paint the kind of world that you see, and that's the kind that's right.

Maybe there's an old bump, a big root there.

Now then, to highlight that, because I want this to stay quite dark, it's the contrast that keeps that tree and that light looking so good.

It's that dark contrast against the light area.

So, I don't want to kill this beautiful dark.

I'm going to take just a little white and just sort of let it bounce right along the edges.

Make it look like rough old bark in there.

Just let it bounce; don't overdo.

Once again, if you lose all that nice darkness, your tree's going to just sort of flow into the background.

And what makes it so beautiful is the fact that it sort of stands out here all by itself.

While I got that brush going, look here, look here.

Look at this.

I'm sorry, I get excited.

Watch, watch, right here.

See it?

Take a little of the white and brown and just start going like so.

Look at that.

And we can make a happy little path maybe right down by this big old tree.

Maybe it just comes right on down in there somewhere.

Shoot, I'll tell you what, let me grab another fan brush.

I know what.

As you paint, you see things, and as you see them, don't fight them, let them happen.

Natural things seem to happen in paintings.

A lot of times people say how in the world do you keep developing all these paintings?

Because there's nearly 270 shows when we get finished here.

A lot of times, I just take a canvas and start painting on it and sort of step back and look at it and stare at it.

And I know that sounds sort of silly, but, but by staring at it, you can find all kinds of things.

Just going to bring that old tree right down into a little bit of grass right down here at the path.

Shoot.

Maybe right here.

Maybe there's a little more right in there.

Wherever you think there should be some little grass, but this is how you can help form the indication of big old gnarly roots and stuff that's growing out of the bottom of this tree.

Putting little patches of grass.

Oh, I see something.

We got a minute left here.

I'm going to get crazy.

Take a little liquid white, mix it with the Titanium White, don't go away, I'll be right back.

I'm going to reach up here and get the least little touch of Phthalo Blue.

Okay, let's go back up here.

[chuckles] You know me.

Watch right here what happens.

Maybe in our world, [Bob makes "ssssplum" sound] yep.

Watch that little waterfall; lives right along in there.

Here it comes.

[Bob makes "bloop" sound] Oh, it fell over again.

Maybe there's a happy little stone right there.

Look at that, look at that.

See it?

See it?

Isn't that exciting that that happens like that?

And you can do this.

There are no secrets here that we don't give you.

Look at that.

And you never know.

Lookie there, there's another little place that fell over.

But see how easy you can make all these little things.

And it's picking up that color that's underneath, and these things just happen for you.

All these beautiful colors.

Let's have some fun.

I'm going to take just liquid white and to reach up here and get some Dark Sienna, just mix it in here.

We're making a very, very thin paint.

Very thin.

Okay.

Let me wipe the knife.

Okay, now I'm going to take, we'll use the old filbert brush.

I'm going to go right through the Van Dyke Brown, a little Dark Sienna, just mix them together.

Then I'm going to go through one side.

We're going to go right through that light color.

So you got light on one side, dark on the other.

Now, watch, watch.

It needs something to contain this waterfall.

There.

Look a here, look a here.

Here, we're just going to put all kinds of little stones and rocks.

That quick.

That quick.

And you put as many or as few as you want all along the edge here.

In a single stroke, though, you could make both the dark and the light side of the rocks.

Let's do some on the other side now.

Right there.

Look at all them little rascals.

And they live out here in the water a little bit, too.

Wherever you want them.

Maybe there's one right there, some up here.

All over the place.

There we go.

But see, now we have something to sort of hold that water in so it doesn't get away and run out of the painting.

[chuckles] Because it will, it'll run all over the painting, get your floor wet.

Let's take a little black, a little Sap Green, mix it together on this big brush.

Shoot, we've got to do something up here in this old big tree.

Let's put some nice limbs that hang over on this tree.

There.

See, there he comes.

Hangs right over the top of these.

Beautiful old tree.

Just using some black and Sap Green.

Now, we'll use the same old brush.

I want a dark green color, though, a little bit on the bristles, and we go up in here and begin picking out some little individuals.

But I want this to stay very dark, very dark.

Don't want it to get too light.

This is, this is the grandpa tree up here.

There.

There he is.

Okay, a little bit right in there.

Mm.

Okay.

But think about form and shape, even in this big old tree.

Don't just hit at random.

I know sometimes it looks like we're just throwing this up here, but try to make it look like there's things hanging all around it, really bring it all together.

A few little things right there.

Shoot, we about have a finished painting, what do you think?

I think we're going to call that one done.

Hope you enjoyed it.

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