The Best of the Joy of Painting with Bob Ross
Dimensions
Season 35 Episode 3533 | 27m 34sVideo has Closed Captions
This landscape painting with mountains in the background, plentiful fir trees and a lake
This landscape painting with mountains in the background, plentiful fir trees and a lake
Presented by Blue Ridge PBS
The Best of the Joy of Painting with Bob Ross
Dimensions
Season 35 Episode 3533 | 27m 34sVideo has Closed Captions
This landscape painting with mountains in the background, plentiful fir trees and a lake
How to Watch The Best of the Joy of Painting with Bob Ross
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship- Hey welcome back.
Certainly glad you could join us today.
It's a fantastic day here and I hope it is wherever you are.
Tell you what let's get right on it today.
Let's start out and run all the colors across the screen that you need to paint along with us.
While they're doing that let me tell you what I've got done up here already.
I thought today we'd do the little opening that you see.
The painting that the little painter man is wiping off with a big brush and I want to show you how that one was made.
So I've taken just a plain old 18 by 24 inch canvas and I've picked up some masking tape.
It was laying around the studio here and I've just put one square here and one square there of just masking tape, that's all it is and I've covered the whole canvas with a thin even coat of the liquid white.
So it's all ready to go so let's just have a good time.
Let's start out today with a small amount of yellow ochre.
Very, very small amount on the two inch brush and this won't be an exact duplicate of what you see on the opening but it's close enough you'll see exactly how it was made and then you can do your own at home, but just paint right over the masking tape.
Just like it wasn't even there.
Just like so.
You had a little bit of yellow up there in the sky.
There.
About like that, that's all we're looking for and this is just plain yellow ochre, but it's blending with the liquid white that's already on the canvas and all these fantastic hues happen automatically, automatically.
Okay.
Tell you what, I'm gonna grab another brush, I have several of them so I don't have to spend all my time washing brushes and go right into a small amount of the midnight black, don't need much, just a little, just a little.
Let's go back up here now.
Now over here we'll just take that black and we'll just begin on the other side of the sky.
Now once again this also is gonna mix with the liquid white and the black of course is gonna become grey.
So we have a grey sky with a little bit of yellow in it and that's all that's in that sky that you see in the opening.
I like that opening that little painter man is so cute.
That was the idea of a special friend that works here at the station, Jerry Morton.
He put that thing together for us.
He's very talented and I thank him for doing that.
There.
Okay, just blend these together so you can't tell where one color stops and the next color starts.
That's all we're looking for and then very lightly, very lightly go across the entire canvas and that just removes the brush strokes.
Maybe blend a little more right there.
Okay great.
Something like so.
Now then, okay.
Let me wash the old brush here and as you know we wash our brushes with odorless thinner.
Shake of the excess.
Hm, just beat the devil out of it.
Oh I've got to show you something here.
I have to show you this.
A gentleman made this for me.
This is a cane that he carved and it is unreal, but he's actually put an image of old Bob on the end of it here and this was done by Mike Weaver.
He's one of our certified instructors in Missouri but as you can see he's talented in many ways but that's really fantastic cane, isn't it?
I think he's trying to tell me something.
Okay.
Let's keep going here.
We'll take a little of the black.
Put a little mountain in here, little black, little touch of, little touch of phthalo blue in there.
Maybe even a little alizarin crimson.
Pull it out very flat, cut across, get our little roll of paint.
Now these little squares we're going to play some games here with different planes.
So I'm going to have a mountain that projects above this right here and comes down.
Something like so, but I'm going to stop it right here at this piece of tape.
There, we'll let that come right on down like so, here's another peak right here.
Just wherever you think a little peak should live.
That's exactly where it should be.
Right on down and we'll stop it right there at that piece of tape.
Okay a little color right under there.
Now we can take a clean dry two inch brush, and just grab that and pull it just like we normally do to make a mountain.
There, but I want to be careful not to let that color go past the tape.
There.
If you like this painting you can certainly do it without the tape and it's still a beautiful painting.
Or you could make your own designs.
These designs are very interesting and people like them.
Try them.
It's very simple, you can do it with tape or contact paper.
Just any old thing that'll stick to the canvas.
Mm-hmm.
Now let's just take some titanium white.
We'll pull it out very flat, cut across, get our little roll of paint again.
Always have that little roll of paint.
Now we can go up in here and just start laying on some highlights right on this mountain.
Barely, barely touching.
Barely touching.
Just graze the canvas.
As I've mentioned before, when I was teaching my son Steve to paint, I used to tell him just to pretend that he was a whisperer just floating right across the mountain.
It's that light.
It's that delicate of a touch.
You oughta see what kind of mountains he's painting today.
Well you might of saw him on some of the previous shows.
Does some fantastic mountains.
He does better mountains than I do.
Don't tell him I said that.
Let's take little white, a little bit of phthalo blue.
Mix together.
and we use that for shadow color.
Okay, I just take little edge.
Let him go up in here and maybe I'll just sort of pull downward a little bit.
Make the indication of some little ridges back here.
Sometimes it's fun to play little games in your mountains.
Then we can come back here.
Just let all these little things happen.
Little touch up in here.
Just so we can see a little.
Now we know there's tape there.
Nothing's gonna show so we don't care.
We'll just bring that right across.
There and wherever we need a shadow then we can just lay it in.
Little touch right in there.
We'll push that little rascal right back.
That easy.
That easy.
On this canvas you have unlimited power.
Can do anything here.
You can change your world.
Anything.
Little white we just play some games back and forth.
Let that just sort of float in there.
Wherever.
Now we take a clean (beating brush) and very dry two inch brush.
That's what all that beating was I was just making sure it was dry, and then very gently lift upward.
That'll help create that illusion of mist down at the base of the mountain.
Over here.
This direction and lift upward.
Sometimes you can grab just a little bit of that and pull it.
Looks like a little light has spilled over.
It's quite pretty.
There.
(brushing) Okay.
Now then we're ready to start putting some little footie hills in.
So for that, take we'll just use that same old mountain color.
Same old mountain color with a little be right back.
A little bit of white in it.
Just wanna lighten it up, but it's the same basic color.
There.
Let's go ahead up here.
Very simple little foothill.
We just have it come right on down, down, down, down.
Maybe, maybe right along there.
All we're doing is tapping with a corner.
Now but watch, come back over this way.
Watch right here.
See I'm gonna let this go into this plane.
Notice the mountain stops here, but this one is gonna come through this plane and on over.
This about as close to an abstract painting as I've ever done on television.
'Course I've made some mistakes at home and we call those abstracts but this is the first one we've done intentionally.
I normally don't do paintings that I have to explain.
There.
Okay, now let's have a little water down here while we have this color on here.
We can just come right in here.
Put in the indication of a little bit of water floating around.
Something like so.
(brushing) There, and this is just basic old mountain color.
(brushing) Okay, a little bit on the other side over here.
I'm gonna keep right in here.
I'm gonna keep it inside of this border.
(brushing) There, and maybe down here we'll let it slip out.
Something like that, but just play games with different planes in your painting and you'll be surprised at what you can create.
You will absolutely be amazed.
Now then, same color.
We'll pull a little of that straight down.
Straight down, and that'll end up being our reflections under that little foothill back there.
Gently across, that easy.
Instant reflections, that's sneaky isn't it?
There, a little bit of the liquid white.
Pull it out as flat as you can get it and then take a knife and just cut across.
That's all there is to it.
Then go up here and act just like you're trying to cut a hole right through the canvas and this old canvas is tough, you're not gonna hurt it.
Not gonna hurt it, I don't think.
If you get out the butcher knife in your kitchen you certainly can, but this knife is dull, you're not gonna hurt it and right on over into here too.
We want it to be all the way over.
Okay.
Now gonna mix up a little more color here.
We'll use black.
Some phthalo blue, maybe I'll put a little Prussian blue in there too.
I'm gonna begin darkening this blue down.
Put a little alizarin crimson in there.
Something like so.
Least little touch of sap green.
Alright.
Okay let me wipe the old knife.
Now then, shoot let's get crazy.
I'm gonna use the one inch brush today.
Fan brush should work just as well but since I have it let's use it and let's go in here.
Now this one stopped at that plane.
Let's have this group of little distant trees.
They're bigger, closer to us.
I remember they come right down something like so and we'll have these work their way.
Whew, there they go.
Right on up and right off the canvas.
So now each plane in the painting, each layer of the painting has stopped at a different point within this tape and that's one of the things that make this painting so interesting when people look at it and I guarantee if you paint this one, people will look at it.
There, pull that down a little.
Now I wanna create mist right at the base.
All you have to do is just tap.
Tap it, tap it, tap it all the way across and lift upward.
Upward, upward and that'll create the illusion of mist.
Now then, let's take, I'm gonna add to that same color we just had, some brown.
Little bit of brown.
Little bit more of the black.
So it's a very dark color.
Okay tap a little of that in there.
Now I wanna have some land areas here.
I think the one that you see in that opening has land areas that come right out like that.
So we put some dark in only so our light will show.
You have to have dark in order to show light.
It's just like in life.
If you don't have a little sadness in your life, you don't know when the happy times come.
There.
You know, while I'm doing this, this is very repetitious, I'm just gonna be putting in some dark areas.
I wanna share a piece of video with you from a young friend that is just unreal.
This may be one of the youngest painters that I've run into and this young man's name is Earl Glen Russell and he comes to us out of Springfield, Missouri and he is just a fantastic little painter.
I had the pleasure of having dinner one night with Earl and his mother when I was there and they're some of the loveliest people I've ever met in my whole life and this painting introduces you to so many new friends and Earl and his mother are just two of many people that I've had the opportunity to meet.
Just through painting.
There.
(brushing) Okay, but isn't that little rascal good?
I mean he can paint.
(beating brush) All I'm doing is just making some reflections in here while you're doing that.
Look at that finished painting and if I remember I think Earl was nine years old now going on 40.
(laughs) Isn't he something?
I am so proud of that young man.
All I've done is just tap in a little dark color here.
Trying to remember basically where we had things.
Maybe that came down about like that.
Somewhere in there, but notice as we're doing this, we're putting the reflections with each layer because if I didn't pull this down, before I did this part it would mess up that of course.
So each layer, pull your reflections down just like so.
Before you do the next layer and that way it'll work so much easier.
There, now we can come back.
Put in all kinds of little things in here.
(brush tapping) Something like that.
Think that came right on out right there.
Okay.
Now then.
We can just, we'll just use that same old brush.
We can go right into a little of the cad yellow, yellow ochre, Indian yellow and then I'll hit a little touch of the bright red, but mix the color on the brush so you have a multitude of colors happening right there on your brush.
Okay let's go back up here.
Now, we'll put some nice green highlights right out here on this little peninsula that juts out into the water.
Just tap.
Tap, tap.
Now then, watch.
Let's play some games.
Sometimes it's fun, let me find, we'll use a number three fan brush today.
Let me pile my color up.
If your color gets too flat on the palate you have to sort of pile it up so you can load a brush.
So if you ever have trouble loading the brush yet you know there's enough paint, just put it in a pile and then you can load your brush.
Otherwise you just polish your palate.
There.
Okay let's, go right in here and make it look like there's some trees that just go right out like that but you have to put that grassy area back in here first then put your trees and then come back and put your next layer.
So that it looks like there's layers and that's what'll make your painting stand out and be special.
Alright, now then, back to our big brush, with all the little grassy things on it.
We can come right back in here.
See there?
And begin laying in all kinds of little areas.
There.
You can make this just as soft as a meadow.
Okay.
Now then let's have some fun.
Gotta mix up some more color.
Let's use some Prussian blue, some black, alizarin crimson, sap green.
Sounds good.
Might as well mix up a pretty good pile of paint.
We're gonna use it before this one's finished.
Get a big fan brush, it's time we get, got strong here.
There.
Okay.
Just fill the brush up full of color.
Lot of color.
Now then we have to make some big decisions here.
I think right there.
Right here.
We will have a nice evergreen tree and I'm intentionally letting this go right over the tape.
So when we pull the tape off, you'll only see part of the tree.
Maybe we'll give him a friend.
You know me, think everybody needs a friend.
There, and as I say that's one thing that painting has done.
As Annette and I have traveled around the country teaching people, we have made so many fantastic friends that have been with us for so long now and that might truly be the joy of painting is the friends that you make doing it.
I'm gonna take, I'm gonna tell you what.
I was about to leave this trunk out.
Poor little thing would fall over from weakness.
Take a little dark sienna and white, little roll of paint, and our little evergreen tree here.
Let's just put least little indication of a tree trunk.
There.
Now then, I have dark green, the little brush, doesn't matter which brush you use I just happened to pick it up.
Put a few little highlights on this rascal here.
There.
Alright.
Now then let's take some van dyke brown on the old knife and let's go right in here, put some banks underneath this grass.
Just some little banks, wherever.
Maybe there's a lot of dirt showing right there.
There and wherever.
We can go ahead and put some down in here too, 'cause we know it's going to end up being there and here and there maybe there's gonna be some dirt up in here wherever.
Doesn't much matter.
Little touch of brown and white and we can just tip that a little.
Just to make it look like rocks and dirt.
There.
All kinds of little things are happening.
There they are.
There, okay.
Now I'm gonna take my fan brush that has the green on it and go back in here and pop in a little bush here and there.
Just enough to sort of break up that edge and bring all that together.
Maybe there's some nice bushes right here in front of those little trees.
Take the knife, scrape in few little sticks and twigs and sometimes I scratch down, sometime I scratch up.
Just depends on what kind of mood I'm in.
(laughs) That you'll find by touching it and pulling up you'll get a sharper point on the end.
There if that makes sense.
Let's go we'll use a one inch brush.
Maybe we have a big bush if I remember correctly, it lives right about So we just throw some dark in so our light will show.
here.
Push upward with a one inch brush.
Create all those little, little leafy feelings.
I'm gonna take another one inch brush, dip it in liquid white.
I'm gonna go through the cad yellow, be right back here, a little sap green.
Pull the brush in one direction.
Loading it fully.
Lot of paint.
Look at all the paint.
Lot of paint on that brush.
Let's go up here.
Now, gently push upward.
Just gently, gently, and turn the brush to form all these individual little limbs and branches.
Don't just push them all in one direction.
It'll look like you're lazy.
There.
Okay we can change the flavor just a little bit with some yellow ochre, little Indian yellow.
Put another little thing right in there.
Just wherever, wherever.
Go back to the old two inch brush that had all the greens on it and maybe tap in just an indication, some little grassy areas back in there.
Come right down here.
Somewhere in like in there.
Now, let this one come right on out.
Wherever you want and once again, this is not an exact duplicate of what you see at the beginning of the show, but it will show you exactly the way it was made and it may turn out better than the one that you see at the beginning of the show.
Who knows.
Okay we can take a little paint thinner, a little brown.
Make it thin like ink and we had, let's see here.
We right here, we'll have a nice little tree that lives right up there.
There he goes.
In fact there was two of them.
Other one goes right on over there somewhere and then we can put all kinds of little limbs and sticks and twigs and whatever you want on here.
There we go.
That's nice when you have a lot of time and you can just sit and put all kinds of little branches and sticks on here.
That's so pretty.
There.
Little bit more of the thinner.
Make that one a little fatter, 'cause he's the big guy.
Give this one a little more body and we're in business.
There we go.
Now then, let's have some fun.
Think it's time to take the tape off and see what we have here.
Alright, grab the old tape.
(tape peeling) And just pull it right off there.
Okay and now we'll come back, let's get this second one.
(tape peeling) Pull it right off, and isn't that neat?
Already we have all that stuff there done.
Okay.
There we go.
Tape gets stuck on everything.
Now then, now we can have some fun.
Now I like taking the liner brush.
Once again make that paint very thin and let's go back over and I wanna pull one of these trees through this line.
It just, just sort of makes it interesting.
Everybody will be interested in this.
When you do it this way.
It's so different.
There, and then, now this one, I don't wanna come through this one, but over here I'm gonna bring it through if that makes any sense at all.
So it looks like it looks like this one is behind that line.
There.
Alright.
Now then.
You know me and my big trees here.
Let's take, let's take the old fan brush.
Fill it up full of that dark, dark color and go right up here.
I think there was a large tree that lived, boy he does now.
Right there, and just start, corner of the brush, working back and forth, back and forth.
There.
Now the one that we show at the opening has a naked spot right there.
(laughs) He didn't grow ant fir right there.
That's why they call them fir trees.
Okay.
Right on down, letting go and all we're doing is putting in some background color right now.
Now then he had a friend, lived right there.
There we go.
See, and I'm gonna let him project right out clean over where the tape was.
So that'll push everything back.
This whole painting is a game of planes.
It's a lot of fun.
Lot of fun, you'll enjoy it.
Tap in little bit of dark stuff here.
We can go back, put the least little touch of highlight on this big old tree.
Little green and yellow, that's all we're using.
Something like that.
Take our one inch brush, dip it in the liquid white, go through our yellows, greens, and let's just make a happy little bush or two down here and we got it.
There.
See, little touch of the yellow ochre here and there just to break it up.
There we are.
But isn't that a fantastic little painting?
Guarantee if you do this one, it will certainly get people's attention.
They will love it and I think with that we're going to call this one finished.
From all of us here, I'd like to wish you happy painting and God bless my friend.
(upbeat music)
Presented by Blue Ridge PBS