- Hi, welcome back.

Certainly glad you could join me today, 'cause today, I thought we'd do just a happy little painting.

In fact, I thought today we'd do the little painting that you see at the opening of each show of this series.

The little soft painting that has all the little yellows in it.

I'll show you exactly how that one was made.

It may not be an exact duplicate of the one that we show, but it'll be close enough that you'll know exactly how to do your own at home.

So, I tell you what.

Let me show you what I've done up here.

I've got my standard ol' 18 x 24 inch canvas, but I've taken Black Gesso and I've painted this whole area around here.

Sorta looks like a big wave.

And allowed the Black Gesso to dry completely.

Then on top of that, we've put transparent color, or semi-transparent, it's transparent enough for what we're doing.

I started here and there's several colors, so I'll go through 'em.

With Indian Yellow, right about here.

And just let it blend back.

Then I've added a little bit of Dark Sienna, mixed with a little Alizarin Crimson, and I've just blended that back.

Then on the edges, we've put a little Van Dyke Brown so it'll be very dark.

So, I tell you what.

Let's start out, have 'em run all the colors across the screen, that you need to paint this little picture.

While they're doing that, shoot, let's go on up here and get started.

Today, let's start with a small amount of Yellow Ochre.

Just a little Yellow Ochre.

Let's go right up here in the light area and begin putting in some color.

All we're gonna do is take this Yellow Ochre, and just put it right in here.

Beautiful color, it's a nice golden color.

And it's mixing with the liquid white that's on the canvas.

This little white area here has Liquid White on it.

It'll mix with that and it'll blend into some beautiful, beautiful colors.

Then without cleaning the brush, I'm gonna pick up the least little amount of Alizarin Crimson, and just apply it.

Least little amount though.

I don't want this to get very bright.

Want this to stay very soft and very muted.

(brush sweeping across canvas) There, but I want it to get a little darker.

This is going to be our light source in here.

This Black Gesso does some of the most fantastic things.

It's a wonderful, wonderful thing to play with.

There we go, now then.

Still without cleaning the brush, take a little bit of the Dark Sienna.

Little Dark Sienna, it's a very warm brownish color.

And just blend that right in, like so.

That gives us our color that we want.

Now then, I wanna create that very bright effect.

So let me take another brush.

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

Even though that is the fun part.

Right into Titanium White, here with the old two-inch brush.

I'm loading quite a bit of the color on there.

Okay, let's go back up here.

Now if our light source is going to be in here, start right up against that dark area.

Begin blending that outward.

That's going to mix with all the colors that you have.

It'll create a very light area.

It may not look as light now, as it will when we're finished.

Because we'll put all kinds of things in there.

Now you can do this as many times as you want.

To achieve a desired lightness.

But each time, I recommend that you wash your brush, clean it, dry it.

Start with a nice fresh brush and fresh color back up in the light area.

(brush thwacking) (Bob snickering) And that is the fun part of this.

Get a little bit more of the Titanium White.

Let's go right back up here.

Just blend that right in.

As I say, you can do this, three, four times, if you wanted to.

Each time though, I'd really recommend you clean the brush.

You don't, you're gonna take that contaminated, dirty color, dark color, back into this light area.

You'll lose this beautiful glow.

Okay, now then, just very lightly.

Just sort of pull that out.

There.

Now, when we're done, that's going to be very bright.

Very bright and very effective.

(paint thinner splashing) (brush slapping and thwacking) There we are.

We just beat that ol' brush to death.

Good way of taking out all your frustrations and hostilities and all that.

Now then, let's take a little ... We'll just mix these on the brush.

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

Wanna keep this color quite subdued.

Little bit of Alizarin Crimson into it, but I don't want this to get very dark.

There, all right.

We have color in the brush.

Let's go right up here.

Now then, let's start making the indication of all kinds of little bushes that live back in here.

Now, I want this color to be so close to what's up there that you almost can't see it.

This will make all the things that are so far away.

All we're using is the corner of the brush, pushing upward.

Just push upward.

There.

I like these very soft little paintings.

I hope you can see that there is something there.

This first layer we want to be very subdued though.

As we put more layers in there, then we can get a little darker with it.

All we're doing is just pushing in some basic little shapes though.

Okay, now then.

Add a little more of the Dark Sienna to the same color.

Just white, a little Dark Sienna, little touch of Alizarin Crimson.

There, now it's gettin' a little darker.

Little darker, and we can put in another layer.

This one will show up even more.

You can put as many layers of these little bushes in here that you want.

There we go.

See there, maybe there's a nice little thing that lives right there.

Let your imagination go.

Just make all kinds of little things.

There.

Here's one over here.

Maybe we'll add a little bit more of the dark color to that, so it stands out a little more.

There.

See there.

Just use a corner of the brush and just sort of rub these on.

In that upstroke, you're pushing outward.

That's where you get the nice little edges.

But you can create the illusion of a lot of little bushes and trees back here.

Just by doing that.

Many or as few as you want.

Maybe right here, maybe there's one that lives there.

We don't know, shoot, maybe it goes all the way up in here.

As I mentioned earlier, this will not be an exact duplicate of what you see at the beginning of the show, but it will certainly give you an idea of how it was made.

(brush scrubbing canvas) There we are.

Now then, I'm gonna darken that color a little bit more, Dark Sienna, white.

You can even add a little bit of Van Dyke Brown, here and there.

If you want it to get dark.

Don't let it get too dark too quick.

I'm gonna put the indication of another bush that lives right here.

There.

And you can come right over the Black Gesso, because this white here is opaque.

It'll cover right over that dark.

You can just make layer after layer, after layer of all kinds of just happy little things.

It's a super way to make little scenes that look like they're deep in the woods.

There.

Now then, let's take ... Add a little more white to that same color.

I wanna lighten it back up again.

There we go, get a little touch of the crimson in there.

Lot of color on the brush though.

There.

Maybe back in here.

Let's come right in here.

Maybe there lives, in our world, a happy little tree.

Right there.

(makes light zooming sound) There he his, make him a little bit stronger.

We'll give him a little friend.

Everybody needs a friend.

There.

(brush tapping palette) Shoot, maybe he's got two friends.

Maybe he's real popular.

We'll take our liner brush, little paint thinner on it.

We'll go right into the same color again.

Want this paint though to be very thin.

Then you can go up here.

We'll put the indication here and there.

Few little limbs and branches, sticks, twigs.

Whatever you want to call 'em.

All kinda little things.

If you have trouble making your paint flow, add more paint thinner.

It's just too thick, that's the only thing that's wrong with it.

Just add a little more thinner.

Now, while we have that going, maybe here and there we can see the indication of some little things that are ... Little stems that are in some of these bushes that are far back here.

But we're not looking for a lot of detail.

We're gonna lose this illusion of soft, misty, distant area.

All right.

(splashing brush in paint thinner) We'll just go back to our old two-inch brush here.

We'll go right into that same color.

I'll just tap it, firmly tap it.

(brush tapping palette) Load a little color on it.

Let's go back up here.

Maybe there's indication of some nice little leaves here.

We're just using the corner of the two-inch brush.

We can just begin putting in all kinds of little things.

These are sorta just like little silhouettes, way back in the distance.

Not very strong, not very bright, at this point.

We'll get brighter and darker as we move forward.

But back here, we just want little silhouettes.

Really all we're looking for.

There.

Same old colors, the browns and the crimson and white.

Just mix 'em up real good here.

Now then, maybe a little bit darker, so it stands out against that.

There, beautiful, just right.

Just right.

Tastes good.

There we go.

We're beginning to get many layers in here.

That quickly though, it looks likes there's just tremendous depth in there.

Only because you're playing with color and that little misty area in between.

That's all you have to do to create that illusion of distance and mist.

There we go.

Now, go back to my old two-inch brush.

Now we can start working forward and getting some of these big trees that hang over.

We'll take some Dark Sienna, Van Dyke Brown, a little crimson, same ol' colors.

Shoot, doesn't matter.

Maybe even a little bit of the Midnight Black.

We're getting quite dark now though.

Push that brush into the paint.

See, push.

That creates that little ridge right out on the end of the bristles.

Now then, let's go right up in here.

And begin thinking about shape and form of your big trees that are hanging over here.

(brush tapping canvas) There.

Look at that.

Isn't that fantastic, that you can do that with a big ol two-inch brush?

You can.

You really can.

All those things, just sort of happen here.

Looks like a lot of trees and stuff already.

(brush tapping canvas) Maybe down in here, some bushes.

They live right along in here.

We'll make a few little individual things.

Wherever you want 'em.

Now, because we have this Black Gesso and all this under color, a lot of this is gonna happen automatically for you.

You don't have to spend a great deal of time working and worrying.

Allow it to happen on the canvas.

There.

Now, use the same old brush.

I'm gonna go right into a little bit of the Cad Yellow, the Yellow Ochre.

Load it the same way.

I left that dark color on the brush, so it will mix with this and you'll get a much nicer color.

All right, let's go back up here.

Now we can come back in here and let's highlight some of these.

There, don't wanna put too much highlight on here or we'll lose that beautiful darkness.

If you lose the darkness, then this light area back here is not near as effective.

That's what makes this painting sing.

Is those beautiful dark areas.

In that contrasting light, it looks like there's a sun beam back here, just playing.

There we go.

Think about shape and form.

Don't just throw these on.

Each one's an individual.

Each one's your friend.

Treat it well.

Treat it good.

But you can put as many or as few little things as you want here.

This is a very nice painting.

I know we're not interested in that happy buck, but if you're out here selling paintings, this son of a gun will sell.

If you're out demonstrating for people, this is one of those paintings that if people are watching you paint it publicly, or if you're just painting for a group of friends, they'll be so excited by the time you're done.

They'll be lookin' for their paintbrush.

There.

Let's take a little bit of the Titanium White.

Let's have some fun back in the background back here.

We have color on the canvas, so when we take white, maybe we'll have a little bit of water right here.

Think there was a little water in that painting.

Just grab it, and pull down.

That's gonna mix with what's already on the canvas and automatically you'll get beautiful little water effects, without doin' hardly a thing.

Maybe it comes right on back.

Think this is the way it ...

Think it went right on back like that.

Wherever you want it to go.

Maybe you want yours to come around this way.

That's all right.

Painting, and you hear me say this all the time, painting should make you happy.

If it does nothing else, it should make you happy.

If it doesn't make you happy, then you're doing the wrong thing.

Okay.

Now then, after you get that pulled down and blended the way you want it, very lightly, two hairs and some air.

Let me get a clean brush.

Let's just go across and this will create that illusion of reflections of water and that shimmer.

It's a very nice and easy way to do it.

Now then, let's go back to our two-inch brush.

Let's begin building all kinds of things.

Take a little Bright Red, little Indian Yellow.

Makes a beautiful color.

There.

Let's go up here, maybe right in here.

We'll put, there's a happy little bush lives there.

Once in a while, you can dip your brush into a little bit of the Liquid White to make it a little thinner and a little brighter.

It'll make it pop right out of there.

In my mind, I think there's light zingin' right through there.

Maybe there's another one that lives right here.

Now, all you have to do is just sort of pick out where you think there's bushes and big ferns.

Whatever.

I used to spend a lot of time in Oregon and Oregon has some of the most beautiful ferns and stuff that hang off everything like that.

It's unreal.

Maybe up in here ...

There's a big bush, little bit of highlight up here.

Wanna keep that pretty dark, don't wanna lose that nice darkness.

Now then, let's take a little of the Dark Sienna and a little bit of the Yellow Ochre mixed together.

Tap a little of that color right into the bristles.

Maybe up in here, maybe there's a big tree that lives here and you can make out some of these branches hanging off.

Just let them overlap, don't worry about it.

Go right over the top of the other one, if you think that's where it should live.

Just go right over it.

That way it'll look natural.

It looks like there's very thick foliage.

Still just tapping with a top corner of the brush.

All there is to it.

As we work down here, I want it to get darker and darker.

In fact, let me show you, you could take some of this dark color on the knife.

Maybe we want to put the indication here that there's a tree trunk here.

Since the dark's there, all you got to do is put a little light, like so.

It's really all that we need.

Now then.

(brush tapping palette) Bring some of these nice highlights right over the top of that trunk.

Maybe down below it down here, get a little more color.

Maybe, yeah, there's a nice little bush that lives down here.

But it leaves that dark area in there and that dark area gives shadow.

That's where the little creatures live.

They hide in there.

That's where they stay.

Always have to leave a place for them little rascals.

That's where my little squirrel hides.

There we go.

Work in layers, if you work in layers, creates the indication of a lot of bushes, rather than just one big bush.

Gives more depth.

Now, let's take the old fan brush.

We've been using the old fan brush here.

We can come right up in here in this dark, and just by rubbing with a little color, it doesn't take much color.

You can begin putting in all your little land areas.

Leave some of that dark, especially along this edge.

It'll make it look like a bank.

And you won't have to do anything.

I'm lazy, if I can find an easy way to make paintings work, that's what I'm looking for.

See there.

Already, it looks like there's a bank there.

And you haven't done anything.

Really haven't done anything.

That's sneaky, huh?

I like that.

Let's go back into some of the Yellow Ochre, a little Dark Sienna, Cad Yellow, Indian Yellow, all those pretty colors.

Tap a little.

Right on the corner of the brush again.

But see that pushing, that's so important.

Get that ridge of paint, being pushed up there.

Okay, let's go right up here.

Maybe in our world, there lives some bushes and stuff over in here.

There he is, there is a nice little bush.

Beautiful little bush.

Think about shape though.

And he's got a friend, right there.

See there, maybe there's a bigger one, lives right here.

They come in all sizes and shapes.

All kinds of personalities, just like people.

But no matter, who you are, or what your size or shape, or anything else is, you still need a friend.

Everybody needs a friend.

Oh, isn't there's a nice bright red one.

That rascal jump out and grab you.

I like that so much, maybe we'll just do another one.

Red's pretty in there.

Little more of the yellows.

Now we'll begin layering, and here's another bush in front of those.

This layering effect will, once again, I know you get tired of hearing it, but this layering effect causes the distance and depth in your painting.

Now, you can begin thinking about maybe little grassy areas are growing over here.

Just by tapping downward, we can create that illusion.

Maybe they come right on out like that.

I don't know.

(brush tapping canvas) Let your imagination go.

Let it go.

There.

See there, that sorta begins giving you the lay of the land.

This side has much more of an angle on it than the other side.

That keeps 'em from both being the same.

Maybe it helps it from being boring.

All right, going back to my fan brush.

We'll take a little dark color, and let's just go in here and scrub in the indication of a little land underneath this.

There, we just scrub it in with a fan brush.

You could do it with a knife, if you wanted to.

Doesn't much matter.

Maybe there's a sandbar here.

Seems like we had a nice sandbar.

Put in a little dark color first.

(brush sweeping across canvas) Then we can go back with a little white and brown.

Very gently, grab it, and go back.

That's all you need to create that illusion.

There, but don't kill all that dark area.

Leave some of those nice dark areas.

Maybe the sand's wet there, or somethin'.

We don't know.

Look at there though, that's just such a super way of making a very effective little painting.

Now then, let's go on with our little bushy things.

Maybe there's a little touch of green here and there.

Little Sap Green, not much, but a little.

This comes down, now think about this.

This is laying flat and this is coming down at quite an angle.

So we want to show that.

So begin creating that very angle.

Maybe, tell you what, maybe we're standing up here in the hills, sorta overlooking this and it comes right on around.

Right on around like that.

(brush tapping canvas) There we go.

But the angles here are most important.

Watch here, watch here, watch.

See.

Just think of the lay of the land and have your brush going that basic direction.

That's really all you have to do.

That's all you have to do.

The Black Gesso works for you.

It puts all the dark in here for you.

In that under color, the transparent color we put on top, mixes with all this and it keeps your colors beautiful.

Just nice things happen.

Let me find another fan brush here, I have several of 'em going.

We had a couple of trees in that.

So let's take Van Dyke Brown on the fan brush.

Just back and forth quite a bit.

Maybe touch.

(makes swooshing sound) Be brave.

This is your bravery test.

Let's give him a friend too.

(makes cascading sound) We'll do a couple of happy little trees here.

Maybe this one's a little stronger.

That way one looks bigger than the other one.

Maybe he takes care of this little one.

Doesn't allow anybody to hurt him.

Everybody needs a big friend.

Tell you what, maybe this is one tree and maybe it's dead.

Maybe it's dead.

In nature, you have a lot of dead trees out in the woods.

Sometimes, we avoid painting them, but dead trees are also part of nature.

There we go, little bit of paint thinner on the liner brush.

Let's go right up in here.

Let's just begin putting in all kinds of little limbs that are still hanging on here, even though the tree is dead.

There are still a few of 'em here that are hanging on for dear life.

Think that's not right, they're hangin' on for dear life, they're not dead.

But anyway, you know what I mean.

They're hangin' in there.

And you put as many or as few.

You have to determine how dead your tree is.

Maybe it doesn't have hardly any limbs left on it.

It's also fun, try this, maybe, and put one of them that's fell down right across the stream there.

Make a little natural bridge.

That way the little raccoon has a place to sneak across there.

There we go.

And, whatever you want.

Now then, maybe a little highlight on those trees.

In my mind, light's gonna be zingin' through here.

Take a little bit of that light brown and white.

I'm just gonna take and touch.

Just touch, just touch, the canvas will pull off what it wants, and as you work back, because you're pickin' up that dirt, dark color.

It'll get darker and darker automatically.

There, just enough to give it a little highlight.

That's all we're looking for.

There we go, see.

Sometimes, it's fun if we're gonna have light coming through here, sometimes it's fun to take ...

I've got the same ol' brush here that I had all the yellows on, etc.

That I was makin' the grass with, and I went right into a little bit of the Titanium White.

Wanna lighten.

Push it, same way.

Let's go up here.

Now, think where the light's gonna come.

If it's coming right through here, you can just take this and tap a little bit of highlight, right in the areas where you think light would strike the strongest.

Right in here, okay.

But don't overdo it.

If you overdo it loses its effectiveness.

There.

Something like so.

I think we about have a finished painting with that.

I'm gonna take the liner brush, little bit of paint thinner, little of the Bright Red.

I'm gonna sign this one.

I really hope you've enjoyed it.

It's a lot of fun.

Allows you to show how our opening was made.

It only takes a couple of minutes to paint it, but it takes a lot of fantastic people a great deal of time to stick it in that little square that you see.

I sincerely appreciate everything they do.

So from all of us here, I'd like to wish you happy painting.

God bless, and I'll see you next time.