The name ‘Bob Ross’ had become a household name when the show by the same name used to air on television. Robert Norman Ross was an American-born painter, television host, and art instructor. He created and anchored on the television show “The Joy of Painting”.
It was the show where Robert Norman Ross gave meaningful advice and tips on how to become a seasoned artist. The show first started way back in 1983 and gave the fans 31 seasons with great ideas and paintings from Bob Ross.
Born on October 29, 1942, the American painter died soon on July 4, 1995, due to several health problems. Interestingly, his legacy is still on and to date many people have been asking a common question that is ‘How to paint like Bob Ross’? This is why Podium brings to you the one-stop solution for this query-and we bring you more than a canvas painting guide. Want to find how? Read below and find out!
Painting Materials Required
In today’s world fans willing to paint like Bob Ross can do it on both online and offline format. The online mode will be much easier as the painter will just need a desktop and a strong internet connection. But, the offline mode will include many materials such as canvas, paintbrushes, colors, paint palettes, and many more.
Let us talk about the materials needed to paint like Bob Ross. The primary material is ‘Magic White’. Magic White is a thin white paint that is often applied directly to the canvas as a thin coating. This paint is often applied with a 2-1/2” broad.
This magic white coating when mixed with other colors helps to blend and create variations in color and increase the intensity. This paint is normally used like other white paints and the same when mixed with other colors.
Other than ‘Magic White’ coating beginners must have four more transparent colors and they are as follows:-
- Sap Green
- Phtalo Green
- Alizarin Crimson
- Prussian Blue
Read more about it at: https://www.easy-oil-painting-techniques.org/bob-ross-painting.html
Other than these transparent colors the beginners need four more opaque colors and they are as follows:-
- Yellow
- Deep Red
- Titanium White
- Van Dyke Brown
Other materials required as per the taste of the individual could be as follows:-
- Fan Brushes
- Canvas (different size)
- Easel
- Flats
- 1” Pure Boar Split Brushes
- Liners Sizes
- Special Shaped Palette knife
- Bill Alexander Kit (optional)
- Bob Ross Knife (for making mountains, cabins, and hard lines)
These are some of the basic materials required to paint like Bob Ross.
Steps to Paint Like Bob Ross
Prepare the Canvas
The canvas should be prepared as per the individual’s choice. Liquid White is mostly included in the master set of the canvas or the individual can also buy a tub separately. This is important material so that it becomes easier to mix colors on the canvas.
This liquid white should be thinly coated to the entire surface of the canvas and do not wait for the surface to dry. The surface of the canvas should be wet when you begin to paint on it. Doing this will give a better painting quality.
If you go through the old recorded videos from Bob Ross, then the beginners can easily relate to them. He has explained it quite briefly especially for the beginners.
Read more about it at: https://www.gordonbruceart.com/how-to-paint-like-bob-ross.html
Ready All the Materials
After setting up the whiteboard or the canvas it is time to get all the equipment as per the picture selection. The best option for beginners is to use the official Bob Ross Master Paint Set. The official paint set contains the following;
- 8 different tubes of paint (1.25 oz/ 37 ml)
- Four different-sized brushes
- 1 Painting Knife
- 1 bottle of liquid White Color
Other than these the paint set also includes basic painting instruction and that comes in both on paper and a one-hour-long DVD. The kit is specially designed for beginners where the colors included are suitable to start painting right away.
Using a different-sized brush would not be necessary if the Bob Ross Master paint set is used. But, if the painting selection is such then the individual must have a few of them.
Bob Ross products are available in many retail and online stores. There are other Bob Ross licensed products sold on various retail stores and online platforms. So, the beginners willing to paint should not worry as varieties of products are being manufactured for them.
Step 3: Start Painting
Once everything is ready get ready to put on some of your old clothes and start with your painting idea. But, many painters often start in the wrong format. If you have sky and water in the painting then the best thing to start would be sky and water.
This is because the rest of the painting will be in connection to the sky and water to achieve a convincing and homogenous result. So, the beginner should think about how the sky or water would be how much space you want to give.
Beginners painting them with a brush should try having distinct areas and visible brushstrokes with soft edges and hard edges combined. Following this step will make the picture look interesting.
Following these three simple steps will help beginners make their painting easily.
How to Paint like Bob Ross Digitally
Painting digitally has been made possible using many techniques and applications. Here, the individual need not spend any extra money to start painting they can start drawing anywhere and at any point in time.
Install Krita
Yes, there are a lot of digital applications for painting out there. Using this application the user can easily start painting like Bob Ross and all of it for free. Users can make donations using the application for the poor.
Read more about it at: https://turbofuture.com/graphic-design-video/How-to-Start-Painting-Like-Bob-Ross-Digitally-for-Free
Watch ‘Learn Krita with Bob Ross Tutorial’
After the application is downloaded it is time to get started with the first painting. But, before that, the user will need to go through a small tutorial of the application.
Follow the tutorial and the user will understand everything related to the application and its features.
Start Practicing
As the application will have many features and types of brushes the user may open each of them and come to know about them. They should start practicing using all of those features so that it does not become confusing.
Slowly, the user may install additional brushes and get used to it by practicing different paintings. Doing this will slowly help the user to know the application better and can start with their paintings.
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