Do you enjoy painting? In the case of Bob Ross, the answer is yes. Because he shared with others his “the joy of painting”. If you know Bob Ross, you know how he conveyed this joy to others with his special technique and few tools.
But if you do not know him. I am here to introduce you to him, his style, tools, colors and paintings. Maybe we can get inspiration for our work from the popular color palette of Bob Ross. Let’s enjoy painting:
Who is Bob Ross?
Robert Norman Ross, better known as Bob Ross, was the painter, creator, and host of the television show “The joy of Painting”. Due to the popularity of Bob Ross, his technique, speech, and paintings, the show aired for 11 years on PBS in the United States and Canada.
Bob Ross joined the US Navy at the age of 17, and this was the beginning of his adventures. Because he was taken to Alaska, and for the first time Bob saw snow-capped mountains there. These landscapes inspired most of his later paintings.
After finishing his service, Ross went to many classes to learn painting. But the classical teaching method was boring for him. So Bob decided to invent his own method.
His technique in oil painting was the wet-on-wet technique. In the classic method, the underlying layers should be completely dry and then another layer should be placed on it. But in the Bob Ross technique, you can put layers of paint on top of each other and draw an effect in less time.
Why is Bob Ross so popular?
Communication with fans:
One of the reasons for his popularity was his relationship with his fans. Ross’s television program was so popular that it received 200 letters a day. His fans could even call 800, set up by Bob Ross’s business, and ask questions about painting techniques. Sometimes, though, people just called to talk to Bob Ross about their lives.
Use of specific terms:
Bob Ross used his own terms and expressions in the programs. The most famous of them is “Happy Little Trees”. These terms have become so popular that they are still used as a symbol, even now, long after Ross’s death.
Bob Ross was himself:
Another reason for its popularity was that it was Bob himself. Although the contemporary art community of the time never took Bob seriously. Because he used the wet-wet technique and showed his art on TV. But that was not true of Bob Ross fans. They considered Bob Ross to be full of positive emotions and called him a “happy painter.”
Do not confuse personal life with work:
Bob Ross had nearly 400 episodes in the Painting Pleasure program. But for almost all this time, not much has changed in his personal life. In fact, he did not confuse his personal life with his work.
Bob Ross Art:
Part of his popularity was his art and style of painting. Most of the landscapes painted by Ross were pristine and majestic. Landscapes full of color and natural elements such as trees, mountains, clouds and animals. He rarely portrayed humans in his paintings. Also, one of the most important reasons is that Ross uses only 13 colors to draw all his paintings. This is fantastic.
His unique style:
Bob Ross is known for his simple polo shirt, jeans, voluminous curly hair, and almost long beard and mustache. So many brands of Bob Ross products are sold with his special style. This is the reason for its popularity.
His love of painting:
Ross loved oil and canvas painting and painting in general. He was very energetic and happy in this way, and he continued to do so with such high spirits that when he died of cancer, many of his fans did not even know he was ill.
What colors does Bob Ross use?
In addition to Bob Ross’ special technique, his solid color palette and limited tools also made him popular.
Indeed, Bob always used 4 tools for his illustrations, including: A 2 inch brush, a fan brush, a narrow round brush and his do-it-all palette knife.
Also, the color palette of Bob Ross’s paintings was created from 13 identical colors, which were always in their own order in his palette. These colors include:
Alizarin Crimson (#4E1500)
Bright Red (#DB0000)
Yellow Ocher (#C79B00)
Indian Yellow (#FFB800)
Cadmium Yellow (#FFCC00)
Titanium White (#FFFFFF)
Sap Green (#0A3410)
Phthalo Green (#102E3C)
Prussian Blue (#021E44)
Phthalo Blue (#0C0040)
Dark Sienna (#5F2E1F)
Van Dyke Brown (#221B15)
Midnight Black (#000000)
In fact, Bob Ross’s genius was simplification. He wanted to keep everything simple and make drawing possible and accessible to all people.
Bob Ross and his paintings
I said a moment ago that Bob Ross was interested in making most people think painting was possible. He calmed the audience with a calm tone and words such as “Every day is a good day to live” and encouraged them to draw.
Most of his paintings were from natural landscapes, from snow-capped mountains to waterfalls, lush forests, blue skies and sometimes with happy clouds!
So, all of these scenes were created by Bob Ross with a wet-on-wet technique, with bold brush strokes. And he constantly reminds his viewers not to be afraid of painting:
“There are no mistakes, only happy accidents.”
Here are some of Bob Ross’ paintings with its color palette to inspire your work.
The last word
Bob Ross taught his audience beautiful paintings. But above all, it was inviting others to see the beauty around and pay attention to detail. With his metaphorical and charming expression, he introduced us to his own view of life and inner peace. Like, “This little cloud is rejoicing there,” “Having a tree as a friend is okay.” And “Little squirrels live and play here.”
He recorded all the episodes of “The joy of painting” for free and drew mental images of natural landscapes in all parts. If you want, you can still learn the happy drawings of Bob Ross. To me he is the most inspiring contemporary painter!
