Did Bob Ross paint with oil or acrylic?
In 'The Joy of Painting' Bob Ross uses rather thick oil paints. Please be careful not to get acrylic based paints, as these will not work for Bob's wet-on-wet-technique.
Ross used them quite a bit, especially in the later years. Toward the end, he was doing more and more elaborate underpaintings in acrylics, before finishing the paintings in oils. You can do the same thing, but just use acrylics all the way.
You can follow Bob Ross's technique using any oil paints, we have been told by customers that our Ken Bromley Oil Paints have a similar consistency to the thicker Bob Ross oil paints. Many people also use Daler Rowney Georgian Oils, or Winsor & Newton Winton.
Therefore, some of the greatest paintings of all time were made with oil paintings. For example, Van Gogh's Starry Night and the Mona Lisa were both made using oil paints. This doesn't mean there are no famous paintings made with acrylic paints.
In all my years in art school, I've never heard of liquid white. So I Google'd it. Turns out, this was a favorite of tv legend Bob Ross, who used to coat his canvas with a special mix of white paint and medium so he could get a nice, soft effect when he started painting his blue skies and happy trees.
Ross used a wet-on-wet oil painting technique of painting over a thin base layer of wet paint. The painting could progress without first drying. The technique used a limited selection of tools and colors that didn't require a large investment in expensive equipment.
Bob Ross Oil Colors are a unique firm oil paint which is a bit thicker than conventional artists' colors due to the needs of Bob's famous wet-on-wet technique. Highlight colors such as yellow are a bit thinner to facilitate easier mixing and application.
Ross used a โwet-on-wetโ oil painting technique, also known as โAlla primaโ over a thin base layer of wet paint. The painting could go ahead without first drying. This technique used a limited selection of tools.
Bob Ross died due to lymphoma at the height of his career. He was so successful and became so well-known to the public and masses that his works and techniques in painting were taught in schools and universities, but it was short-lived.
Oil paint is better for artists who want to learn how to paint and/or make pro level paintings. Except for the lightning fast drying time, oil paint can essentially do everything that acrylic can do, and has superior quality, luminous colors, and much higher functionality overall.
Did Van Gogh paint with oil or acrylic?
Van Gogh worked with oil paint. He used both paint with (natural) pigments, made the same way for centuries, as well as paint with new synthetic colourings.
Unsurprisingly, the most common color in Bob Ross' palette is a solid white. Ross uses a solid, pure white in every painting, sometimes as a base for the overall piece (in what he calls Liquid White) and sometimes throughout (in the form of Titanium White).
![Did Bob Ross paint with oil or acrylic? (2024)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0ZVgM5h3tqE/hq720_2.jpg?sqp=-oaymwE2CNAFEJQDSFXyq4qpAygIARUAAIhCGABwAcABBvABAfgBlAOAAtAFigIMCAAQARhlIGIoWjAP&rs=AOn4CLBhuApFVLXvuxPGWksypWOLovbbsA)
Watercolour paint is manufactured to use in a specific way, it will never be able to be used in the same way that Bob Ross uses it. If you want to paint like Bob Ross then use oil paint.
Relations with Bob Ross
Ross mentioned in the very first episode of The Joy of Painting that he had learned the technique from Bill Alexander, calling it "the most fantastic way to paint that you've ever seen".
Bob uses the same four brushes for the majority of his paintings: a 2-inch flat brush, a 1-inch flat brush, a fan brush, and a palette knife.
Bob Ross, in his genius, came up with a method of oil painting that is perfect for beginners in the field. Materials from brushes to paints are relatively inexpensive to get started, and right from the start, his "apprentices" begin making actual paintings, not just practice canvases that look like just what they are.
The original Bob Ross Palette is 24" x 16.25", so I went with an 18" x 24" sheet. If you want it bigger or smaller, it's completely up to you.
He let the paint work for him
Paint, and tools, want to do certain things, and a good artist knows how to let them do that while still keeping them on a short leash. Bob Ross' application of paint is wonderful example of this. His trees look effortless because they are.
A painting from the first episode of Bob Ross' โJoy of Paintingโ could go for millions of dollars. Titled โA Walk in the Woods,โ the piece is listed at $9.85 million and could be the most expensive and historically resonant Ross piece to ever be sold, according to NPR.
Bob and his first wife Vivian welcomed their son Steve on Aug. 1, 1966. Steve was the second of Bob's children, as the painter had previously fathered a child as a teenager. Nearly three decades later, Steve made his debut on his father's show, The Joy Of Painting.
Does Bob Ross have a disability?
Although it's hard to see during his TV show, Ross lost part of his left index finger during a childhood woodworking accident. This small disability, however, never bothered him in his prolific painting career.
Ross was raised in Orlando, Florida. After completing one year of high school and working for a time as a carpenter with his father, Ross enlisted at age 18 in the United States Air Force. While stationed in Alaska, he took his first painting class at a United Service Organizations club in the early 1960s.
In the Bob Ross method we recommend expecting 7โ10 days at room temperature to be touch-dry. How long does an oil painting take to dry and how do I know when it is dry? Which color artist oil paint (traditional or water-mixable) serves as the rate-limiting step in terms of taking the longest time to dry?
the best thing to do would be to use a light coating of a good refined linseed oil. an artist quality linseed oil of course. bob ross often used liquid clear as a prerequisite to painting.
References
- https://www.muddycolors.com/2021/09/12-reasons-why-bob-ross-is-a-better-artist-than-you-are/
- https://www.toynk.com/blogs/news/what-happened-to-bob-ross
- https://mhscardinalchronicle.com/2718/lifestyles/paint-like-bob-ross-on-a-budget/
- https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/art-and-stories/vincent-van-gogh-faq/what-type-of-paint-did-van-gogh-use
- https://rooftopapp.com/how-does-bob-ross-make-the-painting-look-so-easy/
- https://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/topic/how-do-you-do-a-watercolour-bob-ross-style/
- https://www.beginnersschool.com/2014/01/17/liquid-white/
- https://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/topic/liquid-clear/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Alexander_(painter)
- https://mymodernmet.com/bob-ross-facts/
- https://www.quora.com/How-long-does-a-wet-on-wet-oil-painting-take-to-dry
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bob-Ross
- https://studio83.com.hk/zh/kb/whats-the-difference-between-oil-painting-and-acrylic-painting/
- https://www.artsupplies.co.uk/blog/bob-ross-materials-the-joy-of-painting-wet-on-wet/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Ross
- https://connorrothschild.github.io/bob-ross-art-gallery/
- https://www.instructables.com/DIY-Bob-Ross-Paint-Palette/
- https://www.deseret.com/2023/9/20/23882485/how-much-bob-ross-painting-worth-joy-of-painting-first-episode-walk-woods
- https://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/topic/acrylics-and-bob-ross-method/
- https://evolveartist.com/blog/learning-art-with-acrylic-vs-oil-paint/
- https://feltmagnet.com/painting/Oil-Painting-the-Easy-Way-for-Beginners
- https://www.jerrysartarama.com/bob-ross-oil-colors