- 5th Place: Peaceful Waters from Season 3. Bob invites his son Steve to the studio, so he can “take life easy”. This is a special Q&A episode where Bob …
- 4th Place: Grey Winter from Season 7.
- 3rd Place: Quiet Pond from Season 5.
- 2nd Place: Final Reflections from Season 1.
- 1st Place: The Grandeur Of Summer (Special Episode)
How many seasons of The Joy of Painting did Bob Ross have?
Bob Ross, his famous permed hair, and one of his landscape paintings. Bob had a TV show called ‘The Joy Of Painting’ which aired over 31 seasons and a total of 403 episodes. In each episode, he paints a landscape painting in a standard half-hour TV slot, and boy does he make it look fast and easy!
Bob uses the “ alla prima ” or wet-on-wet oil-painting technique. In this technique, you do not allow your paints to dry in between steps. Just like the name suggests, you apply coats of paints on top of each other, allowing them to mix and blend.
A lot of people know the story about how a colorblind man came up to Bob and told him: “Bob, I’m colorblind. I will never be able to paint!” Bob told him that everyone can paint and did a whole episode in only black and white.
Steve reads questions from the viewers to his father who paints a whole painting using only techniques his viewers have asked about. Season 1 Episode 13: Final Reflections.
With over 400 episodes of ‘The Joy of Painting’, it is only natural that some episodes are harder than others. Most people get their painting supplies (check out our recommendations if you want to know the best supplies to get started) and pick an episode at random.
The stark color contrast and choice of subject make for a harder than normal painting. Oh, and one last thing before we start: While Bob only takes 25 minutes to paint a picture it will likely take you around two hours for your first try.
Bob’s specialty was landscape paintings, not portraits, or still lives. This had a very simple reason: Building on the techniques of his mentor Bill Alexander he developed a method to make your brush and painting knife do all the work for you.
What kind of paint did Bob Ross use?
The oil painting technique is centered around one main ingredient. “Magic White”. This is a thinned down white paint that is applied directly to the canvas as a thin coat. The magic white is usually applied with a 2-1/2″ broad, pure boar split bristle brush.
The magic white is usually applied with a 2-1/2″ broad, pure boar split bristle brush . It is not allowed to dry during the paint session, paint is applied in this wet coating. When other colors are added, it helps with their blending and creates variations in color and intensity.
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