Bob Ross Inspired Mini Art

I’ve always loved Bob Ross, I mean, who doesn’t love him? I loved watching The Joy of Painting as a kid, and even now. Bob was and is so encouraging and inspiring- he made everyone feel as if they could paint- and I believe in that philosophy too. When I began my journey into oil painting, I loved his philosophy but I didn’t want to paint in that particular style. My brother had one of his instructional kits at the time- so although I didn’t follow his techniques, I definitely used the paints and supplies that came with the kit.

One of the great things about art is you can always keep changing and learning. I love learning new techniques now- especially because it helps me with my students who take private art lessons. I don’t want to teach them how to be exactly like me- it’s important that they learn how to paint the way they want to paint. One student in particular, Casey, has been with me for almost 5 years. I’ve seen her really grow into her own artist, and she loves Bob Ross. She likes the style, but manages to put her own spin on it. So for Casey, I purchased some “Joy of Painting” books and started learning more about Bob’s techniques, textures and brush strokes. It really opened up a whole world to me because Bob is a wet on wet painter just like me- but in a completely different style.

This lead me to my summer project: creating several (my goal is 20) mini oil paintings following the Bob Ross style and techniques. I’ve been following instructional material from a few of his books, and I even got my hands on some of Bob’s famous “liquid white”. I’ve really enjoyed broadening my horizons and have learned a lot. Bob loves the fan brush which I usually try to avoid at all costs. Doing his techniques on a tiny scale has required a lot of adjustments on my end- and I know I wouldn’t of had the skill to do this 10 years ago. I also invested in some teeny tiny brushes, including the cutest little fan brush you’ve even seen!