The Bob Ross Method of Painting: Love or Hate It?
Tuesday January 30, 2007
First things first: if you've never heard of Bob Ross, here's a taster of his style for a Raccoon and Bright Autumn Trees. Now to the opinion of Empty Easel blog, which says there are three things wrong with the Bob Ross method of painting, starting with the fact that students' paintings generally look the same. This is fine when you first start out, but how do you develop from there to paint something that's not a Bob Ross clone? Read Helpful or Harmful for a strong opinion about the Bob Ross Method of Painting.
Whether you love or hate Bob Ross's style of painting, there's no denying that more than a decade after his death his videos and books are still introducing lots of people to the pleasures of painting. And that's no bad thing, even if it's not a style of painting I'd hang in my lounge (but then I wouldn't easily hang much of Picasso's work either).
Poll: What Do You Think of the Bob Ross Painting Method?
1. Love it and still use it
2. Urgh, hate it
3. Can't get past the hairdo
4. What's the problem with it?
5. I'm still on paint by numbers
6. Used it and moved on
7. You've just converted me
8. Something else -- please post a comment to explain
(View the results of this poll so far...)
See Also:
• Do Celebrity Artist Techniques Work or are They a Trick?
• The Endless Anxiety of Watching Bob Ross Paint (From the Drawn! Blog)
Photo: © Flood (Creative Commons Some Rights Reserved)
Comments
I must say I find his paintings quite interesting… I love to use wet on wet sometimes as it takes so little pigment to colour the canvas… and with the magiwhite colours blend like nothing else can do… that is where stops my liking for wet on wet because is takes eternity to cure and I am not sure if the painting cures properly at all. What is the worst part of Bob Ross is the fact it so easily cloned or copied by someone not knowing anything about painting… they just follow the video and they get a decent painting… but Bob Ross is not the only one teaching painting without teaching drawing.
In Trois-Rivieres where I live there are actually 200 persons in painting courses when there are 10 in drawing course… No student wants to make the effort to start on the right foot and since teaching is usually done by professors not knowing about drawing; this is not going to improve art soon. Most people just want to play with colours as most have been told in their young age they had no talent… it is unfortunate but this is why. I am stubborn because I teach drawing before I teach painting, most of the techniques comes from drawing… I will never ever teach painting to a person who doesn’t know the rules of drawing, I would feel I am there for money only and not really to teach art.
How right you are. It gives people the wrong impression of their talent. However if they enjoy it perhaps it is a good thing and eventually they might go further.
Anything that gets you painting is good. I’ve never seen a Bob Ross programme or, until now, one of his pictures, but I wouldn’t write him off because of promoting a certain approach.
I’ve been drawing and trying to paint in watercolour for most of my life and it was only after watching Rolf on Art that oils came into my life. I have been fortunate in having a brilliant teacher, Shuhua Jin at the Epsom Centre, who encouraged and helped me to develop my own style, providing guidance on how best to achieve the effects I desired.
The bottom line is: no snobbery!
Just yesterday I caught a Bob Ross TV program. The technical way he uses his brushes do give him the desired results. This type of painting isn’t for me. Techniques are all well and good but I for one would rather invent a technique when I need it.His painting is far too structured to suit me,however, he produced the desired results in a 1/2hr program which paid him money.
I would rather play with my paints and set myself free and see what the muse brings me…..often he does show up when I am willing to let go of control.
Bob Ross has control and he knows how the painting is going to end..how boring for him..but the general public probably found him magical.
I TiVo every episode of Bob Ross. I experimented with his “wet on wet” technique in a painting that I did for my Mom’s birthday.
His technique isn’t bad, but I don’t think he’s teaching ART as much as he is technique. Although art involves technique, they aren’t the same thing.
Has anyone ever heard of WILLIAM ALEXANDER? Bob Ross is a cheap knock-off and a fake copying someone else’s idea and selling it for his own!!!
The blogger’s article which commented that nothing Bob Ross ever painted was real, is the heart of the matter. How can anyone get any feeling into something that’s imaginary? I believe significant art should have feeling.
I think all of you who posted negative comments really miss the point. Art is about expression. Expressing yourself. What is wrong with learning a technique to produce beautiful art. I’m a glass artist that produces carved art on glass using design’s. The art is in the technique to produce the effect you desire. If you think this is not art you are missing the point. Bob Ross gives people the technique to express themselves in ways they may never have been able to in the past. I for one applaud him and his work.
Bob ross is an insperation to me and my family. its christmas soon and whats a better present to give to someone you love than a decent painting all done by your self. sure drying time is long and sometimes you make mistakes but in the end its all worth it and you end up with your very own personal art gallery. bob ross is my hero and i will always remember him as sombody who really cares for the world. Rest in peace my friend. god bless you.
I was blessed with a wonderful gift of drawing people as a very young child. I came from a family of many artists and musicians. At age 12 I drew my Grandfather’s likeness on a paper napkin and it was his pure imagine. My Grandmother was amazed and my Mother was proud. I won the school art contest when I was in the 8th grade for creating a portrait of President Kennedy in chalk pastels. So when I see anyone drawing or painting for personal pleasure and satisfaction, no matter what technique or method they use, I am convinced Art of any kind is good art. Bob Ross was a very talented man and I loved watching him do his magic in 30 minutes. He gave many people pleasure with his show. Maybe he was not like me or you but I can only say the art world has suffered a great loss without him. He inspired many people to pursue painting that would have never done so without watching him.
I agree with Tim..i dont think ANYONE is qualified to say what art is, or what art isnt so long as it comes from someone elses imagination…even if someone wants to copy Bob Ross’s work piece by piece, so be it..if they feel satisfactory in what they accomplished, thats all that matters..not to mention, you can’t teach art..art is in the imagination (i think we all agree on that), you can only teach technique…once inspired to paint,..then people will form their own techniques…
Call it art doesn’t make it worthwhile art. And you most certainly can teach art; the imagination is a muscle that you can learn to flex, to increase the range of motions you make with it, what you see, how you push a concept. Sitting around expecting to pull it out of the ether is unrealistic.
I love to paint using the Bob Ross method.
I think many of you “Artists” out there a full of yourself and have no real skill so you create nonsense like art such as a loogies smeared on a napkin while you collect a government unemployment check, and bitch about how bad life it. Get a life and quit dissing Bob.
You so called artists miss the point. First of all I have seen many of Ross’s real art paintings which are out of this world. However, in talking to him one time. He told me that most people who love art cannot paint, so he worked on a technique that he could teach almost everyone how to paint. He marketed it and has taught hundreds if not thousands to paint! from his technique many have moved on after gaining the confidence and progressed into other techniques. I have found the people who bitch the most are jealous of someone who is successful! I am one of his students who couldn’t draw a crooked line. but after a couple of years painting using and learning his techniques, I now can look at something and put it onto canvas or think of something and put it on canvas. talk is cheap for those that think they know everything. DO THEY? yea right!
I LOVE Bob Ross for making it easy to start painting in oils.
I was gutted when I found out he died before I’d heard of him, but I watch him paint every day now. It is wonderful. The only bit I dread is when he says: “lets go crazy now”, but it always works!
There is no reason to knock him and loved the previous comment about some people’s ideas of art e.g. a dirty nappy or something, but its a strange world because some people pay millions for crap (like an unmade bed? Dah?)
Uh, well, just kind of to throw this out there at Thelma Blake, Bob Ross did credit William Alexander in one of his episodes, if anyone cared to know.
“And before I go far into the show, I’d like to take a few minutes and make a dedication. I would like to dedicate this show to my beloved friend and teacher, whom we’ve all watched and loved for many years on public television, Bill Alexander. And years ago Bill taught me this fantastic technique, and I feel as though he gave me a precious gift. I’d like to share that gift with you”
And then, as for the subject at hand, I’m not an artist, I don’t have an education in drawing or painting, but that doesn’t make me an artistic simpleton. Art is about pleasure, and it’s not fair to judge it on ‘quality’ because I don’t think that’s the point.
Bob Ross preached teaching plants and the land as your friends, to keep secrets, to get crazy, and how to “make simple, effective little paintings”.
That’s his message, not how to paint the next Van Gogh. We can all learn something from him.
There is nothing more annoying than bitter artists that think they know it all because they attended a school and wasted a bunch of money. Sorry, this guy can put something together in 30 minutes (from images his head) which looks better and is worth more than anything that any of you will ever do combined. One of his goals was to show people how easy it is in the limited time that he had. He encouraged a lot of people to paint.
Is it better to be angry because you have no audience and never accomplish anything? Get a grip people. Until you are widely recognized also, I wouldn’t try to criticize ANYONE… let alone bob ross.
Wow, cannot believe there are actually people in the world of art that criticize other artists techniques or styles.
Have we not learned anything?
Those of you that criticize Bob Ross for his deeds in life are not artists…you’re posers with jealousy problems.
I wonder how many of those free thinking artists who have negative things to say about Bob are producing the type of art that my dog could produce with paint on his feet and then walking around a canvas. That is the type of art that requires absolutely no talent and is popular today for God knows what reason. Bob Ross was a great asset to the art world by getting people interested in painting who otherwise would never have, and in the process created many beautiful paintings. Wish you were still here with us Bob, we miss you.
I think Bob Ross is great! As someone who DID attend art school, Bob Ross helped me get comfortable with painting before I took “real” art classes. As someone with a passion for art and painting who just isn’t as good at it as I wish I was, Bob Ross’s methods helped me create something I was happy with—without feeling like I’d just wasted a canvas and $20 worth of paint. I went on to a career in typeface design and graphic art, but I still come back now and then to Bob’s world when I need to relax and just have fun. No one has to slavishly copy Bob’s paintings. Once you learn the technique you can use it to go out and paint real landscapes that you see.
Bob Ross is a good stepping stone, for beginners to learn a wet on wet technique that can be applied as they develop they’re unique skill as they move on…
On the other hand, if they choose to just master Bob Ross, at least they are happy and content with there lives. My hat is off to them. In the end all that matters, is the joy we get from being able to artistically be creative.
Many people take issue with his paintings simply BECAUSE anyone can accomplish this technique. People who spend money on university art courses and stare in awe at a Jackson Pollock ‘painting’ are really just trying to raise themselves above their peers. They want to feel that they ‘deeply understand’ something that us common folk cannot grasp with our simple minds… that art is some elusive thing that only they can comprehend. But when they see someone saying ‘come on folks, anyone can paint like this’, it infringes on their God-complex, threatens their seat up on that pedestal, and they feel that they must firmly stomp the idea out by making us feel like we are worthless.
Thank you Bob
To all of you snobby artist:
The masters that you study today had critics that said the same things about them. Art is a pleasure in life that should be enjoyed. I’ve watched plenty of Joy of Paintings, and have often heard Bob Ross tell his audience to not copy, learn from other artist, and never be satisfied. He will always be known for taking something that is difficult and making it easy for anyone to learn and enjoy without spending a lot of money.
To all of you who learned the wet on wet technique:
Do not be discouraged about what these so called artists said. They are discouraged because their art is not getting the reviews that they think they should get. They are too proud to learn from anyone else. They are the ones that are using the cookie cutter methods while you are learning to be free to use your imagination. Bob Ross reminds me of another artist who said “Be like water making its way through cracks”. This speaks of the freedom you have to create and reinvent the techniques you have learned.
Ok, I completely understand why people generally discredit bob’s stuff as gimmicky. It is. But like the others said, that’s not the point. Painting with his method is like composing guitar music with 6 or 7 chords. You can make some stuff up that’s pretty impressive, but it all sounds very similar. If you compare it to Jimmy Hendrix, it doesn’t hold a candle. However, Bob’s not trying to teach the next Hendrix, he’s just handing out cheap guitars with instructions for 6 or 7 chords and saying “go nuts”.
Those who are artistically talented may move on to bigger and better things, but those without talent can find a creative outlet, juvenile as the outcomes may be.
He’s not Picasso, he’s a kindergarten teacher handing out finger paints, and he does it because it makes all of the kids happy, not because one or two can do it well.
Questioning if what Bob Ross did is “good” is the equivalent of questioning if Kitten are cute. Bob Ross offers millions of people joy, not just through what he painted but by his amazingly sweet, honest, and happy attitude while he was painting. Anyone who wants to speak negatively about a man who did nothing but talk about happy trees, squirrels, and promote the use of everyones imagination should go reflect on what battles they choose to fight in life!
The world is a lesser place today without the presence of this kind and talented man. He is the reason I paint today and my paintings have been likened to his (my early ones anyway) and to me that is the ultimate compliment! Anyone who has anything negative to say about Bob Ross needs to get a life!
Molly
Perhaps the Bob Ross approach can lead to an artist becoming “stuck” on tecchnique -yet watching his programs I can see that he was above all else an honest man. I think that he wanted people to be to able to express themselves and enjoy being with nature. I ask-what is wrong with that? There are some other very good art instruction programs on Create TV such as Your Brush With Nature & Passport and Palette but the Bob Ross art instruction programs while at a basic level serve an important need. I was truly saddened to read that he died -way too soon . Everytime I watch one of his programs I cannot help thinking of how much joy he took in painting and teaching. I like the fact that he worked right out of his head drawing on his visual memory . I have to laugh -sometimes he would get top a certain point and I would think to myself-leave it alone Bob! Then he “plops” in one of his brown barns or houses! If you watch enough episodes he will at times try to do something different-such as using a contact paper stencil or ablack toned canvas. Although I have not tried his technique I wonder if some artists do get caught up in the Bob Ross style. He has mentioned though that each canvas though comes with an artistic license and that gives you the right to do what you want to-its your world.
Rest in peace , Bob Ross -you were one of the good guys.
Bob ross always knew what he was painting. He had a finished painting beside him. He played it off like he was making the painting up as he went along. Phony bastard!!!
Another thing about Bob Ross, the phony. He learned the wet-on-wet technique from William “Bill The Happy Painter” Alexander but always took credit for inventing the technique. You could always hear him making statements like “This is the easiest method “I” ever came up with for doing this or that” Hogwash!!! I was watching Bill Alexander demonstrating this technique (since 1974) years before Mr Ross ever entered the scene and tried to pass it off as HIS method. He even went so far as to have Bill Alexander products (paints, brushes, etc.) produced with the BOB ROSS name. I am surprised Mr Alexander did not sue him long ago.
It is true he helped a lot of people get started and I give him credit for that…But it was William Alexander who invented this wet-on-wet technique. Below is some copy from Mr Alexander’s bio.
Bill Alexander’s techniques are proven successful, helping millions to discover the “Magic of Oil Painting.” Over the years, Bill Alexander painstakingly developed the paints, tools, and techniques needed to create optimum painting success. He discovered that thick, firm oil paints give the best results. Thin paints smear, making his wet-on-wet technique impossible. Along with his paints, Bill developed Magic White medium, the oil based undercoating which makes color control simple.He also developed painting tools never seen before; a 2 ½” brush and a large palette knife.
As you can see, the facts speak for themself. One should never take credit for something that does not belong to them.
BUZZ…
Neither Alexander nor Ross invented or discovered wet on wet painting, or using wide brushes, or palette knives. These techniques and tools are as old as oil paint. It’s all mirrors and marketing.
I have watched many of Bob’s shows and can remember him saying at different times that he used to paint in the so called “traditional” style or method. You know the way that so many think is “superior”. However, he felt that the wet-on-wet technique he was teaching was far less stressful, and simpler to learn and use. I believe that not only was Bob trying to show an easy way to paint and feel good about it, but also maybe trying to take some of the “stuffyness” out of the whole being an artist thing.
Besides what is the difference between a sculpture artist carving with a chisel or an electric cutting tool or a chainsaw in that form of art? No one makes a big deal about that! Why? Because it doesn’t matter! The end result is important. Not how the art was created. (No doubt some have drawn attention to the method as a marketing ploy, but that’s marketing, not the art itself.) It seems like some folks, “artists” if you will, who believe that one technique is better than another, have a small minded approach to being an artist. To me this sounds like a matter of an over blown self esteem issue.
Doesn’t it come down to what you are trying to accomplish with your art? If you are trying to sell it, then the only thing that matters is if the potential buyer loves it. Who cares if the painting was made with one 4 inch brush in two colors. If it sells, you’ve accomplished your objective. On the other hand if you are trying to impress big headed critics, then you will have to be boxed in by their small and limited view of art. And who cares what they think, there not going to buy you art, people who like it will.
The whole idea that there is even any debate at all about superior technique in any area of art seems very silly to say the least. One of the joys of life is VARIETY. And art is one way to showcase it!
Bob Ross the artist and the technique he taught was as legitimate as any so called “traditional” artist.
What would be wrong with perfecting the wet-on-wet technique any way. Some have done this with stunning results.
This article is a rebuttal to Dan’s article called Is Bob Ross Helpful or Harmful to Artists? Look at the Bob Ross Method of Painting. Found here: http://emptyeasel.com/2007/01/29/helpful-or-harmful-the-bob-ross-method-of-painting/
I am an Artist. For years I had admired paintings thinking I could never do what painters do. I thought it was too had to learn and took years of intense study if one did not have a natural affinity for the art. After watching Bob Ross’s The Joy of Painting for years, I decided to give it a try. Thus my love of painting was born. Dan’s article seems shallow to me because if he had actually studied the Bob Ross Method he would never have said such negative things about the method. Dan would know his assumptions are false. Dan claims that Bobs method produces ‘cookie cutter’ paintings that all look the same and cannot be improved on. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Dan admonished people to ‘learn to draw’ first to learn to paint but this is what Bob’s method does. It teaches one to draw with paint. And it’s not just Bob. Bob didn’t invent the method outright himself. The method is really traditionally called Alla Prima. Alla prima is a style of painting where, instead of building colors up with layers or glazing over an underpainting, the painting is completed while the paint is still wet. Strictly defined, an alla prima painting would be started and finished in one painting session, but the term is also more loosely applied to any painting done in a direct, expressive style, with minimal preparation. The wet on wet method of painting or alla prima, has been around for centuries and was used by some of the most popular celebrated classical painters of history. Wet on wet painting goes right back to the origins of oil painting, and was used by several of the best Early Netherlandish painters in parts of their pictures, such as Jan van Eyck in the Arnolfini portrait, and Rogier van der Weyden.
Since the mid-1800s the use of commercially produced pigments in portable tubes has facilitated rapid and on-the-spot painting. Impressionists like Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh, realists like John Singer Sargent, Robert Henri and George Bellows, and the Abstract Expressionist Willem de Kooning have each in different ways exploited the potential for fluid energy in the application of oil paints using the wet on wet method. The technique was used in the Portrait of Jan Six in 1654, by Rembrandt van Rijn and Rowing Home in 1890 by Winslow Homer among many others.
Bob Ross and his mentor Bill Alexander borrowed from these great painters methods to produce a modern method of painting that would endear curiosity seekers to the art and prove to them that yes they too can paint. So you see this is not really “Bob’s way of painting” but a classical style of painting that has been around for centuries. This is a great starting point for would be painters and people like me who cannot draw a lick. It is a great confidence builder. Once the method is learned the artist is free to learn other methods to compliment his paintings. The artist can now see possibilities he could never have seen before because he has proven to himself that he can paint too.
Dan claims that these Bob Ross painters can only paint from imagination. While it is true you can paint from imagination, most of the wet on wet painters I know do not. They paint from photographs just as many ‘traditional painters’ do. The idea is not always to make a picture perfect copy of the photograph but to paint the scene with the eye and expression of the artist.
Dan claims Bob’s trees don’t look like actual trees. I can’t tell you how many galleries I’ve been in and seen traditional paintings where the trees didn’t look like real trees.
On the other hand one can use the Bob Ross method to paint or mimic the tree to such a close approximation that no one would know he didn’t paint the tree free style. This does take practice.
Lastly Dan claims there is not room to grow as an artist with Bob’s method. I’m sure Dan would like to tell that to Vincent van Gogh or Claude Monet who used the wet on wet or alla prima method. There is always room to grow, to improve technique or to combine techniques to produce something new and fresh. The only limiting factor is you. How far are you willing to take your painting skills, to take what you’ve learned and boldly go forth into new exciting directions that perhaps Bob Ross never even thought of?
Artist of other oil painting schools can benefit from learning this method as well because there are many scenes that only a wet on wet method can produce to enhance a painting.
If you can draw and wish to learn to paint in the manner considered the “traditional way” that is fabulous and there is nothing wrong with it. Likewise there is nothing wrong with wet on wet or alla prima painting as it is as just a viable method to lean to paint as any other, sometimes even more.