Grandeur of Summer. Painting #7. The Perfect Beginner Bob Ross Painting.

Grandeur of Summer
Date Painted: January 21, 2017
Size: 16 x 20 stretched canvas

“All you need to paint is a few tools, a little instruction, and a vision in your mind.” ― Bob Ross

About This Painting

Grandeur of Summer is my seventh oil painting.  At this point in my art journey, I couldn’t devote as much time to my hobby. My pesky real job was getting in the way. In between my last painting, Meadow Brook Surprise, and this one, I discovered a unique Bob Ross video on YouTube. In this special video, Bob paints one painting – Grandeur of Summer – with complete instructions for you to follow in this exclusive 60 minute video. He goes into the entire ”how to” details for each painting providing you with excellent reference tools for your home studio. This episode was never seen on television!

Let’s Get Started

This post is about my version of Grandeur of Summer by Bob Ross. First, I’ll talk about the inspiration for this painting. When I talk about inspiration in this blog, it will normally be why I chose a certain subject or Bob Ross episode to follow. Then, I will go over the colors and equipment I used and that you will need if you want to try your hand at it. Next, I will expound a bit about my process and how to paint Grandeur of Summer even if you are a beginner and new to painting with Bob Ross. Finally, I’ll wrap up with some lessons that I learned from painting this picture and things I could have done better or wished I had known. So join me on this trip down memory lane as I recap my seventh oil painting. 

The Inspiration

The inspiration for this piece was The Grandeur of Summer. This was not aired as a part of the Joy of Painting series. I chose to do this painting for one simple reason. Bob takes it slow and gives much more detailed instruction than he does in normal show episodes. This a great video to follow as a new oil painter using the wet on wet technique. 

This video was the first opportunity I had to use the extra Bob Ross colors I ordered. I still had the colors that came with my Bob Ross Master Paint Set. The new colors allowed me to add a lot more variation and interest to my painting for the first time. This would pay off for me, literally. Keep reading to find out how. 

Materials Required

Here are the colors and equipment I used.

Whether you want to continue on your journey after painting your first masterpiece from the Bob Ross Master Kit DVD or painting for the first time, here are the colors and equipment you will need for this painting. The kit includes everything you need to paint this painting in particular as well as many other spectacular Bob Ross masterpieces. Getting this kit will eliminate the anxiety of buying the right brushes made of the right materials or the right oil paints with correct firmness or pigment ratios. Everything you need is there and ready to go. 

Colors (included in the master kit)

• Alizarin Crimson
• Bright Red
• Cadmium Yellow
• Midnight Black
• Phthalo Blue
• Sap Green
• Titanium Hwite
• Van Dyke Brown
• Don’t forget the Liquid Hwite!

Additional Colors (not included in the kit)

• Yellow Ochre
• Indian Yellow
• Dark Sienna

Equipment

• 2 Inch Brush
• 1 Inch Brush
• #6 Fan Brush
• Large Palette Knife
• Script Liner Brush

There are a couple colors Bob uses that are not included in the kit that I couldn’t use up until this point. These colors are not critical to this painting’s composition. However, in this particular composition, I think they’re essential.  The reason I list them under a separate heading is because you could complete this painting without those. They are listed as additional colors that you need to get if you want to paint it just like Bob Ross or like I did here. 

Additional Items to Get Started

If this is your first time painting, you’ll need a few essential items.  The Bob Ross kit doesn’t include everything you need to get started painting. It does include all the brushes and paint you need but in order to paint your own masterpieces you’ll need a few more things. I have you covered however. 

Canvas

Stretched canvas is optimal here. You can paint on many surfaces but if you’re just getting started, I advise you to go with a basic stretched canvas.  Most already come ready to paint on right out of the packaging.  Above all, avoid canvas boards with this technique. Canvas boards tend to soak up the liquid white which is critical for this style of painting. 

Easel

You’ll want a sturdy easel to hold your painting surface. The kit I mentioned above does include a carrying case which I used as a makeshift easel.  Beware if you do this, however.  The canvas is not secure.  You could also lay the canvas flat on a desk or table. With that being said, you don’t require an easel but it sure makes life easier!

Palette

The kit I keep mentioning over and over? There’s a reason.  It really is a great starter kit to kick start your new painting hobby.  You’ll need something to squeeze your paint onto. The kit comes with a small wooden palette. You can squeeze the paint directly onto it. However, if you want to keep your palette clean and smooth, you can put some palette paper on it. If you don’t have the kit, you can use paper plates or a piece of glass or Plexiglas. However, I highly suggest not using paper plates and use a hard flat surface. 

Therefore, a nice large palette will be useful. You’ll need a palette that is big enough to give you sufficient area to mix lots of colors with the knife and big brushes. This painting was the first time I used a proper palette which made me feel a bit more like a real artist! Did it help my painting? Look back at my previous paintings and you be the judge. 

Odorless Paint Thinner

The only small drawback with oil painting is the solvents required. You need to clean your brushes and odorless paint thinner or odorless mineral spirits work the best. To keep it contained, you’ll need a bucket. The Bob Ross company has the perfect thing. This bucket and screen combo will keep your thinner contained and secure. Surely after you clean your two inch brush, you’ll want to beat the devil out of it! But you certainly don’t want to do that in your home. Bob comes through again with a brush beater rack. Put this inside a box or waste basket and you can beat the devil to your heart’s content! 

Before We Begin

Every Bob Ross painting begins by covering the canvas with a medium. In most paintings he starts off with the medium known as Liquid White. Liquid White is a thin, fluid paint. Much thinner than the normal oil paint. This makes it easy to apply and mix with other colors right on the canvas. 

I’ve watched every single Bob Ross episode and there is only one where he demonstrates the application of Liquid White. Yet, he does not explain exactly how to apply it. That was until this little gem of a video was discovered. Well, I’m here to help try to put into text what Bob was able to verbally explain. 

Liquid White

How to apply liquid white. The first thing to do with any Bob Ross painting is to apply the liquid hwite. The trick is to not apply too much.  I’ve been getting better with the liquid with each painting. Having the right amount of medium on the canvas will help lighten your value in the sky and aid in blending everything together. 

I learned later that the best way to apply the liquid white is to dip your brush into the white then dab it all over the canvas. After you’ve dabbed it, then you start to spread it around. But, you don’t paint it on like you’re painting a fence. With this medium, you have to spread it around and scrub it in. Really get tough with it.  Don’t worry, you’re not going to hurt your brush. 

Make sure the medium is spread evenly. To do this, I use the light of the room or outdoors.  For example, I look at the canvas at different angles to pick out dry spots. Bob suggests using a light gray primer on your canvas. This will make it easier to tell where you have applied the liquid white. 

To check if you have applied the right amount, lightly press your fingers on different spots on the canvas. You should be able to see your fingerprint.  If you can’t, then you’ve put too much on.  Don’t worry.  Simply take a paper towel and lightly wipe the canvas or use a clean, dry brush and go over it. The brush will pick up any excess from the canvas. The liquid white you need will remain on the surface.

How I Painted This Painting and Lessons Learned

Sky

This is one sky you really can’t mess up.  Well, you sort of can if you don’t blend it enough. If you leave some lighter spots in the sky and just blend them all together, it will give you a beautifully effective sky. Bob does a great job of demonstrating how to load the brush to paint lovely skies. There’s not really much I can add that Bob didn’t address regarding this feature.

Clouds

Do you struggle with painting happy clouds? It’s really not difficult. Clouds are free and fluffy so have fun with them! Using the fan brush in this case, the trick is to keep the brush moving. You don’t have to move fast, however. Do a little circle motion then move the brush and continue. The cloud is not gonna look right at first. Don’t worry about that. We’re gonna fix it. After the basic cloud shapes are in, take just the corner of the two inch brush and touch it lightly to the bottom of the cloud. Let me say that again. Lightly.  

Using the same circular motion you did with the fan brush, lightly blend out the bottom of the clouds. Remember, stay at the bottom. Then, using extremely light pressure, gently lift up from the bottom of the cloud in a backwards “C” like motion. Another way to think of it is a big exaggerated circular motion where you only barely touch the canvas with the brush on the clouds. Does that make sense? The best way to learn is to watch Bob Ross closely as he paints happy clouds. In this video there are a lot of close ups of him painting clouds.  

Mountain

The mountains in this painting turned out well, overall. The highlight paint didn’t break as much as others. It sort of looks a bit like frosting in some places.  Bob explains this very well here. The key point I missed is that when using the knife to highlight mountains, you want to let only the paint touch the canvas. Do not press down with the knife. Let just the paint touch the canvas and gently glide down. 

These mountains are similar to my previous paintings. The sharp angles of the highlights and shadows stand out. Mainly the shadows. To avoid this, you have to be loose with the knife. Don’t fret so much about where the shadow starts. Change up your angle of attack. If you have to, turn the knife sideways or use the small edge of the knife. Also, take care to bring your  highlight and shadow layers all the way down to the end of the mountain no matter where you think foreground features will go. 

The last couple of mountain paintings I did, there appears to be a dark line above the start of the highlight. This is due to not starting the highlight stroke above the mountain outline. That’s a key trick in order to avoid that type of happy accident. Begin your highlight stroke just on the outside edge of the mountain highlight. Bob even explains this in the video but I still didn’t pick up on it for some reason. Pay close attention. The video has a lot of close ups on brush and knife loading. They really key in on the highlight technique. I wish I had taken my time more with the mountains. 

Foothills

Bob Ross tends to call the middle ground areas foothills. Not a bad way to describe them. They’re basically just distant tree lines. He paints in multiple different foothills in this painting in order to give it some depth. In my version, there only appears to be 2 planes of footy hills, as Bob often likes to call them. This is probably because I ran out of room.  You can paint a beautiful landscape on any size canvas really. However, for this one, I think the 18 x 24 works best unless you’re more experienced and can adjust for the smaller sizes. 

With multiple planes of the same feature, it is critical that you get the values to differ.  Bob explains this often. Features in a landscape get darker and a little bit more detailed as they get closer to you. You can see this for yourself. Try having a look at some landscapes or even photos of majestic landscapes. Always start off lightest in the back. It’s best to start off with a really light color.  It’s much easier to make a color darker on canvas than it is to make it lighter. Each layer should get darker as it moves forward. If you start too dark in the back, you’ll have difficulty differentiating the layer values. 

I say all of this only if you’re trying to learn and replicate this painting. After all, it is your world. You don’t need 3 or 4 layers of foothills if you don’t want them. This painting looks fine without all the layers. 

Tree/Bushes

I’m really happy with the way both my evergreens and my bushes turned out.  The extra colors really gave this one that little bit of extra oomf. The yellow ochre and Indian yellow sets it apart from my previous paintings. 

The key to effective foliage highlights is a bit of liquid white or a TINY bit of paint thinner before going into the highlight color. This will thin the paint.  The next most important thing for highlighting is a lot of paint. That’s the only drawback of this technique.  It can get a bit expensive after a while because it requires a LOT of paint on your brushes in order to make the technique work. Bob takes his time with the highlights giving you a good look at the technique. 

If you’ve watched a lot of Bob Ross episodes, you may notice that he uses the fan brush a lot to make evergreen trees. In this one, he shows us something a bit different. Not only does he use the one inch brush for the distant trees in the foothills, he uses a two inch brush to make evergreens. I may have tried this once in all my paintings. I prefer the fan brush which is what I used here. If you’re going to try to make evergreen trees with the one or two inch brush, you really need a nice, maintained brush. If you have an old beat up brush, the bristles won’t stick together as well. You need a lot of paint and a good brush to make trees with the one or two inch brush. That’s the key to getting that chiseled edge. 

Additional Tips

Pay attention to where he places features. Sometimes Bob doesn’t explain the why behind the how. He always says to paint whatever you want because it’s your world but there’s a reason he does what he does. After a while, you’ll start to figure out why he does certain things and be able to do it on your own. 

You may have caught it in the video when Bob mentions that black and yellow make green. Wait a second. What?  I don’t remember that from school.  With the Bob Ross brand of oil paints, he uses Midnight Black. This pigment is not common in other brands from what I can find. In this version, there’s a bit of a blue hue in the pigment. Midnight Black almost looks like a dark purple. Well that means the blue in the pigment will mix with the yellow and make a shade of green. It’s science! If you tried to mix a traditional black pigment like Mars black or Ivory black with yellow, you probably won’t get a shade of green. 

This is another good one to have a go as a beginner since the show is a whole hour of Bob teaching. Not only do you get a more in depth explanation but you get to try new brushes and techniques. You even get to mix a big gob of paint. Boy that’s fun! Nothing like taking some piles of paint and mixing them together with the knife. Makes you feel like a REAL artist. Well, that’s the feeling I get. 

Final Thoughts 

I don’t have any high quality photos of this one. The initial photos were taken in my poorly lit garage that I painted in at the time. I can’t take any more photos of this painting because I don’t have it anymore. You see, this is the first painting I ever sold! The sale came quite unexpectedly. I shared some of my artwork in a local Facebook group and a neighbor saw the paintings and loved them and wanted to see them in person. I brought them to the neighbor a few doors down and she loved this one the most.  It is a great feeling when someone is willing to pay you a happy buck for something you created. At this point I had only been painting for less than a month and sold my first painting! I was over the moon. 

I hope you enjoy this painting. This is a great painting to do if you’re trying it for the first time. Give it a shot. Have a question? Comment below. Subscribe to my blog to stay up to date and be notified when a new post is live and learn more about the Bob Ross method and how far it can take you as a new artist. Check out my Art Store to see other paintings for sale. You can also follow me on all my social media sites. 

Happy Painting!