Mountain Reflections part 2. Painting # 14. No Painting is the Same.

July 19, 2018

Mountain Reflections pt 2 — **Mountain Reflections part 2.**
Date painted: February 24, 2017
Size: 18 x 24 canvas

“Every painting is going to be different, and that’s what makes it great.”- Bob Ross

Mountain Reflections part 2 is my fourteenth oil painting. Once again it takes us to a beautiful lake hideaway nestled below a towering mountain. You might say this was sort of my first commission. What I mean by that is someone specifically requested this picture. Word started getting around work that I picked up this new painting hobby and was half decent at it. One of my coworkers saw Mountain Reflections and wanted to buy it. By that time, I already sent it home to my dad as a gift. However, I offered to recreate the scene and on a larger canvas.

Let’s Get Started

This post is going to be a little bit different than my previous. It is still about Mountain Reflections part 2, my second time painting this scene. I will still post the video reference and colors/materials. Following that, I will do a sort of comparison to my first attempt and see what I had improved on at the time. So join me on this trip down memory lane as I recap my fourteenth oil painting.

The Inspiration

The inspiration for this piece was Joy of Painting episode S12E2. Same as the first time. Although, I can’t remember if I used the video for this one. I must have at least referred to it since I had the new colors to use so I wanted to see where Bob used them within the painting.

If you wanted to try this painting, that’s the episode.

Materials Required

Here are the colors and equipment I used. Everything needed to do this painting comes with the Bob Ross Master Paint Set, with the exception of a few extra colors.

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. 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)

Materials

For more items and materials you may need, check out my Getting Started page.

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 are only two episodes where he demonstrates the application of Liquid White. Yet, he does not explain exactly how to apply it except in the one hour special video linked in Grandeur of Summer. 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 white 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.

Let’s See What’s Different

Sky

Note: The italicized text is from post about my first version.

There’s not much I can say about the sky. I recall having fun painting the clouds. The only suggestion I would have, when the sky is a single color, is to vary the amount of pressure you apply with the two inch brush. Keep the brush moving all around the canvas using the little criss cross strokes Bob talks about. This will add a bit of variation and interest to your sky overall and give it more depth.

I think I did the same thing in this version. Now, it could be the lighting but the blue in this sky appears to have a slightly different value of blue. That could be the amount of pressure applied or how much liquid white was applied.

Clouds

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.

So my clouds in part 2 aren’t all that different. If anything they’re not blended out as well on the bottom.

Mountain

The mountains in this painting turned out well, overall. The paint was “breaking”, meaning you can see little gaps of the color underneath. The only minor critique I have of these mountains is similar to my previous paintings. The sharp angles of the highlights and shadows. Mainly the shadows.

The paint breaking remains in this version but I think the overall shape of the highlights improved.

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.

This got better here. You can see a bit of a dark line on the far right peak.

…because of the smaller mountain in front of the larger one. I failed at that. I mean the mountain looks fine in itself but it’s not set apart from the larger one in the back. The reason is because I didn’t create enough mist on the large background mountain. Additionally, I didn’t bring it far enough down the canvas to make it appear closer. So remember those two little tricks for painting a separate small mountain in front of a large main mountain. Create a dark, misty base, then start painting in the smaller mountain close to the base.

At the time of this painting, I hadn’t realized my errors in creating that depth to show a closer, smaller peak and therefore didn’t improve on that at all.

Trees/Bushes

In the last post I mentioned that the foliage could have used a little more color variation but I didn’t have the extra colors needed. In this version I did have those extra colors and they really added a lot. I think the shape and forms were about the same.

Version 1 Trees/Bushes

Version 2 Trees/Bushes

Middle Bushes

Final Thoughts

I like this version of this painting a lot! Almost as much as the first one. I loved what the extra colors added to the overall composition. The reflections are still my favorite part. It’s truly satisfying when you can create an almighty reflection. Overall, version two appears to be a little bit more vibrant and the bushes seem a bit sharper. My one little nitpick is that I didn’t cover up that little streak on the right side of the mountain. Around this time of my painting timeline, I had a habit of overlooking little details like that.

This post has been more of a comparison to my first version. If you would like more how tos and lessons learned, visit my first post about Mountain Reflections. In that post I mentioned the colors I used versus the colors Bob uses in the video. You can clearly see the difference those few extra colors make.

Note: Again, I don’t have any quality photos of this one. I took them on my old iPad in a poorly lit garage where I painted at the time. This painting was the biggest canvas I had worked on and the third painting sold.

I hope you enjoy this painting. I’d love to know your thoughts. Tell me what you like about each painting. What could be better? 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. You can also follow me on all my social media sites.

Happy Painting!