Clear Autumn Day. Painting #19. Learning New Things from Kevin Hill

Clear Autumn Day  is my 19th painting. Instead of painting with Bob Ross, I painted with Kevin Hill. It reflects the essence of fall, bursting forth in a profusion of brilliant autumn colors. As you can see, I went in a little bit of a different direction with this one. 

Let’s Get Started

This post is about my version of Clear Autumn Day by Kevin Hill.  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/tutorial 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 or something similar. Next, I will expound a bit about my process. 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 19th oil painting.

The Inspiration for Clear Autumn Day

I think around this time of the painting, I was looking to expand my skills a bit or try something a little different than straight Bob Ross techniques. I found out about a young artist named Kevin Hill.  He uses the wet on wet technique but it’s slightly different then Bob’s style.  I looked up his stuff and found that he did a few seasons with PBS.  He also has a YouTube channel (Kevin Hill) of course but the paintings done on there are highly edited and compressed for time.  Still he does some amazing work.

For this one I followed along with a Kevin Hill tutorial. This is a good one to try for the first time because he spends some time talking about types of paint and medium and how to apply it.

Materials

Here are the colors and equipment I used to paint Clear Autumn Day.  All of the colors are included with the Bob Ross Master Paint Set. I’ll admit, that kit can get a bit pricey. So here is an alternative starter oil paint set. Windsor and Newton is a solid brand. The only thing is it doesn’t come with any brushes or instructions. 

W&N Oil Paint Starter Set

Colors

• Bright Red
• Cadmium Yellow
• Dark Sienna
• Midnight Black 
• Prussian Blue
• Sap Green
• Titanium Hwite
• Van Dyke Brown
• Yellow Ochre
• Don’t forget the Liquid Hwite!

Kevin uses a few colors different from your standard Bob Ross colors. When I did this painting, I had nothing but my Bob Ross colors and they worked fine. I’ve listed the Kevin colors and Bob’s equivalent just in case you only have Bob Ross color or if you want to buy Kevin colors. 

Black = Midnight Black
Burnt Umber = Van Dyke Brown
Cad Red = Bright Red

Equipment

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

For more items and materials you may need, such as canvases or paint thinner, check out my Getting Started page.

Before We Begin/Liquid White (top half only)

How to apply liquid white. The first thing to do with any wet on wet painting is to apply the liquid hwite. The trick is to not apply too much.  Having the right amount of medium on the canvas will help lighten your value in the sky and aid in blending everything together. In this particular painting, Kevin only applies the medium to the top half of the canvas where the sky is. The bottom half is completely dry. Kevin makes a good point in the very beginning of the video. You don’t have to put the liquid white on the entire canvas. Sometimes you don’t want to use it at the bottom because you usually want dark shadow color. With medium, you need to use more paint because it mixes with the dark color and lightens the value. You could use liquid clear or similar to aid the flow of paint but that creates a glare. 

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. However, 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. Kevin demonstrates this very technique in the video. 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.  The liquid white you need will remain on the surface. 

How I Painted This Painting and New Lessons Learned from Kevin Hill

Sky

There is nothing complicated or special about the sky. There aren’t even any clouds. The color used was Prussian blue with a bit of black mixed. The black sort of tones down the intensity of the blue. Prussian blue is a strong color. One tube can change the color of the whole ocean! 

Background Trees/Bushes

These background trees and bushes are different from any Bob Ross style trees I’ve ever done or seen him paint. That’s what I love about them. Kevin Hill uses a combination of the one inch brush and the filbert brush. It’s genius! The big brush is used for the dark background areas and the filbert is used to shape the outlines. 

I learned something different from painting with Kevin. A new color combo for background foliage. Normally, Bob throws a bunch of dark colors together. Usually consisting of blue, black, brown, green, sometimes crimson. Kevin uses a much simpler background consisting of burnt umber (VDB) and Cad red (bright red). This gives a nice brown reddish tone that’s perfect for fall foliage shadow.

Kevin teaches an alternative technique for foliage highlights that I’ve used many times. While Bob uses the big brushes, Kevin uses the filbert once again. The highlight color isn’t your typical yellows and greens that Bob likes to use. The highlight for this scene is simply cad yellow and red mixed on the brush. The key to making this work is tapping the brush into the paint to spread the bristles and get all the different color variations on the brush. Then pick out parts of the dark areas to highlight. Even with the small brush, Kevin is able to add lots of detail in a short amount of time to include lots of variations of yellow, orange and red.  

Other New Techniques from Kevin Hill

Sketching. Kevin sketches out the path before blocking in dark color. This is a good way to help your perspective before blocking in. Bob hardly ever does any sketching unless it’s a seascape wave. Also, when Bob adds a path, he’ll usually just paint over the area. 

Blocking in dark color through the whole canvas. Before adding the foliage highlight I mentioned before, Kevin blocks out the dark color throughout the entire scene before adding any highlight. Also as mentioned, there is no medium on the bottom. The paint is thick  yet not runny. The amount of medium used is a factor in runniness and mud mixing. This is also a good way to reduce brush washing if you have limited brushes. You can get all your dark color on their first then wash the brush and use it again for highlights. 

Upward evergreens. Bob teaches different techniques for painting evergreen style trees over the course of his show. From using the fan brush to the one inch and even almighty two inch brush, Bob creates some classic looking evergreen trees. Up to this point I had only tried the fan brush technique by pushing downward. I like the upward style that Kevin demonstrates in this painting. 

Grass. Since there’s a lot of dark color, you need to use a bright value of green with lots of yellow. It becomes subtle on top of the dark layer so if you don’t use enough green/yellow mixture, it won’t create enough contrast.. Leave some dark areas to create contrast and shadow. 

Sunlight highlights. To create even more dynamic highlights, Kevin uses almost pure yellow with a bit of white to make the highlight pop and make it look like a ray of sunshine is peaking through the trees. 

Final Thoughts

This one surprised me a bit. I really like how it turned out. Looks different from my previous paintings. I really enjoyed trying a different technique for creating the trees and highlights. I had this hanging in my office for a while.

In the beginning of the video, Kevin gives us some tips right out the gate. He mentions not to use a whole lot of paint for mixing or under color. Using paint sparingly aids highlights. 

The Bob Ross/Bill Alexander technique uses globs of paint for dark backgrounds or trees/mountains. They make it work by using liquid white or thinner to thin their highlights because they live by that golden rule that a thin paint sticks to a thick paint. While both were teaching how to paint and making it seem easy, they were also trying to sell paint and brushes. The golden rule of Bob and Bill works still but Kevin makes it less messy and reduces your chances of becoming a mud mixer. 

During the painting Kevin gives us a nice little artistic tidbit of leading the eye towards the center of your painting. Just something to keep in mind if you want to make a happy buck. If you paint along with Bill, Bob, or Kevin, they’ll take care of that for you but pay attention to what they’re painting and where they are placing features. There’s usually a purpose. 

Another little artistic tip he mentions is how the use of light and shadow creates contrast which makes for a dramatic effect in your paintings. Don’t highlight everything. Strategically place your highlights to create that contrast or even lead the eye to where you want it to go. 

Until Next Time

I hope you enjoy this painting. Give it a shot yourself then share a link to a photo of your rendition. Have a question? Comment below. Cool story about this painting. It was used as an album cover for an independent music artist. Click on the picture below for their website.

  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. This painting ended up as a gift to a friend. If you want to see more of my work or see what’s for sale, check out my Art Store or Etsy Shop to see other paintings available. You can also follow me on all my social media sites. 

Happy Painting!