Bob Ross Meets Halo. Painting #66. Video Game Fan Art.

Painting #66 is called Bob Ross Meets Halo. This is a scene that you might find in one of the many Halo video games but painted in the Bob Ross/Bill Alexander wet on wet style.

Let’s Get Started

This post is about my original oil painting, which I call  “Halo Meets 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 what 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 66th overall oil painting. 

The Inspiration

The inspiration for this painting was, of course, the video game Halo. I loved that game when it was first released along with the XBox. My friends and I would play for hours in the dormitories. We would run the LAN cable through to each other’s rooms and have epic 8 vs 8 battle royals. Ahhhh, good times.

Someone once suggested that I paint a scene from some video games since some of the realistic games these days have some pretty nice scenery. I took that into consideration and set about to find some Halo scenery to see what I could throw together. I found a few scenes that looked like they could be done with the Bob Ross technique and sketched something out in my sketchbook.

Materials Used

Here are the colors and equipment I used for this Halo painting. Most of the oil colors I used are included with the Bob Ross Master Paint Set. 

Oil Colors

• Alizarin Crimson
• Bright Red
• Cadmium Yellow
• Dark Sienna
• Indian Yellow
• Midnight Black
• Phthalo Blue
• Prussian Blue
• Sap Green
• Titanium Hwite
• Van Dyke Brown
• Yellow Ochre

Acrylic Colors

• Hookers Green
• Phthalo Blue 

Mediums

• Liquid Hwite!
• White Gesso

Equipment

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

For a list of other items needed to paint or alternative art materials, visit my Getting Started page. 

Medium Application

For tips on medium application, see my post about Bob Ross medium application. 

Why I Love This Halo Painting

I LOVE this Halo painting. This is probably my favorite painting that I’ve ever done! Why is that you might ask? Well, I think for many reasons. One reason is I looked at this as ambitious. I had been planning it for a bit. And since I had planned it for so long and took on what I perceived as an ambitious project, it turned out better than I thought it could. 

Another reason I love it so much is because I tried something new with it. I put in some sketches beforehand on the canvas and painted them with acrylic paint. Why that’s somewhat of a big deal to me is because I have very low confidence in my drawing ability. I need to draw more to get that up. The sketches turned out great and the acrylic painting of them even better. Can you tell where I used acrylic paint? Comment below and see if you’re right. 

Also, I love how the oils and acrylics came together to work perfectly for this particular piece. The final reason I love this piece so much is probably for nostalgia reasons. That time of my life when the game first came out and I was playing it with my best friends was such an impactful time in my life. Then to have my artistic ambition for this piece come together on this topic just put the cherry on top.

Tips/Tricks

In this section of the blog post I would normally go over how I painted this particular painting and lessons learned. For original paintings, I usually comment on something that may have been particularly challenging or a new technique I learned rather than go into detail about how to paint the entire thing. 

The only tip I can offer in this case is that you can incorporate acrylic paints into an oil painting and vice versa. Just make sure the oil paint is a transparent color so as not to cover over your acrylic sections.

I used multiple layers of paint for the highlights, which is why I did the two previous mountain paintings in preparation. Twin Peaks and Mountain Sunset. I used those to practice the multi-layer highlighting technique. Twin Peaks is a Kevin Hill inspired piece and Mountain Sunset is a Bob Ross. 

Happy Accident

Oh man, I almost forgot. This entire painting was nearly ruined! Right as I finished it, I took it off the easel for a close up for the Twitch audience. I put it back on the easel and must have forgot to secure it because I turned to face the camera and on the screen I could see it start to tip over! I turned around to catch it and smudged the fresh paint. There were finger marks right up the middle. I was able to repair it but it could have been so much worse. I was sooooooo pissed! ALL that work (nearly 5 hours) almost ruined. 

I fixed it by adding more to the peak of the mountain. Bob always said you have unlimited power on the canvas. You have the power to make mountains grow. That’s what I did here after a major happy accident. Turned out great in the end.

Final Thoughts

If you paint with Bob enough, you will be able to pick up the techniques and use them to create your own masterpieces. Give it a try. It’s so much fun when you venture out on your own and create. Get brave and try to create your own original painting then share a link to a photo of it. Have a question? Comment below. 

So as you may have guessed, this painting is NOT for sale. Not unless someone offers a crazy amount of money. However, you can own a version of it. I have a variety of prints available in my Art Store or my Etsy shop. You can get a 5 x 7 inch print or an 8 x 10 inch print on high quality photo paper with a matte finish in my Etsy shop or you can get canvas, metal, or framed poster prints from my Art Store. Check it out here. Halo Painting Prints. Don’t miss out on your chance at these one of a kind items.

More art is available in my Art Store. Check it out if you want to see more of my work and see other paintings available. You can also follow me on all my social media sites. 

Happy Painting!