Bob Ross painted this lakeside scene in one 26 minute television slot in 1993, and the method is the reason it is possible. Wet-on-wet, or alla prima, means the whole painting goes on in a single sitting over a wet base, so colours blend on the canvas instead of waiting days to dry between layers.
This is the first oil tutorial on the site. Everything else in painting is acrylic, and the two behave very differently.
Why Liquid White Changes Everything
The thin coat of Liquid White that starts the painting keeps the canvas slick and wet. That is what lets a two-inch brush drag one colour through another and blend them in place. Without it you are pushing stiff paint across a dry surface and none of these techniques work.
It also thins whatever you mix into it, which matters later. Thin paint sticks to thick paint, so highlights get a little Liquid White so they grab the dark layer underneath.
The Colours on the Palette
Alizarin Crimson, Phthalo Blue, Prussian Blue, Titanium White, Sap Green, Cadmium Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Dark Sienna and black. Around a dozen colours total, mixed on the palette with a knife and loaded onto brushes far larger than most beginners expect.
Depth Comes From Restraint
The single most useful idea in this episode has nothing to do with paint. Distant things show shape, form and basic colour and nothing else. Detail belongs in the foreground. Holding back on the far treeline is what makes the near tree feel close.
Working in acrylics instead? Our guides to painting clouds, painting water and painting a tree cover the same elements in the faster-drying medium.
