Wet
on wet painting became very popular
back in the 1970's when Bill Alexander developed his quick and easy
method of oil painting. One of the reasons for this was so that he
could produce more paintings. He developed some beautiful colour oil
paints and brushes especially for this method. This method was taken further by Bob
Ross, one of Bill's first students and there are many DVD's
available of his very successful TV Series called Joy of Painting.
Bob has a wonderful delivery and is great to watch, firstly for the
technique, but also for the relaxing way he delivers his message.
This technique is also known as
direct painting and the painting is usually completed in one day,
this is also known as alla prima - at the first. The impressionist
painters were renowned for this type of painting when they painted
outside back in the 19th Century.
My first impression of the Bob Ross technique
was that it reminded me of magic painting. When I was very small I
was given a book of what looked like drawings and a paintbrush and
water. When I put water on the page the black and white drawings
turned to colour pictures. I was amazed and delighted.
The technique involves covering the
pre-stretched canvas with either a Liquid Clear, Liquid White or Liquid Black and
working other colours into this wet background. You will find lots
of information on the Internet regarding this method and there are
other qualified Bob Ross instructors in the UK who run workshops.
Reasons
to try wet on wet oil painting
These can be done in one sitting, sometimes in only a few hours and
this satisfies the modern way of living - fast. Also it means that
if you have limited space available you can produce your painting
and completely clear away on the same day so inconvenience is kept
to the minimum.
It is relatively easy to learn and you can produce good work very
quickly. Very important to those of you like myself who do not have
a lot of time but want to develop.
You do not need any previous experience of painting or drawing.
Do you have to have the Bob Ross
paints and brushes?
To be successful with this method it is important to
have the right tools. With perseverance you can produce
paintings using other brushes and paints but from
experience I can tell you the really beautiful ones are
the ones produced using the correct equipment. The oil paints were developed especially for this technique and vary in consistency to allow this. Normal oils will not be of the correct consistency to ensure the result.
I have produced some wet on wet paintings using water
soluble oils but have yet to create a painting on one
day as the paints get muddy when applied one over the
top of another so I allow them to dry a little, and then
add the highlights. Remember not to use your Bob Ross brushes with water as it will ruin them
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