• Bob Ross

  • Total Newbee here, needs a little advice

Hey guys/gals, A little bit about myself, I'm recently retired and I've always wanted to take up the Bob Ross style of painting but up until now, never really had the time. I'm the kind of person who feels the need to do something really well or not do it at all. So now I have the time to give this the devotion it deserves.

After recently watching the Netflix doc. I don't want to give BRI a single penny more than I have to, to get started. I was not only a fan of Bob as a painter but also as a person. If there were more people in the world like him, it would be a better place, but I'm sure everyone here knows that.

I would like to at least start out with BR products before looking into alternative products that fit his style of painting. I've read many, if not all of the posts here on this subject and someone suggested buying RB off of ebay so it wouldn't go directly to BRI. Wouldn't that just prompt the seller to buy more to fill his inventory, assuming they would get it from BRI. I noticed the prices were a little higher on ebay but I don't mind paying a few bucks more to keep the $ out of the hands of BRI.

The post "Alternatives to Bob Ross Products" was very useful and I'm sure it will be appreciated by many others in the future.

Welcome to 2" brush! We're a happy little community here. Here would be my advice of all the BR products the toughest to find replacements for are the brushes. Fan brushes, script liner, filbert these are easy replaced by other brands. The toughest to find equals too are the 2", 1", oval, and round brushes.

Ever since I saw the documentary I have begun purging all my BR paints out for Windsor & Newton - Winton oils. And actually I'm more pleased with them than I was with the BR paints. They are just as firm, if not more so, and I like the screw on cap better.

Hope this helps and we'll be looking forward to your creations.

    @orion619 It wouldn't surprise me to find a seller or two who has attempted to sell new BRI goods at a markup given the recent outrage, but it seems unlikely. Much of it comes from estates, yard sales, consignments, people who meant to get into it but never did, etc., and usually at a discount, either because they paid little for it and want to move it of inventory, or because they're looking to recoup their investment in an abortive hobby.

    Now, that said, if enough people start shopping around for secondhand BRI goods, that will drive up prices, but whether they get high enough to make reselling newly purchased BRI goods profitable seems doubtful. At a certain price point, people who want items badly enough will hold their noses and order from BRI. But hopefully we can give serious inquirers some alternatives here.

      We have a blog post here on this very subject. An easy place to start is Alexander Art. He proceeded BR and trained BR so the materials/styles are interchangeable. His brushes will work fine as will his paint if you don't want to experiment.

        11 days later

        Oh dear I’ve been meaning to watch that documentary and from the comments it seems like there’s some dirty laundry in BRI. I guess I know what I’m watching tomorrow!

        orion619 I've said about buying off ebay, but I meant second hand. I got all the tools the easel and a load of paints from a private seller who tried and gave up. I like to think that by buying second hand I didn't contribute to BRI. Anyway, I got stacks of new unopened tubes of paint so was very happy with it. I'm not happy with BRI so when my paints run out I will be giving Gamblin a try.

          a month later

          tel I'm glad you brought that up tel. I think what newbies need to know is that whatever paint you use, don't put too much out. You watch Bob start out with copious amounts of paint at the beginning not realising that he's doing 3 paintings, one before the show, one during the show, and another one for the book so it's no surprise he globs out great big piles of it. I did the same in the beginning and wasted loads. Never again, I just put it out as I need it, I was born in Yorkshire!

            IIRC, Bob would paint the reference painting in FL, then the one at WIPB, then a more fulsomely detailed book version back again in FL. One of the seasons he painted from memory because somebody or bodies in Muncie broke into the van and stole his reference paintings. (Hopefully they kept them, they're worth about $10K apiece if authenticated; the story would get them more, but then would also be self-incriminating.) The reason he had so much paint on the palette is 1. to encourage you to use more 😂, and 2. because he would shoot several episodes in a single day. Each series was done in a week. If you watch several episodes in a row, you may see the amount on the palette winnow a bit between eps.

              Ian_Adkins Ah yes that makes more sense. haha self incriminating. I can't imagine BRI rushing to verify them, more likely to brush them off as fakes to make theirs more rare and more valuable. Nice work if you can get it, as the saying goes.

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