What is your best tip that you would give a newbie getting into this awesome hobby. Thank You so much in advance for any responses. Each and every one is appreciated 🙂

    TonyM Several tips will be useful Tony and I'm sure A LOT of community members will be happy to share some.

    I'm gonna confide to you one of my best tips, that has helped me from the beginning.

    I ate, slept and breathed Bob Ross and his creations.

    Learning to understand the man, his passion, his way of creating helped me enormously to understand better AND faster every one of his 404 creations public to us. A lot can be found already here, the rest is on the web.
    Give it a try, you will be amazed that you will create better when you get to know Bob Ross better.

    Best of luck!

    Voy Kay

      The best technical tip I can give is the fingerprint test when applying liquid white. I find it’s best to use too little than too much. After applying liquid white you should be able to put your finger to the canvas and still see the ridges of your fingerprint after touching it. If you applied too much, just wipe some off with a paper towel.

        Be fearless.

        Practice. Gesso leftover cardboard, use cheap scrap canvas, whatever…but when you can’t paint a full creation, practice…especially the things that challenge you.

        Try to have some sort of dedicated space. It really cuts into your painting time if you have to rearrange a room and then set up your whole studio.

        One brush is no brush. You need a bare minimum of two of each brush, maybe not the lesser used ones (filbert, oval, blender), but without an extra brush or two, you’ll spend a ton of time washing your brush.

        If it isn’t working, try a different way. A huge number of my problems relate to not having enough paint on the brush. Really, brush/knife loading in general is so important.

        In every painting, I hit a moment where I say “Well, I don’t totally like this, but messing with it more is making it worse.” Stop touching it at that point!

        So, that’s a lot more than one thing. Really, just dive in and try to enjoy the ride. This is a really challenging hobby, but it’s also very fulfilling. After most paintings, I feel like I haven’t created anything that great, but then I step away for a bit or show others, and realize that my natural tendency is to remember all my mistakes. You’ll never paint a perfect painting. And that’s what makes this fun.

          Treat your brushes as the apple of your eye. Cost considerations aside, you are the surgeon and they are your scalpels. They won't answer your command in any sort of satisfactory way if the bristles are loose and splayed out, or the ferrule acts like it's on a hinge because you've left it sitting in a bucket of thinner for days at a go.

          Also, paint what you are drawn to that day. I’m often surprised at how my tastes change with the seasons of life, and frequently end up painting a picture I hadn’t really planned on. Some are more complicated than others, but you’ll be able to see what ones will be more challenging for you pretty quickly. And sometimes you feel up to it! Just go for it.

          Oh…and watch the episode once through before you paint. It makes setup a lot easier. Though painting as you watch for the first time can be more exciting sometimes.🙂

          Man I just can’t help myself.

          I started off using 16x20” canvas and have now switched to 18x24. You can of course paint on whatever size you want or have around (I often use smaller canvas for practice sessions of individual elements), but I personally wouldn’t want to go smaller than 16x20, and I have really appreciated the extra room offered by the 18x24” canvas.

          All time in universe is yours, use it. Don’t aim for 30 min. It will take2-3 hours in real life. You will get tired, but happy when finish. You can stretch in two consecutive days without loses in painting process if needed.

          Such awesome tips. You guys and girls are THE BEST. Much appreciated.

          Sunnylady

          2-3 hours…or 5…😳

          I think I’m getting slower! It is exhausting but so fulfilling.

            HLarson3 My longest BR was a 6 hours exhausting project. But sh-sh-sh. We don't want to scare people away 😉 Anyway that painting is still hanging on the wall as a reminder about learning curve.

            Seriously: with all the advice here it makes so much sense to start with limited pallet and less hours and then increase in both. Don't worry slow down is fine, you refining skills and figure out what works better for you. I am doing the same: slow down is good as it will help to switch to your own paintings without need of any tutorials in the future because deep understanding of the process is imprinted in the brain. Then one can speed up again if one feels so.

              Practice makes perfect. An old tip but valuable here. Even though I've done art a vast majority of my life it's amazing to see how much I've improved the Bob Ross (wet on wet technique).

              I agree with Voy in that I've immersed myself into the Bob Ross world. Watching all his episodes, looking at some of the painting books, etc. It will all help.

              Last piece of advice, don't give up on a piece mid stream. I can still be guilty of that from time to time. Sometimes things might not look correct at first but finish the painting before you call it a failure. And as Bob would say, "If you learned from it then it's not a failure."

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