I was watching Blue Moon and Emerald Waters and he doesn't say that he applied liquid clear to the canvas before applying the transparent undercoat. Was this just a production oversight? Aren't they required for all black canvas paintings?
Actually, no. Bob Ross hadn’t invented liquid clear until several series into the joy of painting.
Not necessarily. I use liquid clear if I will be blending colors in that area like a sky or a sea. If I don’t really blend colors, I just put the colors that Bob uses on the background. It allows more control with the paint you’ll layer on later on.
On black canvases I use liquid clear because I like the “shininess “ that it gives the painting when dry. But Nancy is 100% correct about easier paint layers application when not used.