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?
Liquid clear on black canvas
Actually, no. Bob Ross hadn’t invented liquid clear until several series into the joy of painting.
a month later
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.