Can You Do Bob Ross Paintings with Acrylic Paint?

Bob Ross’s renowned art style is best achieved using oil paints, however since a lot of people would hesitate to spend a $100 or more to buy the Bob’s Master paints set. We recommend using acrylic paints instead and that too for just half the price. The trick with using acrylic paints is that you must use them quickly, since they dry up immediately.

To make a painting like Bob Ross, you’ll need Liquid White, one of Bob Ross’s Solvent Base coats required to imitate his infamous Wet-on-Wet Painting Style. The Liquid White base is used to smooth out other colors for use over heavier acrylics. The concept behind this approach is that the thin layer of paint will settle smoothly onto the thick coating paint. 

Bob Ross employs thick oil paints in ‘The Joy of Painting.’ However, we recognize that purchasing separate oil paints in each hue might be prohibitively expensive; thus, in this post, we will show you how to recreate Bob’s wet-on-wet approach with acrylic paints.

Will Acrylic Paint Work to Create Bob Ross Painting?

Acrylic paints are a combination of watercolors and oils that are used to paint in wet-on-wet style on a variety of surfaces. To recreate Bob Ross’s artwork, first you need to wet the paper and then start applying layers of acrylic paints thinly, you need to be extra careful while spreading them onto the moist surface using the same techniques as you do with watercolor, or apply thick layers like oil paints.

We recommend purchasing the necessary color paints, paint thickener, and several canvases if you want to obtain all the essential equipment and colors at once. The Bob Ross business sells a variety of other painting kits and sets ranging in price from approximately $50 to over $800. However, you do not have to purchase the entire color set if it is too costly. If you are a novice, you may begin by utilizing less expensive paint alternatives such as acrylic paints.

Things Require to Lmitate Bob Ross Paintings with Acrylic Paint!

To create a Bob Ross painting, you will need the following materials:

• A White Liquid, which is necessary when working with acrylic paint to get the same effect. Some painters will also use gesso and a small amount of liquid retarder to produce an underpainting that stays wet longer.
• If you can’t purchase the Bob Ross Master Paint Set to create the Bob Ross paintings, look for a bob ross acrylic paint equivalent, and we suggest buying the MyArtscape Acrylic Paint Set to achieve the same color. The original colors utilized by Bob Ross, and the best acrylic paint for bob ross painting, are as follows:

Bob Ross Main Acrylic Paint Colors	Acrylic Substitutes
Crimson Alizarin	perylene maroon
Bright Red	Dark Red or Scarlet
Cadmium Yellow	Lemon yellow
Dark Sienna	Brownish-yellow
Indian Yellow	Reddish yellow
Midnight Black	Jet Black
Mountain Blend	Greyish brown
Blue Phthalocyanine	Ultramarine

• Use the number 6 Bristle Filbert Brush for frequently used to paint landscapes, but it can also be used for sceneries and other fine detail work. Bob Ross palette brushes are more prominent and steadier than typical painting brushes and help you perform the magic. If you are unable to purchase the Bob Ross brush palette, then we recommend buying the Mont Marte Art Paint Brushes Set to get the same desired results! You may need to apply paint knives to some different objects. Repino Painting Knife Set is a great alternative.
• The second and most crucial thing needed to create a Bob Ross Painting is a canvas necessary for all paintings. Any surface area will serve while Bob works with a conventional 18″ by 24″ spread and prepared canvas. Please remember that Bob’s wet-on-wet method will only work on a canvas of a specific size or something close.
• Since Bob used to mix his paints on a certain kind of palette, he used an even bigger one for the program. We recommend purchasing the Hulameda Paint Tray Palettes because the normal ones are too tiny for this approach, and you’ll wind up becoming a mud mixer.

Should You Use Bob ross Oil Paint or Acrylic?

When it comes to using paint colors for Bob Ross’s painting style, we should assess whether are bob ross paintings oil or acrylic, although bob ross mostly used oil paints, since they are highly recommended because they contain more pigment, allowing for more prosperous, more vibrant hues. But at the same time, acrylics will deepen somewhat as they dry, but oil paints will not. The primary distinction between oils and acrylics is setting time. Acrylic paint dries sooner within half an hour or a max of fifteen minutes.

When acrylic paints are used as contemporary replacements for it compared to oil paint, the artwork’s surface becomes too dry to the touch. Oil paints take 24 hours or as long as 12 days to set correctly since a lot relies on the pigment’s composition, Whereas Acrylic paint dries quickly and does just as good a job as anything else!

Can You Prime Your Acrylic Painting Canvas with Bob Ross Gesso?

Yes, you can. Gesso is a thinner kind of white acrylic paint. It dries firmly and aids in stiffening the canvas surface. Gesso is used to prime the canvas for painting by making it somewhat rough and ready to take acrylic paint. After priming the canvas, the paint wouldn’t seep into the fabric of the canvas, but set nicely without spreading.

After you have primed your canvas surface with three coats using Bob Ross Gesso, the canvas will be perfect for the Bob Ross Wet-on-Wet Technique. Instead of using a palette for mixing colors, we can combine and mix colors immediately on the canvas with these first coats.

Can You Paint like Bob Ross Using Acrylic Paints?

Acrylics can easily be used to create Bob Ross-style paintings. The following tools are required to create a Bob Ross painting with acrylics using the wet-on-wet-technique:

1. Acrylic paints
2. Bob Ross gesso 
3. Liquid white base coat
4. Canvas 16 x 20-inches
5. Palette or palette paper 
6. brushes (such as number 6 Bristle Filbert Brush)
7. Angled palette knife 
8. Cleaning agent for paint

Just be sure that your brushes are wet when painting so the pigment doesn’t settle in them. Keep a small cup of water near you to moist your Brush without wetting the handles, which will lead to the varnish coming off, and another cup to keep cleaning the brushes in between.

Tips to Paint Like Bob Ross and Still Save Money!

You can do a few things to save hundreds of dollars on your painting passion while still painting like Bob Ross. How? You must be wondering. The answer is straightforward: Acrylic paint was used. Save money by following the steps below!

1. Use any Size Canvas 

Bob Ross utilizes an 18-by-24-inch-wide canvas for all his paintings. It’s alright if you don’t find an exact sized canvas, the side ratio of the canvas can be up and down by a few square inches. We recommend getting a 12-by-16-inch canvas instead since it is more readily available, transportable, and straightforward to paint on, and it does not require a stand or a vast space.

2. Use Acrylic Paints

Acrylic paints can be used just like Oil paints. Not only are they easier to dry, but they will also cost you a lot less than the latter. There are also certain brands that offer the same shade of colors as Bob Ross’s in his Show. The drying period is the primary distinction between acrylic and oil paintings. However, use a gentle drying method to make acrylics behave like oils.

3. Use a Makeshift Palette

Use paper plates or the Hulameda simple pain attempt instead of paying over $50 for a piece of plastic. Because it is reusable, it works best when spraying your paintings with water.

Conclusion

Bob Ross utilizes only a few tools and colors. We recommend that you purchase the Bob Ross Master Paint Set, thinners, and several canvases if you want to obtain all the fundamental tools and colors at once to perfectly replicate his painting. But since most of these materials are quite costly, we have compiled a list of cheaper alternatives that produce virtually identical results to the original products. We suggest utilizing acrylic colors and substitute equipment to create Bob Ross’s Painting.

Whether working on a small canvas or a wide one, acrylics can be an excellent substitute for oils. You only need water to use them, and they have a low odor compared to standard oil painting thinners.