Page "The Joy of Painting" Paragraph 6

Each show began with Ross standing with a blank canvas in front of a black background.

In under thirty minutes, he would turn the blank canvas into an imaginary landscape, using the wet-on-wet oil painting technique, in which the painter continues adding paint on top of still wet paint rather than waiting a lengthy amount of time to allow each layer of paint to dry.

Combining this method with the use of two inch and other types of brushes as well as painting knives allowed him to paint trees, water, clouds, and mountains in a matter of seconds.

Each painting would start with simple strokes that appeared to be nothing more than colored smudges.

As he added more and more strokes, the blotches transformed into intricate landscapes.

The paintings featured colors like titanium white, phthalo green ( a color used often, but in small quantities ), phthalo blue, prussian blue, midnight black, dark sienna, Van Dyke brown, alizarin crimson, sap green, cadmium yellow, yellow ochre, Indian yellow, and bright red.

( In earlier seasons, he used burnt umber and permanent red.

) As he painted, he instructed viewers regarding the techniques he was using and added his trademark soothing comments describing the " happy little clouds " and " happy little trees " that he was creating with his brush.

He would also mention snippets of his own life, including his military career and the time he spent in Alaska, family anecdotes, and his affection for small animals, which he raised and set free.

The show would occasionally feature a video of Ross with a baby squirrel or deer.

He became known for his soothing tone and reassuring comments ; " We don't make mistakes, we just have happy accidents.

" Each program was shot in real time with two cameras: a medium shot of Ross and his canvas, and a close-up shot of the canvas or palette.