"Fisherman's Trail"(Bob Ross Inspiration), 18x24 inches, Oil on Canvas: Step by Step

I have a lot of favorite pieces Bob Ross has done, but I think "Fisherman's Trail" is my true favorite pieces of his. I love the idea that he did, creating the background look like it's actual wood, but it's really paint.

What I first did was coated the canvas with a "Very Thin" coat of Liquid Clear, which is transparent, and then I mixed Alizarin Crimson and Sap Green together to make a beautiful chocolate-like brown color and painted streaks up and down the canvas.

Then I took a fan brush and dipped it in a small amount odorless paint thinner, and I very lightly allowed the thinner to work right down the canvas, making the effect of wood grain since paint thinner and the liquid clear both have a little violent little reaction.

With a mix of Prussian Blue, Midnight Black and Crimson, I used the palette knife and created the shape of a mountain, then used my 2 inch brush and pulled the paint and let it move since the canvas is wet.

Then I got the knife again and Titanium White and a little bit of blue to paint on the snow and the shadows on the mountain. Afterwards I took my 2 inch brush and made the allusion of mist by just tapping down.

I got back to my mountain mixture and my fan brush and painted in some evergreen trees and then with my 2 inch brush and a little bit of blue, pulled down and made a nice reflection. If the canvas wasn't wet, it would be tough and would take a long time to make the effect of reflections.

Then I took my fan brush and mixed in some of the Sap Green, Cadmium Yellow and little of Yellow Ochre and made some highlights on the trees and also some grassy/bushy areas. Bob said, once you're painting, you got to make quick decisions. I then used some Liquid White and my knife to make the indication of some waterlines as well.

I got my 1 inch brush, and pulled in one direction of the mountain/tree mixture and created some bushes on the other side of the water.

Finally I put some highlights on the bushes, used Van Dyke Brown, Dark Sienna and a little white to make a little pathway, and used some of the highlight color to paint some little grassy spots. The paints that are used are very thick so instead of waiting for each layer to dry, I used my 1 inch brush and added some Liquid White to make the paint thinner so I could paint on top of the thick paint. For the finishing touch I used my knife and scratched on the canvas making some sticks and twigs, then of course signed it and called it a finishing piece.

Hope you guys like this, and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. As Bob would say, Happy Painting and God Bless my Steemit Friends.