Yes, it's supposed to look like Crap! :)

You’ve got to admit, that title’s pretty great!

This stage of a painting can be the hardest. It looks like a complete mess, and every new artist feels the urge to tear it up and stomp on it! Trust me, I’ve trashed at least fifty paintings at this point.

But think of it now as a toned canvas, the underlayer that will support the top layers. Van Gogh slathered so much paint onto his final layer that the underlayer was mostly hidden. However, if you don’t tone the canvas with fresh, wet oil, you lose the ability to pull off some of those classic Bob Ross techniques—wet-on-wet!

Bob Ross made magic by using Titanium White on his canvases, mixing the colors directly into the wet base, which gave his paintings that signature “pop.” Tomorrow, I’ll dive in and start layering more paint, focusing on the bottom section. Grass, grass, and more grass! The bottom right isn’t critical, but the yellow-gold grasses will get their turn next. That’s when the fun, expressive part really begins!