Man told Bob Ross he couldn’t paint due to colorblindness – so he proved it by painting entirely in grey

Bob Ross, the famous artist, was well-known for his show "The Joy of Painting," which ran 31 seasons from 1983 to 1994, according to Bored Panda. However, it wasn't just his paintings that captured people's attention; his positive attitude and calm demeanor also drew in viewers, even those who weren't painters. In one episode, he spoke about meeting a colorblind man who said he couldn't paint because of his condition. In that episode, Ross created an entire painting using shades of grey and white to prove that anyone can paint. "So today I thought I would do a picture in grey just to show that anyone can paint," he said at the beginning of the episode. 

The painter then shared the colors he had mixed to create a grey shade. "I have mixed a big batch of blue and brown, probably about 1/3rd blue and 2/3rd brown to give you an idea of what the mixture is here," he explained. Ross informed the viewers that he had already applied white to his canvas to speed up the process. He then took some grey paint with his brush and started making circular patterns on the canvas. He painted clouds and used the same paint to connect them in the middle by applying it more lightly. "Now I'm going to take a little grey on this fan brush and put some happy clouds that are a little more distinct and help push everything else back," the artist shared.

Next, Ross painted grey mountains below the clouds using a palette knife and contoured them with white. He then took a darker shade of grey and made mountains on the left side of the canvas. He specified that he used that shade because he wanted them to appear closer. His instructions throughout the video were so simple that even an amateur could follow them. After the mountains, he painted trees on the right side using a darker shade of grey, followed by bushes, which he described as shadows. Despite using only shades of grey, the painting turned out spectacular.

He signed "Ross" at the bottom of the canvas. The artist ended it by saying, "This is a fantastic painting because it uses only grey and white. I would like to show a variation of this and it uses only amber in white and show you what you can do in other colors. There is no limit and any color would work as long as you use the basic method." Ross used his painting to encourage people to have a positive outlook on life. In the very first episode of the show, he said, "I think each of us, sometime in our life, has wanted to paint a picture. I think there's an artist hidden at the bottom of every single one of us." Though Ross passed away in 1995, his show has inspired many to paint and find joy in it.

This article originally appeared 4 months ago.