Oil Paint

Which Brushes Does Bob Ross Use? Good Alternative?

Bob Ross used a small set of large bristle, fan, liner, and detail brushes chosen for the broad blending and controlled marks of his wet-on-wet technique.

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Bob Ross uses 4 types of paintbrushes:

  1.  1-inch brush
  2.  2-inch brush
  3. Fan Brush
  4. Liner brush

Those brushes' main elements are natural bristles. Combining the 4 types of brush, he creates wonderful paintings. In this article, I give you some important hints that you may find.

In other articles, I already explained:

Which brush should I choose for Bob Ross painting? And alternative?

Choose brushes by shape, stiffness, spring, and paint load rather than brand alone; natural or synthetic alternatives can work if they reproduce the needed wet-on-wet marks.

Complete brushes set

You can go for a complete set of Bob Ross brushes if you have a good budget. The price will be a little bit high but worth it.

  Grade Note
Bob Ross Landscape Brush Set Oil Based Paint Tools Artistic grade and Bob Ross brand You will get complete set of brush and painting knives (total 13 pieces) and a Joy of Painting book. 

1-inch brush

Bob Ross uses 1-inch brushes to create base effects in painting. He mostly uses the brush to make trees, clouds, mountains, water, brush, and other effects.

  Grade Note
Martin/F. Weber Bob Ross 1-Inch Foliage Brush Artistic grade and Bob Ross certified This brush specialty can easily achieve a wonderful foliage effect. Its hair is softer than the landscape brush. It is a recommended brush as a blender. This brush will give you a smooth finish. You only can buy this brush for 1-inch criteria.
Martin/ F. Weber Bob Ross 1-Inch Landscape Brush Artistic grade and Bob Ross certified This brush is mostly used to create landscapes in wet on wet technique. The 2-inch brush is also used for the same reason.
Wooster Brush Q3108-1 Softip Paintbrush General brush & cheap alternative It is very hard to find an alternative option for Bob Ross brushes. However, you can use this brush as a cheap option. I do not recommend it for beginners. 

2 inches brush

The 2 inches brush is used to create the shape of scenery in painting. Bob Ross uses this brush from the very beginning of his painting. He creates the sea, water, sky, lighting, and more objects. This 2-inch brush has 2 versions.

  1. background brush
  2. Blender brush
  Grade Note
Martin/ F. Weber Bob Ross 2-Inch Background Blender Brush Artistic grade and Bob Ross certified This background brush is used to create the background of Bob Ros's painting technique. The flat brush hair is a little bit harder than the banding brush. The harder hair is important for separating the many paints on the canvas. 
Martin/F. Weber Bob Ross 2-Inch Blender Brush Artistic grade and Bob Ross certified It is a soft and good blender brush and I like it. However, I have recommended a 1-inch blender brush before. That is the best one from my side.
Santa Fe Art Supply 2 Inch Flat Brush Artistic grade This brush can be a good alternative. If you have some experience with Bob Ross technique, you can go with the brushes. 

Fan brush

Bob Ross used the fan brush to make different objects like trees, little clouds, water highlights, and more. 

The brush also uses for highlights different objects. 

  Grade  Note
Bob Ross R6413#3 Fan Blender Artist Brush Artistic grade and Bob Ross brand Recommended product.
Winsor & Newton Winton Hog Bristle Brush-Fan #5 Artistic grade It is one of the good fan brushes on the market. With proper use, you will get the right result. 
ZEM Brush White Hog Bristle Stiff Fan Brush Set Good brush This is also a cheaper alternative. It also will give you good results.

Script Liner brush

Bob Ross uses script liner brush for creating little, thin, lite objects. Like old trees and different tinner objects. This brush is harder to master compared with others.

  Grade Note
Bob Ross R6422#2 Script Liner Artist Brush Artistic grade and Bob Ross brand Recommended liner brush.
ZEM Brush Golden Synthetic Long Script Liners Brushes Good brushes  It is a synthetic brush, however, it gives great results for creating tinner objects.

Do you need Bob Ross' paint brushes to use his wet-on-wet technique?

You do not need Bob Ross-branded brushes, but substitutes should have similar size, stiffness, edge shape, and paint capacity so the technique behaves predictably.

What material are Bob Ross brushes made of?

Many traditional Bob Ross-style brushes use natural bristle, while some detail brushes use different fibers; modern synthetic alternatives can also work when their handling is similar.

Does Bob Ross anytime use synthetic brushes?

Ross is best known for natural-bristle brushes in The Joy of Painting, but modern painters can use synthetic alternatives when they provide comparable stiffness and control.

These related guides cover caring for Bob Ross-style brushes and the other hand tools used in wet-on-wet painting.