Automated Landscape Painting in the Style of Bob Ross

Abstract

We present a system that can generate convincing synthetic landscape paintings with no user intervention whatsoever, nor any information about 3D geometry or lighting. The system is based on a direct implementation of the "wet-on-wet" oil painting technique taught by Bob Ross for many years on his show The Joy of Painting. We implement a canvas model and a set of brushes that correspond to the canvas and brushes that Bob Ross used on his show. We then compose brush strokes into landscape features that replicate his approach stroke by stroke. Finally, we develop an engine for automatic layout of these features in a painting. We demonstrate this automated system in the context of the Bob Ross painting Forest Hills.