Bob drew 3 copies of every painting you see in The Joy of Painting. The first one is a rough one to get the composition right. The second one is the 'proper' on

Bob drew 3 copies of every painting you see in The Joy of Painting. The first one is a rough one to get the composition right. The second one is the 'proper' one, and the third one is the one you see him do on TV. The 'proper' one, the second, was used as a reference during the taping of the show, and was off camera but in Bob's eyeline. As such, there are NO 'happy little accidents'. Every stroke you saw Bob do was intentional and designed to show you more techniques. As others have said, it was more about the teaching of a skill, than the actual paintings. Source: I have watched way too many Bob Ross documentaries.