For a short half-hour show you kind of need to do that if you want to get good results; not a lot of time to take a step back and look at things, and you also want to actually have a finished painting after 30 minutes (and not 24 or 35).

The general message still holds I think: "you're painting for your own enjoyment, there is no 'good' or 'bad' and the only thing that matters is that you're having fun".

That explains why his predecessor, William Alexander, made such a terrible painting in the video embedded in this article.

Other Bill Alexander paintings you can find online are competent. Uninspired but competent. The one in the "The Magic of Oil Painting III" is wretched.

Clearly the three drafts are an important aspect of the final Bob Ross process.