Robert Norman Bob Ross (October 29, 1942 – July 4, 1995) was an American painter, art instructor, and television host.[1] He is best known as the creator and host of The Joy of Painting, a television program that has appeared for more than a decade on PBS in the United States and in Europe.

Bob Ross was raised in Orlando, Florida.[2] Ross had a half brother Jim, whom he mentioned in passing on his show.[3]
Ross enlisted in the United States Air Force at age 18. The Air Force transferred him to Eielson Air Force Base (in Alaska), where he first saw the snow and mountains that later became recurring themes in his artwork. He developed his quick-painting technique in order to be able to create art for sale in brief daily work breaks.[4] Having held military positions that required him to be, in his own words, mean and tough, the guy who makes you scrub the latrine, the guy who makes you make your bed, the guy who screams at you for being late to work, Ross decided that if he ever moved on from the military, it wasn't going to be that way any more, vowing never to scream again.[4]

After studying with Bill Alexander, Ross discovered that he was soon able to earn more from selling his work than from his Air Force position. Ross then left the Air Force and became famous worldwide hosting the television program, The Joy of Painting.[1]

Television show

Ross was the host of the public television series The Joy of Painting. The show ran from January 11, 1983, to May 17, 1994, and still appears in reruns in many broadcast areas and countries, including the PBS oriented Create, and is a popular YouTube presence. During each half-hour segment, Ross would instruct viewers in oil painting using a quick-study technique that used a limited palette of paints in each work and broke down the process into simple steps. Art critic Mira Schor compared him to Fred Rogers, another PBS television host, noting that the softness of Ross's voice and the slow pace of his speech was similar.[5]

Ross later founded his own successful line of art supplies and how-to books, and also offered painting classes taught by instructors trained in the Bob Ross method, building a $15 million business.[6] In a 1990 interview, Ross mentioned that all his paintings were donated to PBS stations and that his earnings came instead from sales of his 20 books and 100 videotapes (the total to that date), as well as profits from some 150 Bob Ross–trained teachers and a line of art materials sold through a national supplier.[4] Ross also talked about the donated paintings on the show Towering Glacier (#2341), on which he said that they were to help the stations out.[7]

Ross also filmed wildlife footage, squirrels in particular, usually from his own garden. Small animals often appeared on his show, even during some of his trickier works, as he would often take in injured or abandoned squirrels and other assorted wildlife and look after them.[4]

Painting

Ross used the wet-on-wet oil painting technique, in which the painter continues adding paint on top of still-wet paint rather than waiting a lengthy amount of time to allow each layer of paint to dry. From the beginning, the program kept the selection of tools and colors simple so that viewers wouldn't have to make large investments in them. Ross frequently recommended odorless paint thinner (aka odorless mineral spirits) for brush cleaning. Combining the painting method with the use of one- and two-inch brushes as well as painting knives allowed Ross to paint trees, water, clouds, and mountains in a matter of seconds. Each painting would start with simple strokes that appeared to be nothing more than colored smudges. As he added more and more strokes, the blotches transformed into intricate landscapes.[8][6] Ross dedicated the first episode of the second season of The Joy of Painting to William Alexander, explaining that years ago, Bill taught me this fantastic [wet-on-wet] technique, and I feel as though he gave me a precious gift, and I'd like to share that gift with you [the viewer].[9] He estimated having painted between 25,000 and 30,000 paintings in his life.

Ross noted that the landscapes he painted—typically mountains, lakes, snow, and log cabin scenes—were strongly influenced by his years living in Alaska, where he was stationed for the majority of his Air Force career. He repeatedly stated on the show his belief that everyone had inherent artistic talent and could become an accomplished artist given time, practice, and encouragement, and to this end was often fond of saying, We don't make mistakes; we just have happy accidents.[10]

Ross was well known for other catch phrases he used while painting as he crafted happy little trees.[11] In most episodes of The Joy of Painting, he noted that one of his favorite parts of painting was cleaning the brush, specifically his method of drying off a brush, which he had dipped in odorless thinner, by striking it against the thinner can and easel. He would smile and often laugh aloud as he beat the devil out of it. He also used a palette that had been lightly sanded down, which was necessary to avoid catching the reflections of strong studio lighting. At the end of each episode, Ross was known for saying, so from all of us here, I'd like to wish you happy painting, and God bless, my friend.

When asked about his laid-back approach to painting and calm and contented demeanor, he once commented I got a letter from somebody here a while back, and they said, 'Bob, everything in your world seems to be happy.' That's for sure. That's why I paint. It's because I can create the kind of world that I want, and I can make this world as happy as I want it. Shoot, if you want bad stuff, watch the news.[12]

TVGuest appearances
Bob Ross was a big fan of country music and in 1987, he was invited on stage by Hank Snow at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. The audience gave him a huge ovation and Bob himself was a little nervous at first, but felt better after cracking a joke to the crowd. Hank was also given a private painting lesson by Bob, along with his business partner, Annette Kowalski.

Bob would also appear on the US shopping channel QVC, to promote his products on air. At one point after his air segment ended, a producer handed him a phone and Bob was so shocked and excited to hear that it was Marlon Brando on the other end.

Ross visited New York City to promote his hardcover book called The Best of the Joy of Painting with Bob Ross and painting techniques to a studio audience. One was in 1989 when he appeared on The Joan Rivers Show, another was in 1992 on a live show with hosts Regis Philbin& Kathie Lee Gifford and there was one in 1994, when Phil Donahue, who watched his videos and loved his painting technique, invited him to the show to promote his work. Bob took five audience members to come on stage do a painting, even Phil himself did a painting and shown it publicly in that episode. Ross at one time got an invite to appear on Oprah, but declined the offer because Ross wanted to do paintings for the audience, while the show wanted to focus on couples that are in business together, but do not live together.

Bob's last TV appearence was recorded from his Florida home, where he was too weak to go back to Muncie, Indiana, where a pilot episode of The Adventures of Elmer & Friends was taped in 1995 and only appeared in that pilot episode.

Personal life

Ross had two sons, Bob and Steven, with his first wife, Lynda Brown. Steven occasionally appeared on The Joy of Painting and became a Bob Ross–certified instructor.[1] The last episode of Season 1 was a question-and-answer forum, in which Steven read a series of general how-to questions sent in by viewers during the season, and Bob answered them one at a time, technique by technique, until he had completed an entire painting. Ross and Lynda's marriage ended in divorce in 1981. Ross's second wife, Jane, died of cancer in 1993.[1]

Illness and Death
Ross suffered from lymphoma in his later years. The Joy of Painting was cancelled after its final show, which aired on May 17, 1994, due to Ross's illness. He continued to battle the disease until his death at home on July 4, 1995.[13][14] His remains are interred at Woodlawn Memorial Park in Gotha, Florida.[15]

In popular culture

A few years before his death, Ross filmed several self-parodying MTV spots.[16]

In the Chuck episode Chuck Versus the Tango Chuck Bartowski describes a painting as being very Bob Ross-ian in a conversation with La Ciudad.[17]

Google celebrated the 70th anniversary of his birthday with a Google Doodle on October 29, 2012. It portrayed Ross painting a depiction of the letter g with a landscape in the background.[18][19]

In the British comedy series Peep Show, the protagonist duo often has Ross painting on television in the background. He is referred to as God by the characters, with at least one example of one of the protagonists making a decision based on what Ross is painting at the time.

In the twelfth episode of The Boondocks Riley Wuz Here a painter who helps Riley improve his graffiti despite having his own house vandalized resembles Bob Ross in a number of ways. He sports large, puffy hair, very similar to Ross and speaks in a very soft tone, never yelling despite being involved in a high speed chase and gun fight.