Bob Ross Biography

Bob Ross and his programme 'The Joy of Painting', is perhaps the most recognized and most watched art programme in the history of television.

With a bushy afro and calm, soothing voice, Bob taught viewers to paint "happy little trees," "happy little clouds," and "pretty little mountains." On occasion, after cleaning his two-inch brush in paint thinner, he'd "beat the devil out of it." He believed that everyone has inherent artistic talent, and that anyone could paint a landscape by following his instructions and words of encouragement, including his popular phrase "we don't make mistakes, we just have happy accidents."

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He introduced the wet-on-wet oil painting technique, which is the application of wet paint on top of wet paint, omitting the traditional waiting period for each layer to dry. Combining this method with the use of large one-inch and two-inch brushes allowed Ross to paint trees, water, clouds, and mountains in a matter of seconds.

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Bob took up painting while stationed in Alaska in the Air Force. The geography of Alaska is visible in much of his work on “The Joy of Painting”: mountains, lakes, snow scenes, and cabins were often mentioned as his favourites

 Although it is commonly believed that Ross had no formal artistic training, he said during one episode that, as a pup, he attended art school.

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Bob produced more than 400 programmes of “The Joy of Painting”, which is still shown in many countries throughout the world.

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Bob Ross, although very much alive on our TV sets, is no longer with us as he sadly died on July 4th 1995, leaving a wonderful legacy of the pure fun and joy of painting.