Bob Ross didn’t just paint. He democratized art

His true legacy wasn’t television fame; it was proving that creative talent belongs to everyone

Bob Ross was one of America’s most famous painters. His TV show, The Joy of Painting, which ran on PBS from 1983 to 1994, attracted millions of viewers. His business, Bob Ross Inc., sold everything from paintbrushes to how-to books. His name and likeness remain as popular today as they were during his lifetime.

There’s even a Little Golden Book about his life and career. We’ll get to that shortly.

Ross’s journey to becoming a “happy painter” was an unusual one. Born in Daytona Beach, Florida, in 1942, he dropped out of school in the ninth grade. He worked as a carpenter with his father for several years. He actually lost part of his left index finger in this profession, but it never affected his ability to hold a palette on television.

He joined the U.S. Air Force in 1961 and spent the next 20 years there, rising to the rank of master sergeant. It was during this time that he discovered his artistic passion.

Ross took an art class at the U.S.O. club where he was stationed in Anchorage, Alaska. He thoroughly enjoyed the experience and wanted to learn more. Alas, a difference of opinion materialized between Ross and his early instructors. “The schools I went to, the professors were mostly into abstract—talking all about colour theory and composition,” he said to the New York Times’ Alessandra Stanley on Dec. 22, 1991. “They’d tell you what makes a tree, but they wouldn’t tell you how to paint a tree.”

Fortuitously, he came across an instructional show on PBS, The Magic of Oil Painting, that shifted his learning in a more palatable direction. The California-based program was hosted by German-American painter Bill Alexander, who taught art using the alla prima, or “wet-on-wet,” painting technique. An oil painting was created by putting layers of wet paint on top of existing layers of wet paint in a quick and efficient manner. Artists like Diego Velázquez, Jan van Eyck and Rembrandt had previously used this technique, too.

Ross would go on to study with Alexander, join his art supplies company and work as a salesman and tutor. It’s entirely feasible this partnership could have continued for years if it hadn’t been for Annette Kowalski. She attended one of his tutorials in Clearwater, Florida and believed he could succeed on his own. She and her husband, Walt, “helped to finance Ross’ early career,” as noted in the Seattle Times on July 23, 2019, and they shared ownership in the company with Ross and his wife, Jane.

This led to a permanent rift between Ross and Alexander. “He betrayed me,” Alexander told Stanley. “I invented ‘wet on wet.’ I trained him and he is copying me—what bothers me is not just that he betrayed me, but that he thinks he can do it better.” Alexander retired to Sproat Lake in B.C. and passed away in 1997. There’s still a website, Alexander Art, dedicated to his life and career. A small section details his local Emmy win in 1979, the first one ever earned by an art instructional show.

Did Ross feel the same way? It doesn’t appear so. He mentioned Alexander in the first episode of The Joy of Painting. He acknowledged that he learned the wet-on-wet technique from Alexander, called it “the most fantastic way to paint that you’ve ever seen” and dedicated the episode to his old instructor.

Ross would have a landmark career in television. The Joy of Painting was one of PBS’s most popular programs. He produced a calm, upbeat atmosphere on set. He encouraged viewers to join him in creating landscapes with lakes, mountains, winter scenes and more. He had an abundance of popular sayings, including adding some “happy little trees” to paintings, “beat the devil out of it” when cleaning his paintbrushes and telling viewers “we don’t make mistakes; we just have happy accidents.” There was also his distinctive head of hair, which he reportedly disliked but realized he couldn’t get rid of because it was in his company logo.

How many paintings did he produce in his lifetime? No one is exactly sure. “Bob Ross Inc. estimates it has 1,165 paintings stored on site,” the Seattle Times noted. He painted on 381 of his 403 episodes and often produced three versions, which comes out to 1,143 paintings. This doesn’t include either his work as an art instructor or any paintings he may have done in his spare time. The A.V. Club website once suggested it could be “more than 30,000 paintings.” Maybe so.

Ross passed away in 1995 at age 52 due to complications from lymphoma. He’s still a national institution in his country. His website continues to thrive, his YouTube channel has almost 6.5 million subscribers—and his shows are seen on Netflix, Peacock, Roku and other channels. Four of his paintings were also purchased by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

Let’s end this column with the Little Golden Book I mentioned earlier.

Ross is part of a small biography series that includes Carol Burnett, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton and Harriet Tubman. Children’s author Maria Correa crafted a wonderful examination of a life well lived, including illustrations by Jeff Crowther. Not just for children, but also for their parents. “The Joy of Painting wasn’t just about the masterpieces Bob created,” Correa wrote, “it was about sharing the experience with his viewers. He believed that anyone could be an artist and that art should be accessible to everyone.”

The Little Golden Book’s last page wrapped things up in a neat and tidy bow. “Bob Ross didn’t just teach people how to paint. He taught people to believe they could paint.” That was very much his philosophy in life and art, with a few little happy trees sprinkled along the way.

Michael Taube is a political commentator, Troy Media syndicated columnist and former speechwriter for Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He holds a master’s degree in comparative politics from the London School of Economics, lending academic rigour to his political insights.