Before Bob Ross would coin the term, we don’t make mistakes, we have Happy Accidents
Before Bob Ross’ soothing voice would win over the hearts of all of his viewers
Before Bob Ross’ signature look would inspire parodies in games, film and tv shows such
as Smite, The Boondocks, Deadpool, and Family Guy
Before Bob Ross would have some of his paintings displayed in the Smithsonian’s National
Museum of American History
Bob Ross was a friendly, nurturing boy, who grew up helping restore injured animals back
to full health.
After dropping out of school in the 9th grade to help his dad as a carpenter, Ross would
then join the US Air Force at 18 and would remain with them for 2 decades.
While serving, Ross would take a painting class to help deal with the daily stress of
being a part of the army.
This would lead to Ross having one of the most, if not the most successful art shows
to ever be on air, with over a decade of seasons and over 30,000 paintings drawn.
After his untimely passing in 1995 due to a battle with cancer, Ross’ legacy would
live on, inspiring those all over the world to continue watching his show, over 20 years
later.
We’re here to tell you guys all about the incredible journey the la te Bob Ross had,
becoming the most famous TV Painter of all time.
What’s going on guys, I’m your host Jarred Bronstein and in today’s video we’ll be
taking a look at the incredible career of Bob Ross.
We’ve done other videos in memory of incredible artists and creatives who have impacted our
lives, most recently Cameron Boyce and Nipsey Hussle.
As always we love hearing from you, so please drop a comment below with who you’d like
us to cover next.
But let’s get into it.
Bob Ross was born Robert Norman Ross in Daytona Beach, Florida, on October 29th, 1942, and
grew up in Orlando.
His father Jack Ross would work as a carpenter and his mother, Ollie Ross, as a waitress.
At a very young age, Bob’s parents would separate, and Bob’s mother would remarry,
giving birth to Bob’s younger half brother, Jim.
Eventually Bob’s parents would reunite and get remarried, but unfortunately shortly after,
Bob’s father Jack would pass away.
Growing up Bob would tend to injured animals, and throughout his childhood would have pet
snakes, alligators and squirrels whom he’d care for, to name a few.
Bob wasn’t the best student in school, which he explained in passing while painting X’s
to make a blue sky on one of his shows.
Eventually Bob would drop out of school in the 9th grade to help his father, working
as a carpenter.
In his youth, Bob would have an accident that would see him lose his index finger on his
left hand.
The injury wouldn’t however affect Ross’ painting skills, as he used his right hand.
However during his show if you looked closely at the pallet, you could actually see a finger
missing on his left hand.
In 1961, when Ross was 18, he joined the US army, more specifically, the Air Force, and
would be stationed in his home state of Florida as a medical records technician.In 1963, Ross
would be transferred to the Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska.
Ross would work in the Air Force for 20 years, working his way up the ranks and eventually
being promoted to Master Sergeant toward the end of his career.
Although Ross is known for being a soft spoken, friendly figure, while in the army, he had
to yell at those under him, something he didn’t enjoy doing.
He told the Orlando Sentinel in 1990
I was 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.
The job requires you to be a mean, tough person.
And I was fed up with it.
I promised myself that if I ever got away from it, it wasn't going to be that way any
more.
In 1965 Ross would marry his first wife, Vivian Ridge, who he would have his only son, Steven
Ross with, born in 1966.
While working with the Air Force, Bob would attend a painting class at a USO club, in
hopes it would help him deal with the stress that would come from work.
This is when his interest in painting would begin.
Although he admits he didn’t care about the color theory or composition, which is
what the lessons would focus on, instead of teaching you how to paint a tree, for example.
Ross would continue painting over the years during his service, which is when he would
also get a job as a bartender to help make him some extra money.
Ross would sell tourists landscapes he’d paint on gold pans, and one day in 1975 while
bartending, Bob saw on TV a German painter named Bill Alexander painting on the show
The Magic of Oil Painting.
Alexander would use a technique called alla prima or the wet on wet technique, that would
allow him to paint complete pictures in just under 30 minutes.
Bob would study the show and eventually learn Alexander’s technique, which would allow
Bob to finish as many as two paintings over the span of his 30 minute lunch break while
working for the Air Force.
During this time, Ross would also divorce from his first wife and meet his second wife,
Jane Ross, in 1977.
Over time, Ross would start making more money by selling his paintings than he would with
the military.
This would lead to him leaving the airforce after 20 years of service to solely focus
on painting, and train under his mentor, Bill Alexander in 1981.
At the time, Ross would move back to Florida where Alexander lived, so he could study under
him directly.
Alexander took Ross under his wing, and happily taught him everything he knew.
Eventually Ross would be hired by Alexander as a traveling tutor for the Alexander Magic
Arts Supplies Company.
Bob would travel all over the country to teach people Alexander’s technique, which originally
came from 16th century painters, although Alexander claimed he was the original creator.
Around this time, a man named Walter Koawlski had signed his wife, Annette Kowalski, up
for one of Alexander’s 5 day work shops, after her eldest son would be involved in
a fatal car accident.
Annette would spend her days in bed watching Alexander’s TV show, so Walter signed her
up for the class.
At first when she found out Alexander wasn’t teaching the class, she was reluctant to go,
especially after hearing it was being taught by some guy named Bob.
Walter convinced her to go anyway, and it turned out to be one of the best decisions
she ever made, both for her and Bob.
Over the course of the 5 day workshop, Annette realized how Bob’s voice and demeanour affected
those who watched or listened.
In her own words she “was mesmerized by him”.
On the last day of the workshop, Annette and Walter invited Bob out to dinner and thats
when she told Bob, I wish you would come to Washington DC, and teach a class, to which
he said “okay”.
Following their discussion, Bob would quit working for Alexander, who at the time had
retired, and would form a partnership with Walter and Annette.
At first Bob, Annette and Walter struggled getting people interested in joining Bob for
his lessons, because not too many people knew who Bob, or how good he was at what he did.
They’d buy news paper ads, have demonstrations in shopping malls, and even teach evening
classes hoping for a better attendance.
None seemed to do the trick, however during an evening class, when only 1 man showed up,
Annette told Bob they weren’t going to go through with it.
Bob disagreed and taught the 1 man his lesson.
After the lesson, the man, who happened to be quite wealthy, told Bob and Annette he
was so impressed with Bob’s ability and patience that he’d be willing to offer them
1 million dollars, for 40% of their profits, for the rest of his life.
They turned down the offer, and continued teaching in art shops and shopping centres.
At this time money was getting tight, which lead to Bob growing out his hair and getting
a perm, so he wouldn’t have to get haircuts as often.
This would also be the birth of Bob’s soon to be signature look.
Needing to change things up, Annette turned to Bob’s former mentor, Bill Alexander,
and asked if he’d be willing to do a commercial with Bob, promoting his classes.
Bill would agree and the commercial would be shot.
However when they recorded the commercial, it needed to be reformatted so local TV stations
could run it.
They would turn to WNVC, a local TV station, who, after seeing the commercial, were so
impressed with Bob’s skills, asked if Annette and Bob would be interested in doing a TV
series.
After agreeing to terms, the two would come up with the idea of a show and called it The
Joy of Painting with Bob Ross, which would first air on January 11th, 1983.
At this point, Bob had grown tired of his signature hair, but realized he couldn’t
change it, because it’s what made him distinct.
Aside from his hair, everything from the set design of a black curtain and just the easel,
to what Bob would be wearing was thought out.
Bob even told Annette
These televisions programs could go on for years, I want to be sure and wear
something on Television that looks as good 30 years from now, as it does today
Little did he know, the show which would see Bob start with a blank canvas and finish with
a completed painting would run for over a decade and to this day, still intrigue younger
generations.
So much so, in 2015 Twitch would host a nine day marathon of Bob Ross’ show, which would
clock in 5.6 million unique views and eventually, would lead to an entire season of The Joy
of Painting being streamed once a week.
Bob also wanted to publish a how to book for those who couldn’t watch his shows.
The TV network said they couldn’t help him out with that, and the costs would be around
$30,000.
So Annette and Walt mortgaged their house, and they made the first of many editions of
Experience The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross.
With every season of the show produced, a book would also be produced.
After the first season of the show aired, and WNBC not seeing a viewership they would
have liked to see, they decided to cut ties with Ross.
At this time, Bob would continue teaching his classes, and with a season of a TV show
under his belt, would also start searching for a new station to produce the show.
Walt would track where Bill Alexander’s show was doing well ratings wise, and the
gang would aim to have Bob teach his classes there.
But once again, they needed a commercial, so they went to the WIPB TV station in Indiana,
knocked on the door and asked if they could promote Bob’s demonstration and art classes
that he’d be teaching at the local mall.
They would agree, and the turnout would be so good, Bob would end up meeting with the
TV stations general manger to discuss making that the new home for his show.
Before they knew it, they did have a new home for their show, and eventually, would get
picked up nationally.
This would lead to a marketing campaign showing Bill Alexander once again handing over the
brush to Bob Ross.
Think of it like a rapper cosigning another rapper, but in this case, it’s painters.
You get it.
They would go on to shoot the Joy of Painting’s 13 episodes in just a week.
Over time they would produce a total of 30 seasons, or over 400 episodes over Bob’s
incredible career.
Although Bob’s show was meant to inspire and have viewers paint along, people would
enjoy just listening to Bob’s voice and watch him work his magic.
Although Bob would see a ton of success with his show, it would eventually cause a strain
on his relationship with his mentor Bill Alexander.
Many say Bill would grow jealous of Bob’s success, and even go as far as saying Bob
betrayed him and that he took the wet on wet painting style he invented, although as previously
mentioned, it’s been around since the 16th century.
Bob would continue to enjoy success with his show, even having his son Stephen make frequent
appearances over the years.
Bob would eventually grow his brand so much that he would start selling his own painting
supplies and paint, all branded with his signature afro and warm small.
Bob would also eventually teach other’s his method and certify them as Bob Ross Painting
Instructors, allowing his technique to be taught all over the US, while he was tied
up filming for his show and teaching his own classes.
In the early 90’s, Bob’s show would expand internationally, reaching Canada, Mexico,
Colombia, the UK, Germany, Switzerland, and Japan, as well as a few other countries.
Over this time, Bob would also enjoy a loving and supportive relationship with his wife,
Jane, however, in 1992, Jane would pass away after a battle with cancer.
Bob would go on to marry once again, to a woman named Lynda Brown, in May of 1995.
Unfortunately, on July 4th of 1995, Bob Ross would pass away due to complications with
lymphoma.
This was actually his second battle with the awful disease.
He first beat it before he started filming The Joy of Painting and was in remission for
years.
But his viewers would never know, because Bob kept his private life extremely private.
Up until his untimely passing, only those closest to him knew about his fight with cancer.
However Bob’s legacy would live on for years, with people to this day still watching his
show and being inspired by his light hearted, warm personality.
The Kowalski’s family still run his company, Bob Ross Inc, which recently donated a handful
of his paintings to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
They have the rest of Bob’s paintings at the headquarters which is run out of Virginia.
And they have no interest in selling them, because they know Bob had no interest in selling
his paintings.
And that’s all for this one guys.
It was quite a long one, but I didn’t want to leave any details out about this incredible
man, and the amazing impact he had on people all over the world.
Feel free to drop a comment below with when you first saw Bob Ross, I’m Jarred Bronstein
and we’ll see you in the next one.