, Alaska, c. late 1970s During his 20-year Air Force career, Ross developed an interest in painting after attending an art class at the Anchorage
U.S.O. club. He found himself frequently at odds with many of his painting instructors, who were more interested in
abstract painting. Ross said, "They'd tell you what makes a tree, but they wouldn't tell you how to paint a tree." He returned to Florida, studied painting with Alexander, joined his "Alexander Magic Art Supplies Company" and became a traveling salesman and tutor. Annette Kowalski, who had attended one of his sessions in Clearwater, Florida, convinced Ross he could succeed on his own. Ross, his wife, Kowalski and Walt, her husband, pooled their savings to create his company. The business struggled at first; his trademark
permed hairstyle came about as a cost-cutting measure when his regular
crew cut haircuts were becoming too expensive. Ross later confessed that he disliked the hairstyle, but did not feel he could change it because it was depicted in the company logo. During each half-hour segment, Ross instructed viewers in the quick, wet-on-wet
oil painting technique, painting a scene without sketching it first, but creating the image directly from his imagination, in real time. He explained his limited paint palette, deconstructing the process into simple steps. Artist and art critic
Mira Schor compared Ross to
Fred Rogers, host of ''
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'', noting that Ross's soft voice and the slow pace of his speech were similar. With help from the Kowalskis, Ross used his television show to promote a line of art supplies and class recordings, building what would become a $15-million business—Bob Ross Inc.—which would ultimately expand to include classes taught by other artists trained in his methods. Previously, "A Walk in the Woods", Ross's first television painting, was sold in a
pledge drive offering shortly after the first season aired; it is, as of September 2023, in the hands of Ryan Nelson, a Minnesota-based art dealer who acquired it from its original buyer and has been the primary dealer for the few Ross paintings that have reached the open art market. Nelson has placed an asking price of $9,850,000 for the sale of the painting and has indicated he has other plans for the painting if it does not sell for that price. In November 2025,
Bonhams in Los Angeles will auction three of Ross' paintings, pledging the profits to public television stations that have been impacted by federal funding cuts. In contrast to more traditionally famous artists, Ross's work, described by an art appraisal service as a cross between "fine art" and "entertainment memorabilia"—is most highly sought after by common fans of
The Joy of Painting, as opposed to wealthy collectors. The artwork circulating among collectors is largely from Ross's work from before he launched the television show. Ross painted three versions of almost every painting featured on his show. The first was painted prior to taping and sat on an easel off-camera during filming, where Ross used it as a reference to create the second copy, which viewers actually watched him paint. After filming the episode, he painted a more detailed version for inclusion in his instructional books. The versions were each marked on the side or back of the canvas: "Kowalski" for the initial version, "tv" for the version painted during the TV show and "book" for the book version.
Influences Ross dedicated the first episode of the second season of
The Joy of Painting to
Bill 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." As Ross's popularity grew, his relationship with Alexander became increasingly strained. "He betrayed me," Alexander told
The New York Times in 1991. "I invented 'wet on wet', I trained him, and... he thinks he can do it better."
Style Ross was well known for phrases he tended to repeat while painting, such as "let's add some happy little trees". In most episodes, Ross would note that he enjoyed cleaning his paint brush. He was fond of drying off a brush dipped in odorless thinner by striking it against the can of thinner, then striking it against a box (on early seasons of the show) and a trash can (on later seasons). Occasionally, he would strike the brush hard on the trash can, saying he "hit the bucket" and then on the easel. He would smile and often laugh aloud as he said to "beat the Devil out of it". He also used a lightly sanded
palette to avoid reflections from the studio lighting. In every show, Ross wore jeans and a plain light-colored shirt, which he believed would be a timeless look, and spoke as if addressing one viewer. The landscapes he painted, typically mountains, lakes, snow and log cabin scenes, were inspired by his years in Alaska, where he was stationed for the majority of his Air Force career. He repeatedly said everyone has inherent artistic talent and could become an accomplished artist given time, practice and encouragement. Ross would say, "we don't make mistakes; we just have happy accidents." In 2014, the blog
FiveThirtyEight analysed 381 episodes in which Ross painted live, concluding that 91% of Ross's paintings contained at least one tree, 44% included clouds, 39% included mountains and 34% included mountain lakes. By his own estimation, Ross completed more than thirty thousand paintings. His work rarely contained human subjects or signs of human life. On rare occasions, he would incorporate a cabin, sometimes with a chimney but without smoke, and possibly unoccupied. Far more frequently, he would refer to animals that may inhabit the scenes he was painting, such as the cow in a barn or birds that may live in the trees, and encouraged viewers to devise their own stories in their head about the scenes he created.{{cite video|via=
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The Joy of Painting ==Other media appearances==