Ross became interested in painting during his 20-year Air Force tenure after taking an art class at the U.S.O. club in Anchorage. Many of his painting professors, who were more interested in abstract painting, regularly came into conflict with him. They would explain what constitutes a tree, but not how to paint one, said Ross. [10]
Part-time bartender Ross came across the television program The Magic of Oil Painting, hosted by German artist Bill Alexander.
[7]: In order to complete a painting in thirty minutes, Alexander adopted a painting technique from the 16th century known as “wet-on-wet” termed alla prima (Italian for “first attempt”). Following his study and mastery of the technique, Ross started painting Alaskan landscapes on novelty gold-mining pans, which he subsequently successfully sold. [5] [9] Ross’s sales revenue eventually outpaced his military pay. As a master sergeant, he left the Air Force in 1981. [5] [11] [8][12]
He went back to Florida, joined Alexander’s “Alexander Magic Art Supplies Company,” and started working as a traveling salesperson and tutor. Alexander taught him how to paint. Ross was persuaded he could succeed on his own by Annette Kowalski, who had attended one of his sessions in Clearwater, Florida[13]. She merged her savings with Ross’s and his wife’s in order to start his company, which failed at first.
Ross was known for having permed hair, which he eventually loathed but kept after incorporating it into the business logo.
[11][7]: 19
The TV program The Joy of Painting’s genesis is unknown.
[11] It was filmed at the WIPB studios in Muncie, Indiana, a PBS station.
[14]
Reruns of the program, which aired from January 11, 1983, to May 17, 1994, can still be seen in numerous broadcast markets and nations, including the non-profit digital subchannel network Create. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the BBC in the United Kingdom aired repeats of programmes while the majority of people were confined to their homes.
Ross would demonstrate the rapid wet-on-wet oil painting technique to viewers throughout each half-hour episode, painting a scene directly from his mind in real time rather than first sketching it out. He described his restricted paint selection and broke the procedure down into easy to follow phases.
Ross and Fred Rogers, the host of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, were linked by art critic Mira Schor because of their similar slow speech and gentle voices.
[15]
With assistance from Annette and Walt Kowalski, Ross built Bob Ross Inc., a $15 million company that would eventually add lessons taught by other artists who had been schooled in his techniques, using his television show to advertise a range of painting materials and class records.
[9]
[5] The Kowalskis acquired ownership of the business after Ross passed away.
[16]
Ross often captured wildlife on video, particularly squirrels in his garden, and frequently adopted injured or orphaned squirrels in addition to other animals. On his Joy of Painting canvases, little animals frequently showed up. [9]
Ross is thought to have created 30,000 paintings in his lifetime. Despite an extremely high number of original works, Bob Ross’s original paintings are hard to find on the art market, where they often sell for prices in the tens of thousands of dollars and sometimes even more. Ross’s paintings have never been offered for sale by any of the major auction houses, and many of those he created for The Joy of Painting are still in the possession of Bob Ross Inc. because Ross himself opposed having his creations used as investments. In contrast to more well-known artists, Ross’s work is more highly sought after by regular viewers of The Joy of Painting than by wealthy collectors. An art appraisal firm described it as a hybrid of “fine art” and “entertainment memorabilia.” The majority of the artwork in circulation among collectors comes from Ross’s earlier work, produced before he started the television program. [17]
Technique
Ross painted over a thin layer of wet paint using the wet-on-wet technique. Painting could continue without waiting for it to dry. The approach didn’t demand a significant financial investment in pricey equipment because it just required a small number of instruments and colors. For cleaning brushes, Ross frequently suggested odorless paint thinner (odorless mineral spirits).
The painter was able to quickly finish a landscape image by combining the wet-painting technique with the use of huge one- and two-inch brushes as well as painting knives.
[18]
[19]
Almost all of Ross’ paintings that were included on his presentation had three different iterations. Ross utilized the first copy, which had been painted before shooting began and was on an easel off-camera during production, as a model for the second copy, which viewers were able to see him paint. He painted a more thorough version after the show was filmed to use in his instructional books. [20] Kowalski for the original version, “tv” for the version painted for the TV show, and “book” for the version painted for the book were all marked on the side or back of the canvas. [16]
Influences
Bill Alexander was honored in the first episode of The Joy of Painting’s second season by Ross, who said: “Bill taught me this great [wet-on-wet] technique years ago, and I feel as though he gave me a priceless gift, and I’d like to share that gift with you.” [21] Ross’s friendship with Alexander deteriorated as his celebrity grew. In 1991, Alexander admitted to The New York Times that “he betrayed me.” I created “wet on wet,” I taught him, and now he believes he can perform it more expertly. [22] According to art historians, the “wet-on-wet” (also known as alla prima) technique actually had its beginnings in Flanders during the 15th century, when it was employed by numerous artists like Frans Hals, Diego Velzquez, Caravaggio, Paul Czanne, John Singer Sargent, and Claude Monet. [23] [24]
Style
When painting, Ross was well known for saying things like, “Let’s add some cheery tiny trees.” [25]
Ross would frequently mention in episodes that he liked to clean his paintbrush. He enjoyed hitting a brush that had been dipped in odorless thinner against the can of the thinner before hitting it on a box (on earlier seasons of the show) and a trash can to dry it off (on later seasons). On rare occasions, he would vigorously strike the brush on the trash can while claiming to have “struck the bucket,” followed by the easel. To “beat the Devil out of it,” he would say with a smile and frequent loud laughter. [26] In order to reduce reflections caused by the studio illumination, he also used a lightly sanded palette. [27]
Ross believed that wearing pants and a simple, light-colored shirt would be a timeless ensemble. He spoke to one fan per show.
[5]
When asked about his laid-back and collected demeanor, he responded, “Bob, everything in your world looks to be cheerful, someone wrote to me in a letter a while back. That much is true. Consequently, I paint. It’s because I have the power to design the kind of world I want and to bring about the level of happiness I desire in this world. Watch the news if you want terrible news, after all.” [28]
His time in Alaska, where he served for the most of his Air Force career, served as an inspiration for the landscapes he painted, which frequently featured mountains, lakes, snow, and images of log cabins. He insisted repeatedly that everyone had innate artistic ability and has the potential to become a successful artist with enough time, effort, and support. We don’t make mistakes; we just have happy accidents, as Ross would say. [29]
In 2014, the blog FiveThirtyEight examined 381 instances in which Ross painted live and came to the conclusion that 91% of Ross’s paintings included at least one tree, 44% had clouds, 39% had mountains, and 34% had mountain lakes. Ross completed more than 30,000 paintings, in his own reckoning. [30] Human figures or evidence of human life were infrequently used in his artwork. On rare occasions, he would include a cabin, occasionally with a chimney but no smoke, and perhaps vacant. [16]
What exactly is Q-Tip art?
Here is a traditional process art activity for kids using watercolor paint and Q-tips (cotton swabs). Toddlers, preschoolers, and older kids will love this art project!