Robert Norman Ross (October 29, 1942 – July 4, 1995) was an American painter and art instructor who created and hosted The Joy of Painting, an instructional television program that aired from 1983 to 1994 on PBS in the United States, CBC in Canada, and similar channels in Latin America, Europe and elsewhere.

[1][2] As an adolescent, Ross cared for injured animals, including armadillos, snakes, alligators and squirrels, one of which was later featured in several episodes of his television show.

While working as a carpenter with his father, he lost part of his left index finger, which did not affect his ability to later hold a palette while painting.

[4]: 22 In 1961, 18-year-old Ross enlisted in the United States Air Force and was put into service as a medical records technician.

[6] During his 20-year Air Force career, Ross developed an interest in painting after attending an art class at the Anchorage U.S.O.

"[7] Ross was working as a part-time bartender when he discovered a TV show called The Magic of Oil Painting, hosted by German painter Bill Alexander.

The business struggled at first; his trademark permed hairstyle came about as a cost-cutting measure when his regular crewcut haircuts were becoming too expensive.

[8] In 1983, PBS station WIPB lured him to Muncie, Indiana, with the promise of creative freedom, and he found a kinship with the staff.

[11][8] The show ran from January 11, 1983, to May 17, 1994, but reruns still[update] continue to appear in many broadcast areas and countries, including the non-commercial digital subchannel network Create and the streaming service Hulu.

[16] "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.

Combining the wet-painting method with the use of large one- and two-inch brushes, as well as painting knives, allowed the painter to quickly complete a landscape scene.

"[7] Art historians have pointed out that the "wet-on-wet" (or alla prima) technique actually originated in Flanders during the 15th century and was used by Frans Hals, Diego Velázquez, Caravaggio, Paul Cézanne, John Everett Millais, John Singer Sargent and Claude Monet, among many others.

[25] 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.

"[26] 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.

[14] Ross was fond of country music and in 1987 was invited on stage by Hank Snow at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee.

In the early 1990s, Ross did several MTV promotional spots that, according to the American City Business Journals, "dovetailed perfectly with Generation X's burgeoning obsession with all things ironic and retro".

[30] In 1995, a visibly ill Ross made his final public television appearance as a guest on the pilot episode of the children's series The Adventures of Elmer and Friends.

Some of only a few interviews with his close-knit circle of friends and family can be found in the 2011 PBS documentary Bob Ross: The Happy Painter.

[36] His remains are interred at Woodlawn Memorial Park in Gotha, Florida, under a plaque marked "Bob Ross; Television Artist".

[32] Instead, Ross wrote the Kowalskis out of his will and testament, leaving his estate and rights to his name and likeness to his son Steve and half-brother Jimmie Cox.

[46] Ross was going to have a video game released on Wii, the Nintendo DS and PC, with development handled by AGFRAG Entertainment Group,[47][48] although this never came to fruition.

Twitch hosted a nine-day marathon of The Joy of Painting beginning on October 29 to commemorate what would have been Ross's 73rd birthday.

[49][50][51] Twitch reported that 5.6 million viewers watched the marathon and, due to its popularity, created a weekly rebroadcast of one season of The Joy of Painting each Monday.

In an investigative report by The New York Times, the Kowalskis affirmed that they still held all of them, though without the proper care generally needed to store art.

[56] In 2020, the makers of Magic: The Gathering announced a limited release of Bob Ross paintings adapted to card artwork.

[60] Written by Sophia Gholz and illustrated by Robin Boyden, the book shares the story of Ross's life and how he eventually became one of the most well-known American painters of his time.

[61] Owen Wilson plays Carl Nargle, a fictional character based on Bob Ross, in the 2023 film Paint.

[11] ASMR refers to a pleasant form of paresthesia, or tingling, often brought about by specific visual or auditory stimuli.

In the 2021 Netflix documentary, Ross' son Steve said that his father was inspired to speak in that manner because his mentor, Bill Alexander, spoke in a harsh tone on television and he wanted to do the opposite of that.

"[11] Joan Kowalski stated that Ross was aware of viewers who would watch the show for non-instructional purposes during his lifetime and approved of such use of his program, recalling a quip of his about those who would fall asleep to The Joy of Painting: "I love hearing that you’ve never watched a full episode of me.