Bob Ross Joy of Painting

[10ClarionSt]

Has anyone seen this programme? Bob Ross says you can only paint in that style by using his brand of specially made oil paints. Is this correct? I don't know anything about painting, but is he just trying to sell his own brand of products?

[jno]

No idea, never heard of him.... bu I can't help suspecing the answer to your final question is 'yes'.

[dr b]

Bob Ross, alas, passed on in 1995, so any paints sold with his name on them will not benefit him directly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Ross

[theshedman]

Don't think he is trying to sell you his paints as he has been dead for quite a few years now. The best way would be to buy some ordinary oil paints and use his style of painting to see if it comes out right.

[jno]

not now, maybe, dr b, but when the programmes were made?

"In a 1990 interview, Ross mentioned that all his programs were donated free of charge to PBS stations and that his earnings came instead from sales of his 20 books and 100 videotapes (the total to that date), as well as profits from some 150 Bob Ross-ATE teachers and a line of art materials sold through a national supplier."

I don't have a problem with this, but can it be true that you can only paint his way with his paints?

[vulcan]

The Bob Ross style is wet on wet, a very common way of painting in oil. I've used this method for the past fifty years and previous painters for the past few hundred years. And no, you don't need special paints.

[ann_h]

I've watched a lot of his shows and have to say I never heard him saying anything about buying his paints/special paints.

[BertiWooster]

//I've watched a lot of his shows and have to say I never heard him saying anything about buying his paints/special paints. //

ann_h - Neither have I .

I liked his style of painting -

- Winter scene with the obligatory hut
- Mountain scene
- Trees/bushes scene . with the obligatory stream/river .

I wish I could paint the way he did .

I must say i didn't realise he had passed on - and so long ago .

How old was he when he died ?

[theshedman]

He was only in his early 50s and died of a type of cancer I think. Liked watching his shows and his type of painting.

[Andyvon]

Bob Ross' Joy of Painting used to be on every morning about 4am till 5.30 or so. I watched the programme for a while but I eventually got bored as all his paintings seem very similar. Bob Ross was a very gentle and pleasant man who died of lymphoma in 1995. He loved taking in abandoned and injured animals which he often introduced on the show. He took up painting after being posted to Alaska when he served in the US Air Force and was particularly struck by the scenery. He developed his own technique of painting a picture in about 20 minutes.

Along with his TV series filmed in Indiana, Bob Ross set up a multi-million dollar art supply business which is thriving today under the guidance of his son (Steve I think?). They also train 'Bob Ross Instructors' who are 'accredited' in the 'Bob Ross Painting Technique'. Each instructor is authorised by the Bob Ross company to hold painting classes in their local area teaching the Bob Ross Technique and using Bob Ross supplied products.

I don't think there's anything special about the products the Bob Ross company supply. It's virtually an art franchise, although not officially recognised as such. It's just a very good money spinner.

[Andyvon]

Incidently, 'The Joy of Painting' was based on the same format as 'The Joy of Sex' which was so popular in the 70s. There was a book and other literature to be used in conjuction with a regular series of instructional TV programmes.

How things have changed ! Who needs a format like that ?! Just switch the TV on about tea time !

[picturepost]

I purchasd all the paints and brushed many years ago most of the painting is done with a flat knife or a fan brush You can still get his kits in good art shops

[kendra20]

bob ross has been dead for years these are all really old programmes.

[vulcan]

I am intrigued by this method of teaching painting as I was told,by several art teachers, that to paint in somebody else's style you were not an artist but a copyist.It was only after you had developed your own style of painting could you be called an artist.