Ross, Bob

Ross, (Robert) Bob

(1943– ) painting instructor; born in Daytona, Fla. Dropping out of school in the ninth grade, he served in the U.S. Air Force where he took his first painting lesson at an Anchorage, Alaska United Service Organizations club. After the service he attended various art schools until he learned the technique of "wet on wet" from William Alexander (later his bitter rival)—applying oil paints directly on one another to produce complete paintings (mostly landscapes) in less than an hour. In 1983 he began his instruction program, "The Joy of Painting," on public television, eventually carried by over 275 stations and spawning an empire that included videos, how-to books, art supplies, and certified Bob Ross instructors, thus making him one of the best-known and most highly paid of all American painters.