Mesmerized gazes behind the television eagerly observed Bob Ross’s entertaining painting classes. For many he was the first and only art teacher who easily and with sweet verbal poetry created the most beautiful natural landscapes.
The Joy of Painting was the program in which the painter Bob Ross taught simple painting techniques with a subtle narration of each element he incorporated into the landscape, in addition to accompanying it with a very peculiar phrase that added a humorous and sarcastic touch.
During the show, Bob would make three versions of each painting; The first served as a reference, the second was the one he painted during the episode and the third was done shortly after to include it in the educational books that he promoted.
Today, according to the NY Times, some of the paintings are kept in the Smithsonian Museum, which says it has no plans to exhibit them, and 1,165 are stored at Bob Ross Inc.
The art of painting was as creative and free as his cheerful personality and extraordinary afro. All this accompanied by a casual conversation with the unknown trainees who were looking at him from the other side of the screen.