Ross, Bob (1943– )

US painting instructor. In 1983 he began his instruction programme, The Joy of Painting, on television, spawning an empire that included videos, books, art supplies, and certified Bob Ross instructors, thus making him one of the best known and most highly paid of all US painters.

He was born in Daytona, Florida. He served in the US Air Force where he took his first painting lesson at an Anchorage, Alaska, United Service Organizations club. 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.