1. Bob Ross was born October 29, 1942
2. Bob Ross was born in Daytona, Florida
3. The first episode of The Joy of Painting aired January 11, 1983 and has remained on television uninterrupted to this day.
4. Bob Ross learned carpentry skills from his father
Bob Ross in 'The Joy of Painting' Source: Supplied
5. Bob Ross had a 20- year career in the United States Air Force before becoming a painting instructor
6. Bob Ross saw snow and mountains for the first time when he was stationed in Alaska, having grown up in Florida
7. Bob Ross was missing part of the index finger on his left hand, which he lost in a carpentry accident as a child. This missing finger is covered by his palette while filming the show.
8. Bob Ross permed his hair to save money on frequent haircuts when he began his career as a traveling art instructor. He grew to dislike the hairstyle, but as it had become his signature look, he could not change it
9. Bob Ross filmed his television show, “The Joy of Painting”, in Muncie, Indiana, where there is now a museum dedicated to him and the show.
10. Bob Ross collected antiques
11. Bob Ross had several squirrel friends throughout the show including Peapod the Pocket Squirrel, Peadpod, Jr., and Bobbette the Squirrel.
12. Every episode of The Joy of Painting was painted in 27 minutes or less; the episodes were never edited down to allow more painting time off camera
13. Bob Ross taught painting classes in Mexico and Japan.
14. In The Netherlands a flower was named after Bob. The Bob Ross amaryllis is a white flower with red bordering its petals. The red represents Bob’s iconic “Ross” signature signed in the paint color Bright Red.
15. Bob Ross painted using special firm oil paints, these allowed him to layer the paint as seen on his show.
A river scene from 'The Joy of Painting', with his vivid signature. Source: WIPB
16. Bob Ross painted three versions of each painting. One was painted before the show as a reference, one was painted for television, and the last painting was created for the step-by-step books that correspond with the series.
17. For a time in Alaska Bob Ross painted gold pans with classic Alaskan scenes and sold them to locals and tourists
18. Bob Ross’s The Joy of Painting remains the most popular television painting show in the world and airs on a public television station in the United States every day. It has fans around the world, including many here in Australia.
19. In 2015 a Bob Ross marathon on the website Twitch drew 5.6 million views
20. The palette Bob uses on The Joy of Painting was specially made to be larger and easier to view on camera than normal palettes. He also sanded the palette so it wouldn’t cause a glare in the studio lights.
21. Bob made a point while filming to speak as though he were speaking to just one person.
22. Bob Ross once painted an entire landscape in white and gray to show a colorblind fan that anyone can paint.
23. Before his show took off, Bob Ross traveled holding painting classes and performing painting demonstrations in malls. If even just one student showed up to one of Bob’s classes, he held the class.
24. Only two episodes of The Joy of Painting feature people, Season 3 Episode 10 and Season 17 Episode 11
25. Bob Ross passed away on July 4, 1995
26. Bob Ross kept an alligator in his bathtub for a time as a child
27. Bob Ross would film an entire series of 13 paintings in just three days
28. Bob Ross opened the in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, as a place to train Certified Ross Instructors in the Bob Ross technique. CRIs are still trained there today. The Workshop also offers classes for hobby painters as well as one of the few permanent destinations to see Bob Ross paintings in person all year round.
29. Some of Bob Ross’s bird friends that appeared on the show included Hoot the Owl, Mr. Jay the Bluejay, Kathy and Richard the Robins, and Midnight and Daniel the Crows.
30. Bob Ross loved having breakfast for dinner and had a particular fondness for waffle houses.
31. Bob took inspiration for paintings from all over, whether it was a landscape he had visited, his own imagination, or photos fans of the show mailed in to him.
32. Many affectionately refer to Bob Ross as the Grandfather of ASMR, due to fans of ASMR being mesmerised by his show long before the effect of ASMR had been given a name or gained popularity.
33. Bob Ross knew fans fell asleep watching his show and was amused by it.
34. The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross had 403 episodes. Bob Ross painted 381 of the episodes, while the others were painted by guest artists.
See The Bob Ross Experience screened on SBS VICELAND on 29 October and is now available at SBS On Demand:
The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross airs weekdays at 5.45pm on SBS VICELAND, with episodes also available .
