All About Bob
The best Bob Ross music video is at
with over 6,360,439 views.
And like most things parodying Bob, it is done with a touch of humor and love.Growing up far from anything artsy, Mr. Ross was some of my first and most profound exposure to art, and painting. He made days stuck at home sick almost enjoyable. I think most any artist that can make creating and self expression approachable is to be commended.
Most artists I know both smile and cringe at the mention of Bob Ross and I think even he would understand the way he has gone down in pop culture history.
A few years before his death, Ross filmed several "self-parodying MTV spots".
5 (Happy Little) Things You Didn't Know About Bob Ross From Mental Floss http://mentalfloss.com/article/23260/5-happy-little-things-you-didnt-know-about-bob-ross
Bob Ross' patient teaching and "wet on wet" painting techniques helped introduce thousands of amateur painters to the art world. The "serious" art establishment might not have had much time for Ross—and the contempt was mutual—but even now, almost two decades after his death, Ross' iconic show The Joy of Painting still enjoys a large following in syndication. Let's take a look at five things you might not know about the man who brought us so many happy little trees.1. HE WAS A MILITARY MAN
Ross' quiet voice and gentle demeanor made him the perfect host for
The Joy of Painting, but those traits might have kept him from being the perfect soldier.
Before Ross became a TV painter, he spent 20 years in the United States Air Force and retired with the rank of master sergeant. In fact, an early assignment to Alaska helped expose the Florida native to the snowy mountains and evergreens that would become staples of his art.
Viewers might find it surprising that the serene Ross was an Air Force sergeant, and it sounds like the painter thought it was a little odd himself. He later told the
Orlando Sentinel, "I was the guy who makes you scrub the latrine, the guy who makes you make your bed, the guy who screams at you for being late to work. The job requires you to be a mean, tough person. And I was fed up with it."
When Ross retired from the Air Force, he allegedly vowed never to scream again, a plan that seems to have worked perfectly.
2. HE WORKED FOR FREE
The Joy of Painting ran new seasons on PBS from 1983 to 1994, so even at public broadcasting rates the show must have made Ross quite a bit of loot, right? Not quite. Ross actually did the series for free; his income came from Bob Ross Inc. Ross' company sold art supplies and how-to videotapes, taught classes, and even had a troupe of traveling art instructors who roamed the world teaching painting. It's tough to think of a better advertisement for these products than Ross' show.
How did Ross find the time to tape all of those shows for free? He could record a season almost as fast as he could paint.
Ross could bang out an entire 13-episode season of The Joy of Painting in just over two days, which freed him up to get back to teaching lessons.
3. HE DIDN'T SELL HIS PAINTINGS
In a 1991 interview with the
New York Times, Ross claimed he'd made over 30,000 paintings since he was an 18-year-old stationed in Alaska with the Air Force. When Ross died of lymphoma in 1995, most of his paintings either ended up in the hands of charity or PBS.
That's not to say there aren't any Ross paintings floating around, though.
While he generally didn't sell his canvasses, Ross did sell some souvenir gold pans during his stint in Alaska. At the time, the amateur artist got $25 a pop for a gold pan with an Alaskan scene painted in the bottom. [See Also:
What Happened to Bob Ross' Paintings?]
4. HE HAD A DR. DOOLITTLE STREAK
Before he ever picked up a paintbrush, Ross was an animal lover.
During his childhood in Florida, he once shocked his mother by trying to nurse a wounded alligator back to health in the family's bathtub. Throughout his adult life, he maintained his soft spot for animals; his Florida home usually housed any number of critters that Ross was trying to help rehabilitate. At various times he played host to birds with broken wings, orphaned baby squirrels, and an epileptic squirrel that lived in his empty Jacuzzi.
Ross liked animals so much that he would tape squirrels in his backyard. During the early 1990s, Ross had hoped to develop a new non-painting show that would introduce children to a variety of new wildlife.
5. HE DIDN'T LOVE THE FRO
It's hard to think of Bob Ross and not immediately key in on the giant bushy mushroom cloud of hair that exploded off of his head, and Ross knew it. Unfortunately, he also supposedly hated the haircut. Ross had an uncanny knack for marketing, though, so he knew that trimming his locks down to a more conservative "˜do would probably undercut part of his business. Ross decided to stick with his trademark look and even had his permed visage emblazoned on every tube of Bob Ross Inc. art supplies.
Google celebrated the 70th anniversary of his birthday with a Google Doodle on October 29, 2012. It portrayed Ross painting a depiction of the letter "g" with a landscape in the background
From Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Ross
Bob Ross was raised in Orlando, Florida.[2] Ross had a half brother Jim, whom he mentioned in passing on his show.[3]While working as a carpenter with his father, Ross lost his left index finger. It did not affect the way he held his palette while painting.
Bob Ross vs Pablo Picasso
Ross enlisted in the United States Air Force at age 17. The Air Force transferred him to Elmendorf Air Force Base[citation needed] (in Alaska), where he first saw the snow and mountains that later became recurring themes in his artwork. He developed his quick-painting technique to create art for sale in brief daily work breaks.[4] Having held military positions that required him to be, in his own words, "mean" and "tough," "the guy who makes you scrub the latrine, the guy who makes you make your bed, the guy who screams at you for being late to work," Ross decided that if he ever moved on from the military, "it wasn't going to be that way any more," vowing "never to scream again."[4] This was where Bob would meet Jane, when they were in the medical field and would become Bob's second wife. 
During Ross' stay in Alaska, he worked as a bartender part-time, when he discovered a TV show that was called The Magic World of Oil Painting, hosted by a German painter, named Bill Alexander.After studying with Bill Alexander, Ross discovered that he was soon able to earn more from selling his work than from his Air Force position. Ross then retired from the Air Force after 20 years of service with the rank of Master Sergeant [5] and became famous worldwide hosting the television program, The Joy of Painting,[1] with the help of Annette & Walter Kowalski.Before the show was launched, Bob would try to promote the painting technique but with little interest. He also had to find a way to cut back on spending, so he decided to have his hair permed, just so he could save money on haircuts. The perm hairstyle was not comfortable for Bob, but ultimately became an iconic feature of the painter
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