Biography of Bob Ross

Bob Ross was an American painter and television personality who was born on October 29, 1942, in Daytona Beach, Florida, and passed away on July 4, 1995, in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Ross joined the US Air Force at the age of 18 after finishing his first year of high school and working for a while as his father's carpenter. 

He joined his first painting class at a United Service Organizations club in the early 1960s while stationed in Alaska. He learned about the wet-on-wet oil painting method and kept experimenting and perfecting the wet-on-wet method. eventually, he came up with his own special version that included specially manufactured paints, brushes, and knives that had to be used with it. 

Another name for Bob Ross's wet-on-wet method is "alla prima" or "direct painting." Work done with the "alla prima" technique can be completed in a single session. In 1983, Ross began the PBS television series The Joy of Painting, which attracted millions of viewers and ran for over ten years. Ross gained popularity as a TV painting instructor for his easygoing style, sense of humor, and 30-minute painting turnaround times. 

His popular phrases and mannerisms gained him fame, such as his admiration for "happy little trees" and his optimistic tagline, "We don't make mistakes---we just have happy accidents." From the sixteenth century to the present alla prima technique has been used in various ways by artists from the 16th century onward, including Jan van Eyck, Diego Velzquez, and Thomas Gainsborough; impressionists Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh; realists John Singer Sargent; and even contemporary artists like Willem de Kooning.

References

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bob-Ross

https://www.biography.com/artists/bob-ross

https://experience.bobross.com/the-bob-ross-experience/