Bob Ross and Joy of Painting

darkosaric · Dec 25, 2013

Hi all,

yesterday I saw on TV for the first time Bob Ross and his fast painting of landscapes. I was amazed :O! Usually I don't take photos of landscapes, but for everyone who does - take a look on youtube if you don't know this legend . For ones that knows itabout Bob Ross - question: did it helped in your photography?

Regards,

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Dec 25, 2013

If Leonardo have a video on youtube , he would impress me but not that guy.

waynecrider · Dec 25, 2013

Use to watch his show often and still watch the reruns occasionally. The show had a documentary on his life after he died and it showed that he really had a huge affect on people around the world to just get out there and start painting. He was a very gentle and extremely well liked person and it never went to his head. We could use more people in this world like him.

dasBlute · Dec 25, 2013

Art is an amazing thing. It's squishy, malleable, like jelly. You think you've got it
right where you want it, and *glop* it squeezes out. Every time you think you
know exactly what it is... <grin> it surprises you again. Think Bob Ross isn't
an Artist? I'd say think again. Through whatever means, he communicated to
people, connected across the void, made them feel happy. Comparing him
[or anyone] to Leonardo, misses the point of Art. Each of us, if we find the way,
have deep Art inside us, which can only come to fruition - in my opinion - through
the experience others have of our work, in other words there must be a connection
between two people for Art to occur.

Whether you like him or not, whether he appeals to you or not, Bob Ross connected
with *alot* of people, and therein lies a great beauty and appeal to his character.
Who gets to be Leonardo, Mozart, Michaelangelo? - No one. Statistically they do not exist.
But Art needs to happen just the same for all the rest of us, the mediocre unwashed
masses, the 'Salieri's of the world. As a child, the 'happy cloud guy' made me and
my children feel like we too could make some Art, and so we have.

Here's to Bob Ross, to world needs more like him:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLO7tCdBVrA

One last thing, maybe Bob Ross' Art was not his paintings, but his life...

Christopher Walrath · Dec 25, 2013

I have not watched Bob Ross in years. As a younger adult I would still catch Bugs Bunny Road Runner on Saturday mornings. Yes, I did make that left turn at Albuquerque just to see where it went. At noon, I would flip through the channels before doing something for the day. I would invariably come across PBS and, dontcha know, there is Bob Ross. Painting a rock next to a trail so that the woodland creatures would have a place to sit to rest.

The guy was frickin' hypnotic. I never sought him out, but I enjoyed watching him work. He was no Picasso. But he was very talented nonetheless.

Darkroom317 · Dec 25, 2013

Never really cared for him as a painter. He has never really inspired me as a painter. In art school both him and Thomas Kinkade are considered jokes.

My photography has mainly been influenced by J.M.W Turner and Caspar David Friedrich.

darkosaric · Dec 25, 2013

I am not saying that Bob is best painter in history, I was touched not only by paintings and speed of creating those works, but also the way he was explaining everything, by his personality, easy approach, positive attitude... somehow he put a spark in me to start thinking about photographing landscapes (in my photography it is all about people), nobody else before was able to do this.

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Dec 25, 2013

Painting is all about details , light , degrades. Bob Ross gave the people what they understand but not what they might need to understand. Bad artists are threats if they become famous especially if they try to teach whatever bad taste is. I watched him painting a pine tree , what a horrible thing , total bad taste and underrated art. I prefer real talents not charlatans.

drumlin · Dec 25, 2013

Haters gonna hate.

Agree that Bob Ross was much more inspiring in his life and approach than his paintings. He inspired a lot of people to just get out there and paint or create despite their insecurities and self doubt. No, he's not Renoir, but he's helped my mom start painting (via reruns) and she gets a lot of pleasure out of it. Art snobs be damned.

The show was called the JOY of painting.

Klainmeister · Dec 25, 2013

My English teacher in highschool used to stamp good papers with a Bob Ross portrait--I guess it was his way of saying good job. I've always wanted to know where he got a rubber stamp of him though...

...wait, what were we talking about?

Richard S. (rich815) · Dec 25, 2013

Bob Ross was like a Richard Simmons of art and do it yourself art tv show: at first you hate or dislike him for all the right reasons and then he grows on you because he does what he loves, ignores the haters and just keeps on going and going. Well-liked and with a wonderful personality. Funny and humorous to watch those who take him too seriously actually try to critique him in some pedantic snobbish way. He was who he was and was loved by millions.

eddie · Dec 25, 2013

He never put himself out there as a great painter. His mission was to encourage others to believe they could paint. His enthusiasm was infectious and, on the few occasions I watched, he made me believe I could do it. Quit hatin'...

removed account4 · Dec 25, 2013

SNIP SNIP SNIP

Darkroom317 said:
In art school both him and Thomas Kinkade are considered jokes.

its unfortunate that in art school people that make it as artists ( kinkade ) or teachers ( ross ) are considered jokes
when one sees some of the "art" that comes out of art school.

the richard simmons of the art world ??

its too bad people just can't let people be ...

Richard S. (rich815) · Dec 25, 2013

jnanian said:
the richard simmons of the art world ??

its too bad people just can't let people be ...

My Richard Simmons comparison only goes as far as many people disliking them both at first then liking them later....

I actually like both of them a lot!

Truzi · Dec 25, 2013

As a child and teenager I enjoy watching Bob Ross' Joy of Painting (and Jim Crockett's Victory Garden). I still often catch the Ross show on PBS late at nite.

Christopher Walrath · Dec 25, 2013

It's like watching the Shawshank Redemption. I have only seen the first fifteen minutes once or twice. When you come across it channel surfing it sucks you in. I have seen the rest over a hundred times.

Same for The Joy of Painting for me. I never caught the blank canvas. But I enjoyed his enthusiasm. It was infectious. He never claimed to be the next classical artist. Good thing he never did. But he was who he was and HIS art brought a lot of people joy as he was a joy to watch for me. And for that I am ever thankful. I actually tried to paint the backyard once after watching him. Never would have thought to without his inspiration, such as it was. He encouraged people to GET OFF THEIR FAT LAZY BUTTS and just go out there and do what you love.

I'm just glad that no one has begun a new show, The Joy of Pixels. Might have to pass that one up.

And for the original question which I think has been passed over, did he help us with our photography? I think my answer is, NOT A DAMN BIT. However, he fostered creativity. And I think what my photography is today is a by-product of that and other nurturing received over the years collectively.

Music. Metallica. I loved them in their heyday. Black, Fuel, Load, etc. Then St. Anger comes out. I hated it. Absolutely hated it. However, it was what they had always wanted to be able to do as artists. And in that one statement, though I dislike their music now, I do respect the decision they made to go through with it.

Bob Ross did not produce 'Fine Art'. Thank God. The mere line 'Fine Art' when applied by the artist is self-serving and flips the off switch immediately for me. I am glad for all the Bob Ross's out there who have the pair to lay it all out there at the expense of their pride to be able to say that they did it and no one could stop them. I hope one day to be as instrumental as Bob Ross has been to thousands if not millions of people over the years.

NB23 · Dec 26, 2013

I miss this guy. I used to fall asleep like a baby listening to his brushes and his voice. It was soothing like nothing else.

lxdude · Dec 26, 2013

Christopher Walrath said:
I actually tried to paint the backyard once after watching him.

Wow, that would take a lot of paint!

I painted just the backyard fence, and that was plenty for me...

Steve Smith · Dec 26, 2013

waynecrider said:
Use to watch his show often and still watch the reruns occasionally. The show had a documentary on his life after he died and it showed that he really had a huge affect on people around the world to just get out there and start painting. He was a very gentle and extremely well liked person and it never went to his head. We could use more people in this world like him.

Exactly that.

His work could not be considered as fine art (whatever that is) but he was certainly inspirational to many and his programmes are interesting to watch.

Steve.

lxdude · Dec 26, 2013

www.bobrossquotes.com

Mike Crawford · Dec 26, 2013

Over in the UK, we too had popular TV artists!
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wj84tfS7ag4

Steve Smith · Dec 26, 2013

We had a real one too:

[video=youtube;mg4TvOIfw6o]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mg4TvOIfw6o[/video]

Steve.

kintatsu · Dec 26, 2013

I liked his work. It started out looking like a jumbled mess of nothing, but ended up looking like something real. His ability to use light and shadow to create the setting was quite intriguing. Another good one was Bill Alexander, a German with a habit of calling things "the almighty..." Who's to say these guys didn't do good work? Everyone's taste is different, some may not like their stuff, but insulting it is like saying "If someone uses a technique or style of photography that I don't like, then they aren't making photos."

My buddy was into their style and tried to work on it. I'd rather use photography to express and create my vision.

Whiteymorange · Dec 26, 2013

I won't comment on his painting (haters gotta hate includes me) but I will say that he got everything from this guy.

I taught painting for over 35 years. The fact that Bob Ross made people get out there and paint is a major point in his favor. The fact that he favored tricks over actual observation is a shame. He taught thousands of people to swivel a brush, drag a knife, put a dab her and there and Voila!, you have something that looks like something. My painting may not be any better than his, but in teaching the craft, I think the point is to get people to look more carefully at the world around them, not try to learn tricks that will make their canvases all look alike.

Just sayin'

kintatsu · Dec 26, 2013

In Bob Ross's defense, not saying anything about his art, he lived in Alaska for a long time and observed a lot of nature. He also enjoyed getting out into nature. He at least had a notion of what nature looked like.

In defense of both Ross and Alexander, even Rembrandt used wet on wet on occasion. Their big contribution was getting people thinking about creativity and expression. As Ross was big on saying, it's your world, make it what you want. Isn't showing OUR OWN world a big part of our photography?

I agree about folks using tricks to make their work look the same, though. It bothers me that many of the local "pro" photographers copy each other and there is no real variety or expression. It's to the point that people are selling Photoshop actions to make your photos look like they were taken by them, not you.

Bob Ross and Joy of Painting

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