| The Joy of Painting | |
|---|---|
Bob Ross at his easel |
|
| Format | Art |
| Starring | Bob Ross |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 31 |
| No. of episodes | 403 |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | PBS |
| Original run | January 11, 1983 – May 17, 1994 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
The Joy of Painting was an American television show hosted by painter Bob Ross that taught its viewers basic techniques for landscape oil painting. Although Bob Ross could complete a painting in half an hour, the intent of the show was not to teach viewers speed painting. Rather, he intended for viewers to learn certain techniques within the amount of time that the show was allowed. The show lasted until 1994, a year before Ross's death.
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Broadcast by non-commercial public television stations, the show was first produced by WNVC in Falls Church, Virginia, through the early-1980s, then WIPB in Muncie, Indiana from 1983 until 1994, and later by Blue Ridge Public Television in Roanoke, Virginia. Most of the series was distributed by what is now American Public Television.
As of 2006[update], The Joy of Painting has been shown in many countries worldwide, such as Greek state broadcaster ERT3, Turkish state broadcaster TRT (with the title Resim Sevinci), German television (BR-Alpha), Discovery Real Time in the UK, NHK in Japan, EBS in South Korea and Once TV in Mexico, ATV and ICable TV in Hong Kong, IRIB in Iran and the Colombian state channel Canal Capital.
The show continues to be broadcast in syndication on public television stations, and continues a multi-million dollar spin-off business bearing Ross's name that sells art accessories related to the show. Re-runs are sometimes packaged under the title Best of The Joy of Painting.
The show airs regularly on the PBS digital subchannel Create.
The show's theme is "Interlude" by Larry Owens.
Each show began with Ross standing with a blank canvas in front of a black background. In under thirty minutes, he would turn the blank canvas into an imaginary landscape, using the wet-on-wet oil painting technique, in which the painter continues adding paint on top of still wet paint rather than waiting a lengthy amount of time to allow each layer of paint to dry.[1] Combining this method with the use of two inch and other types of brushes as well as painting knives allowed him to paint trees, water, clouds and mountains in a matter of seconds. Each painting would start with simple strokes that appeared to be nothing more than colored smudges. As he added more and more strokes, the blotches transformed into intricate landscapes.[2] The paintings featured colors like titanium white, phthalo green (a color used often, but in small quantities), phthalo blue, prussian blue, midnight black, dark sienna, Van Dyke brown, alizarin crimson, sap green, cadmium yellow (or "cad yellow" for short), yellow ochre, Indian yellow, and bright red. (On occasion, he used burnt umber and permanent red.) As he painted, he instructed viewers regarding the techniques he was using and added his trademark soothing comments describing the "happy little clouds" and "happy little trees" that he was creating with his brush. He would also mention snippets of his own life, including his military career and the time he spent in Alaska, family anecdotes, and his affection for small animals, which he raised and set free. The show would occasionally feature a video of Ross with a baby squirrel or deer. He became known for his soothing tone and reassuring comments; "We don't make mistakes, we just have happy accidents." Each program was shot in real time with two cameras: a medium shot of Ross and his canvas, and a close-up shot of the canvas or palette.
Occasionally, he would introduce a guest painter to host an episode. Guests included Dana Jester[3] and Ross's son Steve.
In March 2006, AGFRAG Entertainment Group announced that it was in the process of developing a video game based on The Joy of Painting for the Nintendo DS and Wii console systems and for the personal computer. The games would focus on the art of painting in the Bob Ross style.[4] In December 2006, Bob Ross Incorporated dropped developer AGFRAG from the project and began searching for a new developer.[5]
DVD releases are grouped into collections such as: - Barn Collection - The Bob Ross Workshop - Seascaping Collection - Waterfalls Collection