Bob ross biography for kids

He was also in a kids' show called The Adventures of Elmer and Friends , although he died before he could create any more than one episode. At the age of 18, Ross enlisted in the U. Air Force. Snow and mountains became a recurring theme in his artwork when the Air Force transferred him to Eielson AFB in Alaska and he first saw them.

Have you ever made a mistake? Well, in painting it is very easy to make mistakes and Bob was excellent at helping people understand that even when we make mistakes we can turn those mistakes into something good! This idea that he used in his painting lessons caught the attention of a woman named Annette Kowalski. Annette was fascinated by Ross and thought they might find a way to sell the experience of painting with him.

After a meeting with Annette Kowalski and her husband, Ross became convinced that he should leave the Alexander Magic Art Supplies Company and start his own teaching business. Kowalski was so confident in their potential for success that she spent all of her life savings on the business. Ross and his wife spent most of their money too! Low on money, Bob Ross decided to take a bold step and change his look.

Gone were the days of the strict military haircut, and in its place emerged a new and unexpected style: the classic afro that would come to define him. Little did he know that this bold decision to perm his hair would change his appearance forever. It is not totally clear how Bob became a famous painter on TV. There are two stories about how he was able to get onto the PBS channel.

One story says that Bob and his former teacher Bill Alexander filmed a commercial for his art classes, which happened to impress someone important. It is possible that both stories are true. This message to kids, in a world increasingly pressuring them to 'figure out' what they want to be, is such a positive one. No matter what path we are on, the colours of our passion will reveal themselves to us and we will find out way Boyden gives this arc of self-discovery visual momentum through crisply drawn, cartoonish vignettes, along with a few larger images of the outdoors, that pay full homage to the Bob Ross style Combining the wet-painting method with the use of large one- and two-inch brushes, as well as painting knives, allowed the painter to quickly complete a landscape scene.

Ross painted three versions of almost every painting featured on his show. The first was painted prior to taping and sat on an easel off-camera during filming, where Ross used it as a reference to create the second copy which viewers actually watched him paint. After filming the episode, he painted a more detailed version for inclusion in his instructional books.

The versions were each marked on the side or back of the canvas: "Kowalski" for the initial version, "tv" for the version painted during the TV show and "book" for the book version. Ross dedicated the first episode of the second season of The Joy of Painting to Bill Alexander, explaining that "years ago, Bill taught me this fantastic [wet-on-wet] technique, and I feel as though he gave me a precious gift, and I'd like to share that gift with you.

Bob ross biography for kids

Ross was well known for phrases he tended to repeat while painting, such as "let's add some happy little trees". In most episodes, Ross would note that he enjoyed cleaning his paint brush. He was fond of drying off a brush dipped in odorless thinner by striking it against the can of thinner, then striking it against a box on early seasons of the show and a trash can on later seasons.

Occasionally, he would strike the brush hard on the trash can, saying he "hit the bucket" and then on the easel. He would smile and often laugh aloud as he said to "beat the Devil out of it". He also used a lightly sanded palette to avoid reflections from the studio lighting. In every show, Ross wore jeans and a plain light-colored shirt, which he believed would be a timeless look, and spoke as if addressing one viewer.

When asked about his relaxed and calm approach, he said, "I got a letter from somebody here a while back, and they said, 'Bob, everything in your world seems to be happy. That's why I paint. It's because I can create the kind of world that I want, and I can make this world as happy as I want it. Shoot, if you want bad stuff, watch the news.

The landscapes he painted, typically mountains, lakes, snow and log cabin scenes, were inspired by his years in Alaska , where he was stationed for the majority of his Air Force career. He repeatedly said everyone has inherent artistic talent and could become an accomplished artist given time, practice and encouragement. Ross would say, "we don't make mistakes; we just have happy accidents.

By his own estimation, Ross completed more than thirty thousand paintings. His work rarely contained human subjects or signs of human life. On rare occasions, he would incorporate a cabin, sometimes with a chimney but without smoke, and possibly unoccupied. The audience gave him a huge ovation; he was slightly nervous at first, but felt better after cracking a joke to the crowd.

Snow was later given a private painting lesson by Ross. On one visit in , he appeared on The Joan Rivers Show. In , Ross appeared on the Phil Donahue Show and took five audience members on-stage to do a painting. Donahue also did a painting during that episode. In the early s, Ross did several MTV promotional spots that, according to the American City Business Journals , "dovetailed perfectly with Generation X 's burgeoning obsession with all things ironic and retro".

In , a visibly ill Ross made his final public television appearance as a guest on the pilot episode of the children's series The Adventures of Elmer and Friends. The series premiered in , one year after Ross's death. The episode included a final message of thanks from Ross to his fans and viewers and a musical tribute.