The Joy of Painting facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids The Joy of Painting

Created by	Bob Ross
Starring	Bob Ross Nicholas Hankins
Opening theme	Interlude by Larry Owens
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	33
No. of episodes	429 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	WNVC (1983) (season 1) WIPB (1983–1994) (seasons 2–31) WDSC-TV (season 32-present)
Release
Original network	PBS
Original release	January 11, 1983 (1983-01-11) – present
Chronology
Related shows	The Magic of Oil Painting

The Joy of Painting was a popular American TV show that taught people how to paint. It ran for many years, from January 11, 1983, to May 17, 1994. The show was created and hosted by the friendly painter Bob Ross. In each half-hour episode, Bob Ross showed viewers how to create beautiful landscape oil paintings. He completed a new painting in every session, making it look easy and fun. Sometimes, other artists would join the show to demonstrate different painting styles. The show followed a similar idea to an earlier program called The Magic of Oil Painting, which was hosted by Bob Ross's teacher, Bill Alexander. In 2024, new episodes of the show were released. These episodes featured paintings Bob Ross had started before he passed away. They were hosted by a new artist named Nicholas Hankins.

Discovering The Joy of Painting
See also

Discovering The Joy of Painting

How the Show Was Made

The Joy of Painting was shown and produced by public television stations. These stations do not air commercials. The first season aired in early 1983 and was made by WNVC in Falls Church, Virginia. From the second season in late 1983 until 1994, the show was produced by WIPB in Muncie, Indiana. Later, Blue Ridge Public Television in Roanoke, Virginia, also helped produce it. Today, American Public Television distributes the show.

Reruns of the show, called The Best of The Joy of Painting, started airing on PBS stations in the United States in 1992. These episodes showed some of Bob Ross's favorite paintings from past seasons. By the early 1990s, almost 300 episodes of The Joy of Painting were shown in the United States and Canada. Later, the show also began broadcasting in many other countries around the world. These included Mexico, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, and Australia.

In 2022, a pilot episode for a 32nd season was created. This season was planned before Bob Ross passed away, but it was never finished. Nicholas Hankins, an instructor from the Bob Ross Art Workshop and Gallery, hosted this pilot. It was very popular, so a full 13-episode season was filmed in March and June 2023. This new series used seven paintings by Bob Ross from the unfinished season. Nicholas Hankins also created six new paintings for the season. The series is called The Joy of Painting with Nicholas Hankins: Bob Ross's Unfinished Season. It is distributed by PBS and American Public Television. In December 2024, Nicholas Hankins shared on Instagram that a 33rd season was ordered by WDSC. This new season began broadcasting in the summer of 2025.

Who Helped Fund the Show?

Several companies helped fund The Joy of Painting over the years. Their support helped keep the show on the air for everyone to enjoy.

Alexander Art Company (1984–1985)
All-Tech Art (1983–1984)
The Artist's Magazine (1989–1994)
Langnickel (1988–1991)
Martin F. Weber Company (1985–1994)
Michael's Stores (1986)

The Magic of Bob Ross's Painting Style

At the start of each episode, Bob Ross usually had a blank white canvas. Sometimes, it was pre-painted with black gesso. He would then cover the canvas with a thin layer of liquid white paint or a dark color. If a painting was going to take longer than 30 minutes, he would prepare some steps before the show began. He would quickly explain what he had done. For shorter paintings, Bob would sometimes show off his pet squirrel, Peapod, or videos of himself in nature.

Bob's Special Painting Tools and Colors

Within minutes, the blank canvas would transform into a beautiful landscape, seascape, or winter scene. Bob Ross used a special method called wet-on-wet painting. This means he added new paint layers while the previous ones were still wet. This technique, along with his two-inch brushes and painting knives, allowed him to paint trees, water, clouds, and mountains very quickly.

He used a specific set of colors in his paintings. These included titanium white, phthalo green, phthalo blue, Prussian blue, midnight black, dark sienna, van dyke brown, alizarin crimson, sap green, cadmium yellow, yellow ochre, and bright red.

What Happened During Each Episode?

Each painting started with simple criss-cross strokes that looked like smudges of color. As he added more strokes, these blotches turned into detailed paintings. While he painted, Bob Ross explained his techniques to viewers. He also told stories about the "happy little clouds" and "happy little trees" he was creating. He often gave human feelings to the things he painted. For example, after painting one tree, he might add another nearby "because it needs a friend."

Sometimes, he showed home videos of himself with baby animals like a deer or a raccoon. Each show was filmed live with two cameras. One camera showed Bob Ross and his canvas, and the other showed a close-up of the canvas or his palette. At the end of every episode, Bob Ross would say something like, "...so, from all of us here, I'd like to wish you happy painting, and God bless, my friend...". Then, the show's theme song played as the credits rolled over his finished painting.

Bob Ross actually created three versions of each painting. The first was made before filming and used as a guide. The second was the one viewers watched him paint on TV. After filming, he painted a third, more detailed version for his instructional books. All three paintings were then given to PBS stations, the Smithsonian Institution, or kept by his company.

The show also featured many guest painters. These artists would paint in Bob Ross's place. Some of them included his son Steve Ross, Dana Jester, and his business partner Annette Kowalski.

Exploring All the Episodes

Bob Ross's Lasting Impact

Bob Ross Online and On TV Today

In 1994, Bob Ross even appeared on Bill Nye the Science Guy. He did a funny segment called "The Artistic Eye with Bob Ross."

In 2015, Twitch streamed every episode of The Joy of Painting for nine days. This started on what would have been Bob Ross's 73rd birthday. Over 5.6 million people watched! Because it was so popular, Twitch started showing all 31 seasons every Monday. They also have a marathon of episodes every October 29. Some of the money from ads goes to charities like St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Also in 2015, all 403 episodes of The Joy of Painting were added to the official Bob Ross YouTube channel. In 2016, Netflix released some episodes under the names Beauty Is Everywhere and Chill with Bob Ross. In 2020, Tubi added almost 400 episodes to its platform for free. There is even a 24-hour channel called The Bob Ross Channel. It shows reruns of The Joy of Painting on streaming platforms like The Roku Channel and Peacock.

Fun Parodies and Merchandise

The Joy of Painting has inspired many fun things! In 2017, the first trailer for the movie Deadpool 2 featured a funny imitation of The Joy of Painting. Ryan Reynolds played the character Deadpool as Bob Ross.

The show has also been used for merchandise. You can find a Chia Pet and even a breakfast cereal inspired by Bob Ross. There have been comedy TV shows in other countries that made fun of The Joy of Painting. For example, an Iranian show called Khande Bazaar had a segment called The Humiliation of Painting. A Canadian show called Buzz also had a sketch called The Cable Access Painter.

In 2020, the program returned to television on BBC Four in the United Kingdom. The MeTV cartoon show Toon In With Me also parodied The Joy of Painting with a character named Mel Attonin. In 2022, Goodfood Market released a commercial called "Joy of Cooking" that was a parody of Bob Ross's show.

Bob Ross's painting from the very first episode, "A Walk in the Woods," was listed for sale in 2023 for $9.85 million. In 2025, to help support public broadcasting, Bonhams announced plans to sell 30 original Bob Ross paintings. The money raised from these sales helps fund public television stations. The first auction, featuring three paintings, happened in Los Angeles on November 11, 2025.