What You Didn't Know About The Life Of Bob Ross

Publish date: 2024-05-05

To the viewer, Bob Ross is that happy guy who paints happier trees, and clouds, and rivers. To the artist, Bob Ross is a guy who paints in a very specific and unique way: wet on wet, where paint is applied on a still-wet coat to create the finished piece. Wet on wet dates back to the 1300s, and French impressionists used the method up to the early 20th century. The word on wet on wet is that "no serious artist uses it," and then Bob Ross came along and ... well, critics don't really like him either, but that's not the point.

Ross himself began painting in Alaska and learned his technique from a famed (sort of) wet on wet painter, Bill Alexander. The German-born Alexander appeared on public television before Ross ever did, in the 1970s. Ross dedicated an episode of his Joy of Painting program in Season 2 to his teacher and mentor, but things soured from there. By 1991, Ross wouldn't even mention Alexander by name, telling the New York Times, "(H)e is our major competitor."

Alexander was okay with it. And by "okay," we mean he said, "I invented 'wet on wet.' I trained him, and he is copying me—what bothers me is not just that he betrayed me, but that he thinks he can do it better." Hard to imagine anyone being mad at Bob Chillpants Ross, but it goes to show you: everyone has a rival. Someone out there probably hated Mister Rogers, too.

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