Bob Ross is known for being a kindhearted and caring television artist, but where did he grow up?
Bob Ross was born in 1942, in Daytona Beach, Florida. He spent a vast portion of his life around the state, including his entire childhood and teenage years as he grew up.
Read on to learn more about the legendary artist that was Bob Ross.
Famous After His Time
Bob Ross was always destined to be one of the kindest people the world had ever seen. As a child and teenager growing up in Florida, he was quick to help out his parents and care for animals. Although he was a deeply secretive person, a few details have been discovered about his younger life.
His parents divorced when he was young, just a year and a half old, but this didn’t have a negative impact on his life. He dropped out of high school at a young age, but immediately began learning a trade. This all took place in Orlando, Florida, where his family had moved to from Daytona Beach shortly after he was born.
Strangely, Ross’ parents would remarry after their divorce, but only after they had both married and subsequently separated from entirely new partners. Again, this turbulence didn’t seem to have any true impact on Ross as he grew up in Orlando, Florida.
When he was eighteen, Bob Ross joined the United States Airforce, and relocated to Alaska. This is where he grew up from being a teenager into a man, ultimately spending twenty years in the armed services.
It was during his service that he discovered his love for painting, and became inspired by another television show dedicated to art, The Magic of Oil Painting. This show taught Ross to paint a painting in around thirty minutes flat, a talent which he would eventually pass on to others.
Strangely, the vast majority of Ross’ success would come long after his death in 1995. His quiet and relaxing tone of voice and skill as both a teacher and painter shone through over two decades later on the internet. He became the subject of many memes and internet parodies, but always in a good light.
The main attraction of Bob Ross was his consistently positive attitude. He would take time, care and attention in teaching other people how to paint, even decades after he had passed away. You can see a video of one of his teachings on YouTube at the link below.
The Iconic Artist
Bob Ross became famed for his quick art style. He could create an entire painting in just thirty minutes, using some incredibly fast strokes of the brush. One of his trademarks was painting images using as few colors and as little equipment as possible. This was deliberate, and was done so with the intention of making painting as accessible as possible.
One of the most famous episodes of his show featured him creating a ‘colorblind’ painting. This was a beautiful landscape, but was made up entirely of whites, blacks and greys. You can see a video of this episode on YouTube here.
By the end of his series, Ross had apparently painted over thirty thousand pictures, all of which were donated away for free. He also never accepted any payments for the time spent on his show. Instead, he made money from a store that his family owned, selling paint supplies and learning materials.
Bob Ross grew up helping his father, caring for animals and fighting for the freedom of other people. It’s likely his caring demeanour was always present on the surface, and the persona he portrays in his videos is nothing but genuine.
While he may have been very secretive and private, it’s likely he’d never have guessed he’d gain internet fame with everyone knowing his name many years after his passing. His inspiration and encouragement still exists on Twitter, in the form of a channel run by his long-lasting company, Bob Ross Inc.
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