| The Joy of Painting | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Created by | Bob Ross |
| Starring | Bob Ross Nicholas Hankins |
| Opening theme | Interlude byLarry Owens |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 33 |
| No. of episodes | 429(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies | WNVC (1983) (season 1) WIPB (1983–1994) (seasons 2–31) WDSC-TV (season 32-present) |
| Original release | |
| Network | PBSMember Stations |
| Release | January 11, 1983 (1983-01-11) |
| Related | |
| The Magic of Oil Painting | |
The Joy of Painting is an American half-hour instructionaltelevision show. Created and hosted by painterBob Ross, it ran from January 11, 1983, to May 17, 1994. In most episodes, Ross taught techniques forlandscape oil painting, completing a painting in each session. Occasionally, episodes featured a guest artist who would demonstrate a different painting technique. The program followed the same format as its predecessor from 1974 to 1982,The Magic of Oil Painting, hosted by Ross's mentorBill Alexander. In 2024, new episodes featuring paintings Ross had completed before his death and hosted by Nicholas Hankins were released.
The show was aired and produced by non-commercial, public television stations. The first season aired in early 1983 and was produced byWNVC inFalls Church, Virginia. Starting in the second season in late 1983, the show was produced byWIPB inMuncie, Indiana, until its end in 1994, and later byBlue Ridge Public Television inRoanoke, Virginia. The show is currently being distributed byAmerican Public Television. Reruns began syndication at PBS stations in the United States in 1992, under the monikerThe Best of The Joy of Painting, featuring a collection of Bob Ross's favorite paintings from past seasons. By the early 1990s, nearly 300 episodes ofThe Joy of Painting were on the air in the United States onPBS and inCanada onCBC Television.The Joy of Painting would later begin broadcasting in different places around the world, such asMexico,Costa Rica,Colombia, theUnited Kingdom,Latin America,Greece, theNetherlands,Germany,Switzerland,Austria,Turkey,Iran,South Korea,Australia, andJapan.
In 2022, Joan Kowalski, an executive at Ross' holding company and daughter of business partners Walt and Annette Kowalski, andWDSC-TV commissioned a pilot based on a painting that was unfinished for a 32nd season that was planned when Ross died before production began. Bob Ross Art Workshop and Gallery instructor Nicholas Hankins hosted the pilot, which was so well-received that a full 13-episode run was filmed in March and June 2023.[1] Originally intended to be filmed asThe Best of the Joy of Painting with Bob Ross, WDSC and Bob Ross, Inc. used the seven paintings by Ross from the unfinished season and six new paintings by Hankins to finish the season.[2] The new series is distributed with PBS andAmerican Public Television under the titleThe Joy of Painting with Nicholas Hankins: Bob Ross's Unfinished Season.[3] In December 2024, Hankins posted on Instagram during the wrap party that a 33rd season has been commissioned by WDSC, and began to be broadcast in the summer of 2025.[4]
At the beginning of each episode, the canvas was blank. Most episodes would begin with either a blank white canvas, or less often, a canvas pre-painted with blackgesso; this blank canvas would be coated with a thin coat of liquid white paint (for a white canvas; Ross used Bill Alexander's proprietary Magic White in earlier seasons before going to a generic name later on) or a dark color (for black). If a painting was expected to take longer than the half-hour time slot, the earliest steps would be prepared before the episode started as Ross gave a cursory explanation of his canvas preparation. For shorter paintings, Ross would fill time by showing off animals such as his pet squirrel Peapod or videos of him at a nature preserve, or footage of Ross at a public event. Within the first few minutes of each show, the blank canvas has turned into alandscape,seascape and winter scenery, using thewet-on-wet technique, in which the painter adds still-wet paint, rather than waiting for each layer of paint to dry. Combining this method with the use of two-inch and other types ofbrushes, as well aspainting knives, allowed him to paint trees, water, clouds, mountains, seascapes and winter scenery in a matter of seconds. The paintings featured colors that Ross had on the show, such astitanium white,phthalo green,phthalo blue,Prussian blue,midnight black,dark sienna,van dyke brown,burnt umber (discontinued in later seasons),alizarin crimson,sap green,cadmium yellow,yellow ochre,Indian yellow and bright red (permanent red in earlier seasons).
Each painting started with criss-cross strokes, that appeared to be nothing more than the smudges of color. As more criss-cross were added, the blotches transformed into intricate paintings.[5] While painting, he instructed viewers regarding the techniques that he was using, he told stories about the "happy little clouds", and "happy little trees", that he was creating. He would oftenattach human emotions to the objects he was painting; after painting a tree trunk, for example, Ross would usually add another nearby "because it needs a friend". He would occasionally present home video footage of himself with a baby deer, a raccoon and another small animal. Each program was shot inreal time with two cameras: amedium shot of Ross and his canvas, and aclose-up shot of the canvas orpalette. At the end of each episode, Ross was known for saying something akin to, "...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 ("Interlude", astock selection fromNetwork Music, from season 2 onward) played, as the credits rolled over a shot of the finished and successful painting.
Ross created three versions of each painting. The first, done prior to taping, sat on an easel off-camera and was used as a template to create a second, which the viewers actually watched him paint. After taping, he painted a more detailed third one for inclusion in his instructional books.[6] All three were then donated to various PBS stations, theSmithsonian Institution, or kept by Bob Ross, Inc.[7][8]
The show featured many guest appearances from other painters, who painted in Ross's stead, such as Dana Jester,[9][10] Ross's son Steve,[11] John Thamm, Audrey Golden, Joyce Ortner,Ben Stahl, Dorothy Dent, his business partner Annette Kowalski (who specialized in floral painting), Ferne Sirois and Diane Andre.[12]
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season premiere | Season finale | |||
| 1 | 13 | January 11, 1983 (1983-01-11) | March 29, 1983 (1983-03-29) | |
| 2 | 13 | August 31, 1983 (1983-08-31) | November 23, 1983 (1983-11-23) | |
| 3 | 13 | January 4, 1984 (1984-01-04) | March 29, 1984 (1984-03-29) | |
| 4 | 13 | September 5, 1984 (1984-09-05) | November 28, 1984 (1984-11-28) | |
| 5 | 13 | January 2, 1985 (1985-01-02) | March 27, 1985 (1985-03-27) | |
| 6 | 13 | May 1, 1985 (1985-05-01) | July 23, 1985 (1985-07-23) | |
| 7 | 13 | October 2, 1985 (1985-10-02) | December 27, 1985 (1985-12-27) | |
| 8 | 13 | January 2, 1986 (1986-01-02) | March 27, 1986 (1986-03-27) | |
| 9 | 13 | April 30, 1986 (1986-04-30) | July 23, 1986 (1986-07-23) | |
| 10 | 13 | September 3, 1986 (1986-09-03) | November 26, 1986 (1986-11-26) | |
| 11 | 13 | December 31, 1986 (1986-12-31) | March 25, 1987 (1987-03-25) | |
| 12 | 13 | April 29, 1987 (1987-04-29) | July 22, 1987 (1987-07-22) | |
| 13 | 13 | September 2, 1987 (1987-09-02) | November 25, 1987 (1987-11-25) | |
| 14 | 13 | December 30, 1987 (1987-12-30) | March 23, 1988 (1988-03-23) | |
| 15 | 13 | April 27, 1988 (1988-04-27) | July 20, 1988 (1988-07-20) | |
| 16 | 13 | August 17, 1988 (1988-08-17) | November 9, 1988 (1988-11-09) | |
| 17 | 13 | January 4, 1989 (1989-01-04) | March 29, 1989 (1989-03-29) | |
| 18 | 13 | July 5, 1989 (1989-07-05) | September 27, 1989 (1989-09-27) | |
| 19 | 13 | January 3, 1990 (1990-01-03) | March 28, 1990 (1990-03-28) | |
| 20 | 13 | April 4, 1990 (1990-04-04) | June 27, 1990 (1990-06-27) | |
| 21 | 13 | September 5, 1990 (1990-09-05) | November 28, 1990 (1990-11-28) | |
| 22 | 13 | January 1, 1991 (1991-01-01) | March 26, 1991 (1991-03-26) | |
| 23 | 13 | September 3, 1991 (1991-09-03) | November 26, 1991 (1991-11-26) | |
| 24 | 13 | January 7, 1992 (1992-01-07) | March 31, 1992 (1992-03-31) | |
| 25 | 13 | August 25, 1992 (1992-08-25) | November 17, 1992 (1992-11-17) | |
| 26 | 13 | December 1, 1992 (1992-12-01) | February 23, 1993 (1993-02-23) | |
| 27 | 13 | March 2, 1993 (1993-03-02) | May 20, 1993 (1993-05-20) | |
| 28 | 13 | May 25, 1993 (1993-05-25) | August 17, 1993 (1993-08-17) | |
| 29 | 13 | August 24, 1993 (1993-08-24) | November 16, 1993 (1993-11-16) | |
| 30 | 13 | November 23, 1993 (1993-11-23) | February 15, 1994 (1994-02-15) | |
| 31 | 13 | February 22, 1994 (1994-02-22) | May 17, 1994 (1994-05-17) | |
| 32 | 13 | May 3, 2024 (2024-05-03) | July 26, 2024 (2024-07-26) | |
| 33 | 13 | July 4, 2025 (2025-07-04) | September 26, 2025 (2025-09-26) | |
In 1994, Ross appeared onBill Nye the Science Guy, where he did a self-parody segment entitled "The Artistic Eye with Bob Ross”.
As part of its launch of Twitch Creative,Twitch streamed every episode over a nine-day period starting on October 29, 2015 – what would have been Ross's 73rd birthday.[13][14][15] Twitch reported that 5.6 million viewers, and due to its popularity, created a weekly rebroadcast of all 31 seasons ofThe Joy of Painting to air on Twitch each Monday from November 2015 onward, and will have a marathon of episodes each October 29. A portion of the advertising revenue has been promised to charities, includingSt. Jude Children's Research Hospital.[16] This event was also repeated on October 29, 2016, for his 74th birthday.[17]
In 2015, all 403 episodes ofThe Joy of Painting were added to the official Bob RossYouTube channel.[18]In June 2016,Netflix repackaged several 1991–92 episodes ofThe Joy of Painting under the monikerBeauty Is Everywhere.[19] A second package, titledChill with Bob Ross, was added in December. In 2020,Tubi added 30 seasons ofThe Joy of Painting, totaling nearly 400 episodes, to its platform for free.[20] A 24-hourFAST channel called The Bob Ross Channel, featuring reruns ofThe Joy of Painting, is available on multiple streaming platforms includingThe Roku Channel,[21]DirecTV Stream,[22] andPeacock.[23]
In November 2017, the firstteaser trailer for the 2018 filmDeadpool 2 was released, featuring a parody ofThe Joy of Painting withRyan Reynolds asDeadpool.[24]
The Joy of Painting has been licensed formerchandise, including aChia Pet[25] and a breakfast cereal made by the makers ofFlutie Flakes.[26]
A comedy television series inIran calledKhande Bazaar had in each episode an item calledThe Humiliation of Painting which was aparody of the programThe Joy of Painting in whichMohammad Reza Khosravi imitatedBob Ross.[27]
The program returned to television onBBC Four as part of Culture Quarantine Programming with its first broadcast on April 20, 2020.[28]
In 2022,Goodfood Market released a parody Bob Ross TV commercial titled "Joy of Cooking".[29]
Ross's painting from the first episode ofThe Joy of Painting, "A Walk in the Woods", was listed for sale in 2023 priced at $9.85 million.[30]
In 2025, following renewed threats to public broadcasting,Bonhams announced plans to auction 30 original Bob Ross paintings, with the proceeds going towards funding of public television stations. The first auction of three paintings took place in Los Angeles on November 11.[31]
