We tell people sometimes: Weâre like drug dealers, come into town and get everybody absolutely addicted to painting. It doesnât take much to get you addicted.
- Â Bob Ross, painting god
We 100% agree. After all, how do you argue with a guy who painted 10,000 works of art in his lifetime and then went on to become a daily viewing habit worth millions of dollars and now, decades later, a viral sensation among Australian millennials?
If you havenât heard of Bob Ross, he was a paintbrush-wielding, âfro-rocking American art instructor, who hosted a half-hour public-access show called âThe Joy of Paintingâ back in the â80s and â90s. Also extremely popular as a Halloween costume, Bob popularised the wet-on-wet method, wherein you apply paint on a still-wet coat - a centuries-old technique used by the French impressionists.
Bob believed anyone can paint just by watching and painting along with him. And many probably did; because who could resist that stress-busting dulcet voice telling you to âmake some nice little clouds that just float around and have fun all dayâ or âclean your brushes so your spouse doesnât ask you to find someplace else to dwellâ? Just ask social media sensation Nicole Bonneau, whose mission is to paint through all 403 of âThe Joy of Paintingâ scenes!
Be zen like Bob and paint along with him this June. If youâve never handled a brush before, thatâs even better. As heâd always say on the show, âWe donât make mistakes; we just have happy accidents.â Yes, Bob, we know.
Oh, and here he is feeding a squirrel.
