The Joy of Painting
1983 · 31 seasons · 403 episodes · Family, Documentary
Created by Bob Ross
“We don’t make mistakes, we just have happy accidents.”
The Joy of Painting was an American television show hosted by painter Bob Ross that taught its viewers techniques for landscape oil painting. Although Ross could complete a painting in half an hour, the intent of the show was not to teach viewers "speed painting". Rather, he intended for viewers to learn certain techniques within the time that the show was allotted. The show began on January 11, 1983, and lasted until May 17, 1994, a year before Ross' death.
Why it's worth watching
Bob Ross's masterclass in gentle teaching, encouragement, and the joy of creation; each episode models patience, meticulous craft, and affirmation—viewers learn both technique and a virtue-centered approach to life and learning.
What it praises
Creativity, beauty, perseverance, skill development, encouragement, humility, the intrinsic worth of beauty and art.
For discernment
The Joy of Painting is about as clean as television gets: half an hour of Bob Ross quietly building a landscape while narrating in a soft, encouraging voice. Its real value to a Christian viewer is formative rather than merely relaxing, Ross models patience, unhurried craft, gentleness toward one's own mistakes ('happy little accidents'), and a habitual, almost worshipful delight in the beauty of creation. There is nothing to flag: no language, no sensuality, no cynicism. The only discernment worth a sentence is that Ross's warmth toward nature is expressed in a generic, sometimes pantheistic-sounding awe ('the little world we've created') rather than explicit thanks to a Creator, so a believer can rightly redirect that gratitude to its proper object while enjoying the show wholeheartedly.
- SpiritualRoss's reverent delight in nature is expressed in generic, creation-focused awe rather than thanks to a Creator, an easy thing for the viewer to redirect.
Cast
Bob Ross
Self - Host
Steve Ross
Himself
Dana Jester
Himself
Dorothy Dent
Herself
Diane André
Herself
Audrey Golden
Herself
Joyce Ortner
Herself
Ferne Sirois
Herself
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