Bob Ross and the road to success

A lot of what we know about Bob Ross can be gleaned from his art. He always painted scenes of nature, full of trees and mountains and clouds, and filled with animals. He almost never painted people.

He spent 20 years in the Air Force. During this time, he learned to paint. He enjoyed painting more than the Air Force. He first joined the company of the German-accented television painter Bill Alexander. After that, he started his own show, crisscrossing the country, and teaching classes nearly year-round.

The show was as meditative as it was instructive. Ross put out pure positivity into the world.

In every episode, Bob Ross explained his art as a way of capturing the eternal beauty of the world. When he filled his canvas with color, he'd say things like, "...