A small refresher course for those who just missed Ross: he is a painter who painted a landscape within 30 minutes in the TV series The Joy of Painting from 1983. He also taught that to viewers.
Millions of viewers
That series caught on. Millions of people watched the show, of which 403 episodes were made. According to Ross, anyone can paint and you don’t need years of training to do so. The painter died of lymphoma in 1995 at the age of 52, but his message is still popular.
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Ross’ YouTube channel now has nearly 4.5 million subscribers. His Facebook page has more than 1.5 million followers and about 164,000 people follow him on Instagram.
Toasters and dolls
Bob Ross courses are held all over the world. On the Bob Ross website there are about 145 and there are thousands of certified Bob Ross teachers worldwide.
There is even a Bob Ross monopoly game, in addition to the existing ones Bob Ross dolls, baubles, socks, boxers, pans, toasters, DVDs, books and T-shirts. And there are too whole birthday packages. In the United States and Canada certainly sell 297 stores Bob Ross products.
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His episodes are still broadcast on television in the Netherlands. You can go to NPO 2 Extra every week watch the series. The Museum for Modern Realism in Gorssel would dedicate a solo exhibition to Ross from next Sunday, in its own words as the first museum in the world. Due to the new corona measures, the museum cannot open, but as soon as it is allowed again, the exhibition will continue.
Popularity
The exhibition will soon feature 40 works on loan from Bob Ross Inc., the company behind the TV painter’s legacy.
“It is not even so much the forty paintings of Bob Ross that we are concerned with,” said artistic director Ype Koopmans of Museum More. previously against EditieNL. “It is mainly about the phenomenon Bob Ross as a cultural icon. He was a disarmingly happy promoter of the joy of painting, who in an authentic and accessible way allay people’s fear of making and looking at art.”
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That low-threshold is exactly what Bertine van der Zee is aiming for. She lives in Een-West in Drenthe and drives to Marknesse every week for 45 minutes to paint. She wants to follow her teacher Riek, and also become a certified teacher. “So I have to master the technique well.”
Mother in front of the television
Bob Ross was brought up to her. When Bertine was about 12 years old, her mother was painting for the television. She had videotapes and books. And now she is also regularly painting for television. “Episodes are broadcast on Sunday mornings. I like to watch that. So yes, I do that sometimes.”
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It is Ross’s casual way of painting that appeals to her. “I am a perfectionist, so I want to learn to paint independently. And with this technique you see a lot of results in a short time. You amaze yourself what you can get on a canvas in a short time and how quickly you can bring depth into something. fun.”
And she likes his way of speaking. “Because he indicates that anyone can do it. It’s accessible, very nice to watch. And there is a certain humor in it. Statements such as: ‘We don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents’.”
From butcher to Bob Ross teacher
Bertine’s teacher Riek van de Bor (58) recognizes this approachability among her students. She is an officially certified Bob Ross teacher in Marknesse. Before the corona outbreak, she taught two classes every week. Now this is one every two weeks. “Most everyone knows who Bob Ross is. Young and old.”
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Riek is actually a certified butcher, but wanted to do more creative work and in 2004 he trained as a Bos Ross teacher. “Since then he has been a common thread through my career.”
When she started her classes in 2004, she still thought it was all hype. But the students keep coming. Every month she has about twenty new students.
Also for laymen to handle
She is also a big fan herself. His way of painting appeals to people, says Riek. “Everyone can follow it, step by step. Even if you think you can’t paint, you can still paint. He puts something on a canvas in 30 minutes, while traditional painting takes super long. It takes months or years to do it. This can be done in one go. This is painting for the impatient person. “
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Ross was the first to broadcast this painting on television, says Riek. But if someone else had done that, they might not have been so popular.
“It’s also the way he brings it and tells it. In a soothing voice, very gentle. Students sometimes say that in their college days they fell asleep to his voice, and woke up when he finished.”
And that painting is ultimately not that complicated, says Riek. “It’s the same as cycling. You have to figure out how to do it.”
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