Bob Ross would have been 70 today, and Google is giving props.
Many artists of my generation grew up watching this gentle eccentric with the cool afro paint trees in seconds and wonder how someone could do such a thing. He inspired a lot of kids to grab some paper and markers, as they got sucked into his show after watching Sesame Street or Reading Rainbow.
Ross, who hailed from Florida, was the host of The Joy of Painting which ran from 1983 to 1994 on PBS. He starred in 403 installments of the show, which was seen by over 80 million households in the United States and millions overseas. Also, he did not get paid for his involvement in the show. He did, however, create a multimillion-dollar business from the sales of Bob Ross Inc. art supplies and how-to-paint-like-bob videos. There’s something incredibly genuine about his approach to art, and his nostalgia and general warm fuzzies from artists will no doubt continue to grow.
Also, here’s footage of him feeding a baby squirrel: