For eleven years, Bob Ross lit up living rooms and family dens with his his dazzling personality and his extraordinary ability to explain painting in an easy-to-understand way. Although Ross’ television program has been off the air for over ten years, his impact can still be felt through the internet and the re-uploaded on media services such as YouTube and even Twitch.

    Bob’s artistic proficiency lends to his success as an artist, but his soothing voice and his calming nature helps us to recognize what an important icon he is.

    He is less of a creator, and less of an artist then he is a great entertainer. That’s not to say he isn’t a seriously proficient artist, but his words of encouragement, and of course his extremely iconic perm are more important to the matter of his popularity.

    Ross’ impact is felt even a generation after his death, and it’s realistic to think that the next generations will feel a similar impact, as their parents and grandparents felt that impact just the same. More and more people are paying tribute to the man’s extraordinary skill and endearing attitude through creating clubs, and watching stockpiled footage of the man. Even people too young to have been alive at the time of Ross’ stardom are now recognizing his influence, and enjoying his company, no matter how artificial it is at this point.

    “I’ve had the idea ever since freshman year, I really liked Bob Ross so I decided I should start [A] Bob Ross Club.”

    That’s Ethan Beagles, the student proprietor of Boise High’s Bob Ross club. He told me that Bob Ross is an idol of sorts to him, and since Junior High he had wanted to bring the dazzling personality of Ross to other people, so he did just that with the creation of the Bob Ross Club.

    Beagles told me that the club was recently contacted by the company the man left behind-Bob Ross Incorporated- to provide a few video snippets of students involved in the club, that will be used in an upcoming documentary about Ross himself. The students were asked to explain why they chose to be a part of the club, and what they found so endearing about the man.

   So what exactly is the reason for Ross’ ascent into the category of beloved figures? For a lot of people, his kind-heartedness, iconic afro, and ability to paint are probably his most notable qualities. Of course, it all depends on the kind of person his fans ultimately are.

     The appeal of Ross depends on everybody’s own perspective, but the bottom line is, Bob Ross is awesome, and he will likely stay an icon for decades to come.