Mr. Ross lives in a sprawling ranch house in suburban Orlando in splendid isolation from contemporary art. His walls are covered with gold-framed landscapes of his own, and older but similarly idyllic landscapes he found in antique shops and garage sales. The armoires and display cases are filled with his collection of 19th-century American glassware. He works in a basement office, painting at a desk with an easel at his side. Inspiration -- or companionship -- is provided by pet crows and squirrels, kept in cages indoors and out, that he calls his "critters" and that occasionally make cameo appearances on his show.

James Needham, station manager of WLIB in Muncie, Ind., the public television station where Mr. Ross tapes all his shows, says it is Mr. Ross's optimistic, can-do spirit that inspires viewers. "There are people who really like to paint, and there are people who just like to hear him talk," he said. "We get letters from both kinds. We even get letters from blind people who say they tune in because he gives them hope."

Mr. Needham, who has produced Mr. Ross's show since 1983, said he took his first class last January and confessed it took him six hours to complete a waterfall scene Mr. Ross had done in 26 minutes. "But you know, it's not bad; it is reasonably good," he said of his masterpeice, which now hangs in his office. "The secret isn't in the artistic teaching, it's that he explains how to load the brush, and how to position your hand."

The Bob Ross technique is called "wet on wet," meaning that paint is applied mostly with a two-inch brush to a canvas pre-soaked with liquid paint -- no fuss, no muss and no waiting for oils to dry. Talent is not required. "I have people in their 90's doing their very first painting," he said. "I really believe that if you practice enough you could paint the 'Mona Lisa' with a two-inch brush."

Mr. Ross, who said he has produced nearly 30,000 paintings (the prolific Picasso did not match that record), does not sell his paintings or show his work in galleries; he has only had one retrospective -- at the Minnetrista Cultural Center in Muncie, a town that boasts of the artist as an honorary native son. Mr. Ross said he had no desire for a major exhibit. "There are thousands of very, very talented artists who will never be known, even after they are dead," he said. "Most painters want recognition, especially by their peers. I achieved that a long time ago with TV. I don't need any more."