During each roughly 28-minute episode, Alexander completed a full painting using his expedited wet-on-wet technique. All the while, he spoke passionate words of encouragement to his viewers: “You are the leader of light! You are the mighty leader of light!” he bellowed in one segment, with nearly religious fervor. “Say it like that! Start shaking!” He also invited close looking of the environment, and deep engagement with it: “Do you know the trees are listening to you?” he’d ask the viewer. “I really have learned that! Beautiful!”

The show, dubbed The Magic of Oil Painting, was an almost-immediate success. By 1979, Alexander had even bagged an Emmy, becoming the first career painter to receive the famed television award. At the time, it seemed that Alexander’s days as a struggling artist were over. He had a wildly successful show, along with a line of painting supplies and how-to books. He was a household name in America. He’d made it.

But he was soon faced with a new challenge. Ross had started teaching his own wet-on-wet lessons, and a cohort of students and PBS executives took notice. His approach to painting was the same as Alexander’s, but his temperament was distinct. Instead of excitable, Ross was mesmerizingly calm, with a soft, lilting voice. His look was familiar and accessible, too; he wore beat-up jeans, flannel shirts, and a ’fro that harkened back to 1970s hippie culture. People not only loved him for his deft painting skills, but for his ability to put them at ease. By 1983, PBS had replaced Alexander’s show with The Joy of Painting, hosted by Ross.

In 1982, to plug the new show, PBS ran a commercial that showed Alexander passing a brush—the TV painter’s proverbial torch—to Ross: “I hand off my mighty brush to a mighty man, and that is Bob Ross,” Alexander exclaimed. “Thank you very much Bill,” Ross responded, with typical tranquility.