Order of Book Series
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Joy of Painting Books in Order

Joy of Painting by Bob Ross contains 35 books, published between 1984 and 2017. The first book is The Joy of Painting Volume 1 (1984) and the newest is Bob Ross: The Joy of Painting (2017). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
35
Published
1984–2017
Pages on record
2,032 in 19 of 35 books
Reading time
34–51 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 2,032 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 19 of 35 titles with a page count on record.

See all 35 books in order Printable Joy of Painting checklist

Joy of Painting is Bob Ross's series of oil-painting instruction books, 35 volumes published between 1984 and 2017. The Joy of Painting Volume 1 (1984) opens the sequence, and numbered volumes follow at two or three a year through the 1980s. Landscape painting technique is the whole subject, and the median volume runs 76 pages. The 1990s were the peak decade, and the final title, Bob Ross: The Joy of Painting, carries a 2017 date.

How many Joy of Painting books are there?

Joy of Painting has 35 books, released between 1984 and 2017.

Joy of Painting Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 35 Joy of Painting books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of The Joy of Painting Volume 1 by Bob Ross, book 1 of the Joy of Painting series (1984)
  2. Cover of The Joy of Painting Volume 10 by Bob Ross, book 10 of the Joy of Painting series (1987)
  3. Cover of The Joy of Painting Volume 18 by Bob Ross, book 18 of the Joy of Painting series (1990)
  4. Cover of The Joy of Painting Volume 19 by Bob Ross, book 19 of the Joy of Painting series (1990)
  5. Cover of Bob Ross' New Joy of Painting: A Collection of His Favorites by Bob Ross, book 27 of the Joy of Painting series
  6. Cover of Best of the Joy of Painting with Bob Ross by Bob Ross, book 32 of the Joy of Painting series (1995)
  7. Cover of Bob Ross: The Joy of Painting by Bob Ross, book 35 of the Joy of Painting series (2017)
  1. 1
    The Joy of Painting Volume 11984 · confirmed 1/4
    1984–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The Joy of Painting Volume 21984 · confirmed 1/4
    1984–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    The Joy of Painting Volume 31985 · confirmed 1/4
    1985–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    The Joy of Painting Volume 41985 · 76 pages · confirmed 1/4
    198576
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    The Joy of Painting Volume 51986 · 77 pages · confirmed 1/4
    198677
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    The Joy of Painting Volume 61986 · 76 pages · confirmed 1/4
    198676
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    The Joy of Painting Volume 71986 · confirmed 1/4
    1986–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    The Joy of Painting Volume 81986 · confirmed 1/4
    1986–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    The Joy of Painting Volume 91987 · 84 pages · confirmed 1/4
    198784
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    The Joy of Painting Volume 101987 · 76 pages · confirmed 1/4
    198776
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    The Joy of Painting Volume 111987 · 76 pages · confirmed 1/4
    198776
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    The Joy of Painting Volume 121988 · confirmed 1/4
    1988–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    The Joy of Painting Volume 131988 · confirmed 1/4
    1988–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    The Joy of Painting Volume 141989 · 31 pages · confirmed 1/4
    198931
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    The Joy of Painting Volume 151989 · confirmed 1/4
    1989–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    The Joy of Painting Volume 161989 · confirmed 1/4
    1989–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    The Joy of Painting Volume 171989 · confirmed 1/4
    1989–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    The Joy of Painting Volume 181990 · confirmed 1/4
    1990–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    The Joy of Painting Volume 191990 · 76 pages · confirmed 1/4
    199076
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    The Joy of Painting Volume 201990 · confirmed 1/4
    1990–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 21
    The Joy of Painting Volume 211990 · confirmed 1/4
    1990–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  22. 22
    The Joy of Painting Volume 221991 · 75 pages · confirmed 1/4
    199175
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  23. 23
    The Joy of Painting Volume 231991 · 75 pages · confirmed 1/4
    199175
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  24. 24
    The Joy of Painting Volume 241991 · confirmed 1/4
    1991–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  25. 25
    The Joy of Painting Volume 251992 · 76 pages · confirmed 1/4
    199276
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  26. 26
    The Joy of Painting Volume 261993 · 76 pages · confirmed 1/4
    199376
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  27. 27
    Bob Ross' New Joy of Painting: A Collection of His Favorites1993 · 256 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1993256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  28. 28
    The Joy of Painting Volume 271993 · confirmed 1/4
    1993–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  29. 29
    The Joy of Painting Volume 281993 · 31 pages · confirmed 1/4
    199331
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  30. 30
    The Joy of Painting Volume 291994 · 76 pages · confirmed 1/4
    199476
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  31. 31
    The Joy of Painting Volume 301994 · 76 pages · confirmed 1/4
    199476
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  32. 32
    Best of the Joy of Painting with Bob Ross1995 · 256 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1995256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  33. 33
    More Joy of Painting with Bob Ross1995 · 255 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1995255
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  34. 34
    Discover The Joy Of Painting With Bob Ross1998 · confirmed 1/4
    1998–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  35. 35
    Bob Ross: The Joy of Painting2017 · 208 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2017208
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Is there a chronological order for Joy of Painting?

No separate chronological order is on record for Joy of Painting, because none of the book listings this catalogue draws on publishes one; the publication order above is the only order given.

Do you have to read Joy of Painting books in order?

You should read the Joy of Painting books in publication order, the order of the numbered table above. The catalogue does not record whether each Joy of Painting book also stands alone.

Where to start with Joy of Painting

Start with The Joy of Painting Volume 1 (1984), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Joy of Painting book?

Bob Ross: The Joy of Painting (2017) is the newest Joy of Painting book released so far.

Is there a new Joy of Painting book coming?

No next Joy of Painting book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Joy of Painting at a glance

No recent titles
The newest Joy of Painting title on record dates from 2017, 9 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
Release pace
Joy of Painting books have appeared about one a year on average.
Length
2,032 pages across the 19 of 35 books with a recorded length, a median of 76 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Joy of Painting books, 17 of 35, were published in the 1990s.

What the Joy of Painting books are about

7 of the 35 Joy of Painting books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: technique is tagged on 6 of 7. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

  • Technique 6 of 7 books
  • Landscape painting 5 of 7 books

More books by Bob Ross

The author page linked below lists every book in publication order.