Every video Bill painted on his television show was painted directly from his imagination. He used no reference paintings, no reference photos. When the cameraman said, “Go”, Bill went! Many times Bill showed up for filming with absolutely no idea what he was going to paint. That, my friends, is the sign of a real master artist. Someone so grounded in the art that he could call upon his skills on demand.
However — after the filming was completed, Bill repainted the image for the photographer. Every single painting Bill did on his television show was photographed for companion guides. Some of those guides were never created because the videos were never shown on television. However, the slides were preserved. We have, literally, thousands of slides of Bill’s step-by-step process of painting each image.
As Bill was painting, he would turn to the photographer and say, “This is a good shot.” Then he’d return to the canvas to show the proper positioning of the brush or how he was mixing a color on his palette. Even though some of Bill’s videos have been lost, we still have the slides. We have to digitize them and then create new written instructions. This will be a years-long project.
The slides shown in the image above are from Bill’s Autumn Colors video. The original written instructions included only a few of these images. As we finish creating these written instructions, we will let Bill’s fans know through our newsletter. This is part of our continuing commitment to reclaiming Bill’s legacy!
Stay tuned…
love his panting . hope to paint like that
Just beautiful!!!! So much to learn, so much to improve, so much to paint. Thanks.
I have never painted before and have saught instruction from dozens of internet artists. Many were vague, many more were speed painters and others were virtual imposters. Then I found Alexander Art and was blown away watching his use of 2″ brushes, bristles and knives to create great effects. I am now living proof of Bill’s “anybody can paint” .