Bill did two things before he started painting. Can you remember what they are?
The first thing Bill did was “butter himself up.” What did he mean by that?
If you watch any of Bill’s videos, you know you won’t fall asleep. Bill is alive and passionate before the canvas. But he had to get himself that way before he started.
Bill was like the rest of us. He had days when he wasn’t feeling good, or something happened that, for most of us, would put a damper on our day.
But when Bill was in front of the cameras or the canvas in his studio, he was rip roarin’ and ready to go. He did that by “buttering himself up.”
But there was something else he did that doesn’t get quite as much attention.
Bill had such a clear image in his head of what he was going to paint. It was almost the way you or I would put a piece of tracing paper over a photograph and begin to draw.
Once Bill had a crystal clear image in his mind, it was a simple matter for him to transfer it to the canvas. Bill never had to worry about “artists’ block.”
How crystal clear?
In today’s video clip Bill talks about the importance of story in your paintings. Not only does Bill describe the painting he’s about to create, he tells you the story that goes along with it.
One of the elements of a masterpiece is the story that’s attached to your painting. The Old Masters had this down to a science. Every single painting that’s lasted through the centuries has a compelling story.
It may have been religious based – as were many during the Renaissance. Some paintings told stories from ancient myths and legends. Even landscapes and seascapes told stories by the characters the artists added.
If you want your paintings to be more interesting, they must tell a story. Telling a story will separate your paintings from all the others out there.
We’ll share some more ideas on storytelling in future emails. For now, start thinking how your next painting will tell a story.
If you want to watch how Bill adds stories to his paintings, we have over two hundred of his videos in our archive. Get access to all our videos of Bill, Buck, Robert, Sharon, Diane, Lowell and much more to come. Click this link to learn more about membership at AlexanderArt.com.
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