Sunset

12x16
Oil on Canvas
1980s
Source: A lesson in a book.
Long before Bob Ross’ oil painting series on PBS, there was William (Bill) Alexander’s “Magic of Oil Painting” in the early 1980s. It’s the exact same painting method as Bob Ross, and Bill Alexander actually invented it: the liquid white as a wet medium on the canvas, and the much thicker than average paint as you work this wet-on-wet method. I can’t say I enjoyed Bill Alexander’s PBS shows as he had a horribly thick German accent (he was a German Canadian), and I got really tired of his yelling “Fiah it into de canvas! You ah de migh-ty creator! You vant a tree? Dere! Just put it over zere! Ver-ever you vant!” over and over and over again. However, the painting method intrigued me, so I bought one of his books and the oil paint and accessories. This is one of two paintings I actually finished.