Diane Andre was Bill’s first Master Artist! She traveled across America for 8 years teaching Bill’s technique (1978-1986). In 1986 Alexander Art filmed 11 shows with Diane at Bill’s home in Powell River. (You will hear Bill’s chickens in the background!) Fortunately, these shows were preserved and digitized along with about 400 more by other artists.

Today’s Video Tip is by Buck Paulson. This particular clip was filmed years ago but the principles still apply. Buck is currently in the studio creating a new series where he has plenty of time to teach correct principles. We’ll let you know when these are available.

Today’s Tip Comes from our “Advanced Master Class.” Tom is getting ready to create a beautiful floral arrangement. First, he will explain why and how he chose the placement of the vase.

It is difficult to see just exactly how Lowell paints leaves because he had to paint them so fast. This video provides a different learning experience.

We have a question for you. Do you like things that are hard or easy?

We thought it would be fun to go into our archives and reprint some of the articles from Bill’s “Fire In” Magazine. Today’s piece comes from before “Fire In” was a magazine. It’s from the Alexander Art Club Newsletter. Bill wrote the segment called “Sketches.”

It’s interesting how one idea will trigger a bunch of connections based on what you’re doing at the moment.

Do you remember watching television on Saturdays when you were a kid?

One of these quotes is attributed to Socrates. The other is to a Chinese philosopher who wrote one of the foundational texts of Taoism.

Bill talks about the “Terror of the Blank Canvas” in many of his videos. He jokes that “That canvas is scared of me.”

In the footnote, the translator states that many readers misunderstood Leonardo’s suggestion. Leonardo did not mean that the student should be a master of perspective. He intended that the student should understand the fundamental problems that beginners make. It would be up to the apprentice’s master to instruct him in the broader laws of perspective.

I was listening to my audiobook this morning on Creativity. The author interviewed many creative people from many disciplines. He said that creativity could not occur without first mastering the domain in which the creative person works. In other words, unless you know your subject, you cannot add to it.

Alexander Master Artist Tom Anderson shows you how to conserve paint and how to clean up your brushes with an environmentally friendly solution you can make yourself. (We show you how.)

We get this question a lot. There is a short answer and a longer answer that addresses a lot of misconceptions about brush cleaning. You’re going to get both.

There is so much to know and learn – and time is running out! What is the old saying? The lack of information is not a problem anymore. Maybe five hundred years ago finding information was difficult. Then Gutenberg invented the printing press and information became accessible and plentiful. The Internet is unleashing an explosion of data.

There is no topic more confusing than that of color. A lot of artists seem to “eyeball” their color. That may work if you’ve been painting for forty plus years. Bill often acknowledges that he knows what a color will look like before he starts mixing. You’ll notice he rarely has to correct his color before he puts it on the canvas.