William (Bill) Alexander was born in 1915 in East Prussia. As a youth he used his artistic talents to paint carriages and murals for local aristocrats. After the war, Bill and his family immigrated to North America to pursue their dream of building a home and to share Bills gift of painting.

Bill and his wife, Margaret, traveled throughout the United States and Canada teaching painting and making friends, often selling paintings to meet living expenses along the way. During this time Bill worked hard to develop his wet-on-wet technique and products. He developed the base medium Magic White, extra-thick oil paints, and special palette knives and brushes. These products work together to help artists, even a beginning artist, create beautiful scenes on the canvas.

By 1974, when he completed his first Emmy-winning Magic of Oil painting television show, Bills dream had become a reality. He had built himself a home in North America a home in the hearts of thousands who discovered with Bills help that they could have the almighty power to fire in and be happy painters too. Today, Bill continues to teach the world to paint through his television shows available on DVD.

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Expert: David Clemen
Contact: www.davidclemenart.com
Bio: David A. Clemen has a BFA in Fashion Design from Virginia Commonwealth University and a one year Graphic Design degree from the Art Institute of Atlanta.
Filmmaker: Reel Media LLC

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Expert: Savago Lome
Contact: www.savagolome.com
Bio: Savago Lome is an artist living in South Florida who specializes in drawing and painting.
Filmmaker: Paul Muller

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Expert: Vince Fazio
Contact: www.vincefazio.blogspot.com
Bio: Vince Fazio, an artist for 29 years, is currently the Art director of the Sedona art center and has been for 9 years.
Filmmaker: Chuck Tyler

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I split this lesson in to four parts.

1.) Part one will cover what you need to know before you paint.
2.) Part two will give you an effective strategy for painting realistically The mentality of rendering (aka drawing what you see)
3.) Part three will walk you through the process of painting and I will give you tips while I paint. The process of “sculpting” a painting
4.) Part four will actually be a separate video and it will discuss glazing…a great finishing strategy. Glazing: Finishing a painting (Covered in another video)

Part 1.) I have two points to go over in Part 1-

1-1- First, pick a surface to work on. When I was learning painting, I would use cardboard in place of canvas to save money. Ten years later my original oil paintings are still in good shape. However, this would not be the case if I didn’t prime the cardboard with layers of Gesso. Without getting over technical, gesso gives your surface a protective layer that will prevent the oil from being over absorbed. Try to remember this silly saying, “Paint with cream, not with butter or milk!” No, im not saying that you should break out the dairy prodicts…..I am referring to the consistency of the paint. Cream is not a solid like butter …..and is not watery like milk. When you apply paint to a surface it should be creamy in texture. You can make the paint creamy by adding about three to four drops of painting medium to the paint that is sitting on your palette. The object in my hand right now is called a palette knife. I used it to mix the paint with the painting medium. For a long time, I considered this step trivial, but it makes a difference!

1-2 Oil Painters use mineral spirits to clean off their brushes and to thin out a paint mixture. Mineral Spirits is also known commercially as paint thinner and sold as an art supply called turpenoid for quadruple the price. You will only need a SMALL amount of Mineral Spirits because its very powerful. Use it sparingly when you wish to thin out your paint; because too much will make the paint runny and “milk-like” in consistency. Here is a great tip to remember when cleaning your brushes…..WIPE-DIP-WIPE. As silly as that sounds, commit it to memory….In other words….. wipe your brush with a paper towel…..Then dip it in to the mineral spirits and swish it around….followed by another wipe with the paper towel to take the extra spirits off your brush. The last wipe is especially important to prevent the excess mineral spirits from thinning out your paint too much

Part 2

Now you will learn a great strategy to help you paint what you see. I call this strategy, “jigsaw puzzle observation” because it is similar to putting a jigsaw puzzle together. Jigsaw puzzles are fun because you fit shapes together to create an image………I want you to think the same way when you paint. Try to see and identify shapes and then put them together like a puzzle. Painters sculpt and manipulate the paint on the surface of a painting until the shapes fit together as a recognizable image. Here….let me show you what I mean…..When you try this, I recommend that you get in the habit of looking at your reference image at least once for every five seconds; and then paint what you observed. After you get the bigger shapes in…..work your way down to the smaller shapes…….. If you feel that you cant work the paint any more. Let it dry and repeat this step on top of the dried paint. You have an advantage by using paint because it is opaque and it can cover over any mistake…… Take your time with this step. Skyscrapers cant be erected without solid supports and good paintings cannot be made without careful placement.
How to begin oil painting vido
Supply List
- Titanium White (paint)
- Raw Sienna (paint)
- Ultramarine Blue (paint)
- Ultramarine Purple (paint)
- Lamp Black (paint)
- Painting Medium (my favorite is called Liquin)
- Palette, Wax Paper or Aluminum foil (to mix the paint on)
- Mineral Spirits
- Canvas or Cardboard
- Gesso (white or clear)
- Paint Brushes (several sizes, tips, and softnesses……based on your preference)
- Cups for Mineral Spirits and Paint Medium

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