The Untold Story of Bill Alexander: A Legendary Artist's Journey

[@paulvallandigham6701]

I graduated from high school in 1976. I'm 66 years old, now, and I distinctly recall seeing Bill's shows on KOCE in the early 1970's. I attended an event in Huntington Beach where Bill spoke in-person, and it inspired me to buy supplies and try painting. I gave it up a long time ago, but this KZbin might just inspire me to try again.

[@Mindfulness.Voyage]

I’m often brought to joyous tears watching Bill, remembering watching him as a child, and still being deeply moved by his loving presence.

[@AAlexanderArt]

Thank you for your kind words. It brings us joy to share these with you.

[@PhuongPhuong-gg2gh]

Love that man, he is very talented

[@nathaliegagnon6768]

You are steel a live Bill Alexander, we love you, true inspiration

[@AAlexanderArt]

So glad you are enjoying Bills work and you’re right he’s still alive with his work and inspiration!

[@robertrivett2691]

i have said it before

[@Curtislow2]

Thanks Laurie and Crew for Bill Alexander Celebration!

[@thekidfromiowa]

By the way I feel you addressed the Bob/Bill controversy as tactfully as possible. I'm sure you're not at all surprised that many would inquire about Bill's most famous student. It's a shame that things turned out the way they did but as you can see many of Bob's fans have ultimately discovered Bill through Bob. It's coming full circle.

[@AAlexanderArt]

Adam. Thank you for your kind words. Out of darkness we can always find light. It is too bad it turned out the way it did but we are grateful that through Bob, people are discovering Bill.

[@cathryneahrens7784]

@@AAlexanderArt It's how I learned about Bill. I enjoy watching him!

[@giselapejuanvockenroth9894]

Painting changed my heart and my mind thanks to Bill Alexander.

[@loisjohnson7272]

Bill was just so lovable! , wow, and so talented,,thank you for sharing him with us!

[@tc.916]

Happy Birthday Bill. I can't thank you enough for teaching me to paint. Thank you to everyone that makes this channel possible, we all greatly appreciate it.

[@richarddonaldson286]

He was a great Man and he's always been a nice man

[@AAlexanderArt]

Thank you Richard. We feel the same way.

[@anaygupta3512]

Happy Birthday Bill! You truly are immortal in our hearts!

[@AAlexanderArt]

H Anay, Nice to see you here.

[@susanblack7782]

Bill Alexander inspired me, and I learned to develop my painting ability. I love his magic and joyful loving spirit!

[@suzynolanart]

I was a child in the 70s who grew up watching PBS, and started watching The Magic of Oil Painting well before I was 10 years old. I loved Bill's demeanor, his German accent, and his passionate "almighty brush" and "fire in!". I had been drawing regularly since I was 3, but watching Bill made me determined to learn to oil paint. I got my first beginner set of oils when I was 12 and studied painting through high school and college. I remember Bob Ross coming on the scene, but his soft-spoken whispering was very off-putting to me back then. I always wondered, " what happened to Bill? " so I am so glad to have seen this video! It really brought me back to when painting was "Magic" to me and it was REALLY wonderful to hear his voice again!!. At 52 years old now, I write this from my art studio, surrounded by oil paintings in progress! Eternally thankful to Bill Alexander! Susan T Nolan

[@seeburgm100a]

I watched Bill as a young guy and 7 years ago with the help of Bill and youtube, I picked up a brush and have been painting ever since. I'm also so proud to own one of Bill's very large works of art that I purchased 5 years ago. I'll treasure it always and it's evident when you see his work outside of television how talented he really was.

[@AAlexanderArt]

Thank you for sharing. Many people thought he was limited to what he could do in 27 minutes. It was because of his talent that he could do what he did in 27 minutes.

[@cynthiathompson6818]

Happy Heavenly Birthday Bill!!!! Thank you for doing this!!! He's an amazing artist and teacher!!!

[@AAlexanderArt]

Thank you.

[@cathyserafinowicz6374]

I know I would have loved Bill had I met him. His warmth just jumped off the screen. How lovely of you to keep his memories alive. 😘❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@ScrollKeeper]

This was extraordinary! What a wonderful tribute to Bill that made my heart and soul soar (with a few happy tears)! Thank you, Laurie and Dawn (and everyone else involved) for having put all of this together! Bill is such a great spirit and reminds me of my dad who is a sculptural artist. They happily march to their own tune. To honor Bill and the work you all do, I plan to purchase some supplies and some instructional materials.

[@AAlexanderArt]

Ben, Thank you so much for your kind words. I’m happy you will purchase some supplies and instructional materials. I know you will love them.

[@AAlexanderArt]

Ben, I had a few happy tears as well. ❤️

[@KarlEBrand]

This is most excellent!! I’m about 11 months off, I don’t know how I missed this one. Most eye opening and informative. The paintings you showed us as examples are stunning and I’ve always thought these are magnificent. Thank you for the blessing for showing them to us! Truly stunning!

[@deconstructingVerbs]

I love how you say that after meeting Bill, you saw the world differently. I had the exact same experience when I started watching him here on this channel. Thank you for all that you do!

[@AAlexanderArt]

Thank you! I’m glad you found us!

[@Paul-su3qh]

@Laurie & Alexander Art. I am so thankful to have seen this celebratory video about The Story of Bill Alexander and his life. It is without doubt a beautiful and "Mighty" tribute to a truly wonderful human being. I have only seen him on KZbin and although I have not attempted to emulate his style and methodology, There is so much advice that he freely gives to beginners that can be extracted from his videos and reapplied to our own work. I would have liked to have seen a gallery of his works or at least to have seen a tour of his work. Bill Alexander we all love you.

[@pattypatterson9751]

Thank you Lorie..every time Bill says I love you, I’m so moved..I look at my art and see Bill..and can’t you enough

[@AAlexanderArt]

Patty, thank you very much. It moves me Too to hear him say, I love you.

[@ScrollKeeper]

@@AAlexanderArt Yes! That is very special. And I know he really means it! He went through a lot of dark days during his years on earth and to embody and extoll that genuine form of adoration for his fellow humans is really something. He really inspires me to be a better person in general!

[@tootalazaaz]

I finally got a chance to watch this tribute. I’d like to give my heart felt thanks to everyone involved. Wish we had more people like Bill Alexander. He was one in a million in more ways then one.

[@PKMarston]

I found Bill a month ago and so excited I did, I have watched so many of them! He makes me feel strong, humble and laughter along with him! What a sweet man and Awesome Artist! I love him!

[@AAlexanderArt]

I’m so glad you’ve stumbled across Bills work and have decided to stick around. We are happy you’re here and love seeing your comments!

[@RichardM1366]

Bill never thought of himself it was always us. Making products for us to paint our dreams. You do not see this generosity in the world today. He was and will always be a true to life artist who believed in us before we ever did.

[@manicangel7796]

Just came back to say thank you again for putting this together. The new information learned was interesting, heartwarming, and at times sad but it brought about a new found respect for Bill. He truly seemed like a loving, caring man.

[@AAlexanderArt]

Thank you so much for your kind words.

[@gurumir8481]

Thank you for keeping to share everything Bill came up with and you are inventing further. Good luck and take care.

[@AAlexanderArt]

Thank you very much!

[@tory3625]

I'm watching this before I go to work, I started a dramatic sunset sea last night, I adore him, the way he teaches, his art and his technique, he is a master. If his passion and joie de vivre and love of nature and humanity and abilty to create beauty could be bottled the world would heal, may it be so, I'll do my best Bill!! My daughter was born on his birthday I must introduce her to Bill, I think she'll love him too

[@hughtempleton8640]

I just love bill's enthusiastic style he makes you want to paint 🎨 ❤️

[@Mistertbones]

Great tribute to a great man.

[@AAlexanderArt]

Thank you for watching and thank you for your comment.

[@hughtempleton8640]

Wow, absolutely stunning thank you for sharing bill's beautiful talent. I absolutely loved watching bill with his enthusiastic and happy face , he would make you just want to paint 🎨 and after watching him mother nature would always look more beautiful than before ❤️ . Happy heavenly birthday Bill 🙏🥃♥️

[@purrcma]

Happy Birthday Bill! Bill inspired me to paint and I enjoyed watching him over the years!

[@danyelhudon458]

I am learning more with Bill than with Bob Ross as newbie’s and Bob as advanced because he doesn’t explain well as Bill can do it! From Quebec in Canada 🇨🇦 😊

[@AAlexanderArt]

@@danyelhudon458 thank you for your comment!

[@BiljanaBarišić-g5e]

Thank You!!!

[@AAlexanderArt]

You're welcome!

[@dawnmillett4875]

He is a Blessing.

[@CarolynArnett]

That was an amazing tribute to a kind soul ❤ Thank you!

[@AAlexanderArt]

Thank you Carolyn.

[@joeyfiggiani]

Glad to see this. I love him, and was hoping for more footage of him. I listen to him while I'm painting and can't help but be in a good mood. The world was lucky to have him. Wish l could've met him.

[@lorali1256]

Thank you , what a wonderful tribute.

[@anthonymoreno4391]

When I lived in San Fernando valley, los angles, CA. I could not find Bills show on TV, really on PBS late at night only. Long ago I went to his store in Van Nuys, CA to buy products only to find out, it was closed, moved eastward. Thanks for the Video’s and God Bless.

[@gailhicks6547]

Watching his show was always a joy.❤️

[@thomasfelix77]

Thank You Laurie…Great Show 🙏 in 2011 we were in Email Contact, while I‘m Interessed in the certification program of Alexander Art. I‘m from Germany. And you were so friendly and helpful and engaging , like Bill was🤗. Thank You so much..and all the best. God bless You, Laurie

[@AAlexanderArt]

Thank you! I remember Thomas! I hope you are doing well.

[@jeffmazza6813]

Thank You Alexander Art! Getting to see some of Bills paintings up close and in high definition through this video was fantastic. I've seen several of these paintings online but none had the image quality of this video. Can really see the fine detail and appreciate his work even more. I always watch Bill paint to be inspiration for my paintings. Just wonderful!

[@matthewpolo227]

LORI THIS IS A BEAUTIFUL TRIBUTE TO BILL AND YOU HAVE A BEAUTIFUL VOICE TO NARRATE IT. I'M GOING TO DRAG IT OUT AND WATCH IT A HALF HOUR AT A TIME SO AS TO LOOK FORWARD TO IT. THANK YOU !🎨

[@JrsyStyle]

I think Bill would have loved the technology of today. He would have been larger than life with all the live video platforms out there.

[@smiljanazdrunkovic7203]

My greatest love and respect , from the bottom of my heart, to this breathtaking artis, he is one of the kinds!

[@TheKirk48]

Well, the Alexander Art team has done a magical task of bringing Bill into homes of so many people.

[@AAlexanderArt]

Thank you Steve. Glad you were there.

[@sharonbland9482]

Great celebration of Bills life! Thank you all for sharing his story,

[@davidgupta9248]

Heart touching tribute for the happy painter! What a wonderful soul he was, teaching and touching your soul at the same time! Even today he is encouraging and making millions of people believe that if he can do it,so can you!We love you Bill and always will!💐

[@AAlexanderArt]

David. Thank you for your kind words.

[@josepha.cirullisr.5096]

I've watched Diane Andre quite a bit. I understand she was the first artist that Bill took under his wing, and traveled with 1:26:58 the wet on wet technique to Diane.

[@paulwoods3511]

I admire Bill, Bob, Dana and Lowell very much, they have influenced my life, but the one for me, if you pressed the issue, was Bill. He was a true master artist. I much prefer to watch Bill as he painted, I cannot explain it but he made it all seem attainable and free.

[@brigitte741]

I love that guy, we sure miss him !!!

[@roserondeau9777]

Awesome celebration of Bill Alexander

[@oaaerospace]

I wasn’t able to watch live, but I woke up extra early and took a long walk to view this program. Such a tribute, great job!

[@AAlexanderArt]

Thank you Blair. I’m glad you enjoyed. Thank you for taking the time to watch.

[@VictorHugoRC1111]

Well done. I always enjoyed his energy.

[@snowangelkivilcim]

YES New book will be Amazing ❤

[@AAlexanderArt]

Thank you!

[@alph1057]

I first saw Bill in 1986 on PBS, and Bob shortly after

[@KrishnaKumar-rt1yw]

A fitting tribute to Bill and congratulations on this feat. ATB.

[@AAlexanderArt]

Krishna. Thank you for your kind words.

[@ElLoco182]

Hi, Alexander Art Team! I´ve watched every single episode you uploaded and I startet painting because of Bill, for more than two years now. Thank you very much for this great tribute to Bill! He influenced me in a beautiful way. I think he would be very proud of you, for keeping him alive and give young people all over the world the chance to discover his almighty legacy. Thank you and fire in! :)

[@AAlexanderArt]

Thank you so much! Congratulations on your commitment to learning!

[@ritanoel2828]

This is a wonderful video. Thank you for sharing!

[@AAlexanderArt]

You are welcome. Thank you for watching.

[@antoniomaisano6205]

Grande ARTISTA CIAO RIPOSA IN PACE E GRAZIE PER LA TUA ARTE ❤

[@theresashult2754]

This was a wonderful video! I was in a small shop in Huntington Beach in the mid 1980's and they had several paintings of Bill's for sale. My husband and I carefully looked through them and bought one for his parents. My mother-in-law was a huge fan of Bill's TV show so it was the perfect gift. My son now has the painting in his home and loves it. Is there any way I can send photos and get the painting authenticated?

[@AAlexanderArt]

Theresa, Thank you! How exciting that your son has Bill’s painting hanging in his home. I’m always excited to hear when people appreciate Bill’s work. Please send photos to me at [e-mail]. I will Do my best to Authenticate.

[@gemmatait4157]

Grandissimo Artista grazie Buon Compleanno

[@sj-rf5gn]

Thank you for this. Can you do a compilation of all of Bill's Paintings?

[@AAlexanderArt]

You are welcome. That is a great suggestion! We will work on that.

[@LifeInSpacePodcast]

Congratulations on the 100k subs let’s get to 200k

[@nobaniagarda4755]

Danke für das SCHÖNE dieser WELT

[@AAlexanderArt]

Thank you!

[@kingofmedia30]

Wow! You can clean Alexander brushes and paints without thinner? When my granddaddy was alive and painting 3-4 paintings in a day he used to hate using thinner because that thinner was terrible to the environment. I remember my granddaddy always using dish soap,water and canola oil to clean his brushes and a face cream he used to make to condition his brushes. Now I have a question, now that Alexander paint doesn’t need thinner to clean up no more how do you thin the paint if you need to?

[@AAlexanderArt]

You can thin the paint with Alexander Magic Clear Medium.

[@kingofmedia30]

@@AAlexanderArt that’s amazing, I used to see granddaddy clean his Alexander brushes with that eco friendly solution all the time after a painting then in recent years I heard artists say you can’t clean oil paint brushes with soap water and oil. But I guess my granddaddy was right when he said “Alexander paint ain’t like other oil paint”

[@michelbeaulieu6208]

Thank you for this video

[@funzone9364]

He is such a nice person

[@gemmatait4157]

Grandissimo artista !|!!!

[@PleaseNThankYou]

I missed it😪😪. I was called to family matters. This was a wonderful celebration!! Thank you so much.

[@AAlexanderArt]

Sorry we missed you live Gigi but I’m glad you got to see it.

[@PleaseNThankYou]

@@AAlexanderArt it was my pleasure. As I’ve told my story before about my mother and I sitting together and watching Bill Alexander show and giggling about him being exited to be there … the Mighty brush always got me! In Mr. A’s older years he looks so much like my father that I just stare at him for a long moment. During the time the show was on, I was a bit estranged from my parents and it was a little uncomfortable to be there ( I was 19 in ‘79 ) so it always stuck in my memories that a musical or “the painting show” were the few times we let the other stuff slide and just enjoyed being in the same place and ok with it. I really enjoyed this today. Thank you so much.

[@EddieEloff]

I watch bill paintings really like to paint like him 😊

[@indigozen4794]

Ich gratulier dir zu deim Geburtrztag und wunsch dir alles gute!

[@pattypatterson9751]

Many thanks

[@MarsFranke]

1:48 Yes, I believe that too. Can someone get Putin a brush, some paint, a canvas and tell him "Paint!" Maybe with Selinski together. 😃 BTW, Hitler was a painter, but then decided to go into Politics, cause he was rejected at the art school. He should have sticked with painting and much misery would have been avoided. 😢

[@AJ-gc7iz]

Lori, you mentioned that you no longer use thinner to clean brushes, what do you use to clean the brush in between loads? Thanks, AJ

[@AAlexanderArt]

A.J thanks for asking. We use baby wipes mostly we also use straight vegetable oil and paper towels. Just dip your brush in regular vegetable oil and wipe the brush out thoroughly. Works very well and requires no thinners. It all begins with a proper load to the brush so you aren’t dealing with too much paint. If you get too much paint on your brush, before you clean it, gently use your palette knife to scrape the paint out of your brush.

[@Painterboyfloyd]

I have a collection of 8 original Alexander paintings if you ever want to do a show . The magic of oil painting tv show with bill Alexander started in 1974 . Bill won his Emmy in 1979 .

[@AAlexanderArt]

Darren, this is Laurie. I’d love to see photos! We are going to do a q&a on April 30th. Would be wonderful to show people then. If you want to share them with me please mail them to me at [e-mail]. Thank you so much for wanting to share with others.

[@garyl6190]

Thanks Laurie

[@AAlexanderArt]

You are welcome Gary. Thanks for watching.

[@Apex_grind562]

Q was Bill Alexander a bit hurt by the lack of authenticity he found in Bob Ross? He was ripped off.

[@AAlexanderArt]

Yes he was hurt by Bob. Thanks for asking.

[@j.p.vangordon9876]

I still think that Diane Andre is one of the best of Bill's students...

[@AAlexanderArt]

Agreed! She was one of the best for sure. She spent a lot of years being trained by him.

[@awwabaayedaayeda2356]

إنت عسل وعسل وعسل وسكر..ومتبعاك من زمان قوي...

[@ladislavbalaz7558]

what spoke this woman?

[@RACCAR.]

👽❤️

[@thekidfromiowa]

This is the kind of fan engagement that you'd never see from a certain company in Virginia. The Alexander company take the time to actually respond to comments. It's a more hands on experience. Clearly his legacy has better stewards as well.

[@AAlexanderArt]

Adam. Thank you for your kind words.

[@thekidfromiowa]

Likewise I'm sure a certain documentary has made many leery about buying supplies from the aforementioned company therefore seeking more honest alternatives.

[@anAeijingBuffoon]

I don’t like the word “believe” because to believe anything you effectively have to suspend your critical thinking apparatus. Doing something is not trying to do something. Bill told me that I cannot fail because it’s not an option. When you’re painting everything’s great with the world. And on top of that, he was consistent. He invented things.