On April 2, 1915, Bill Alexander was born. A World War II veteran on the German side, he was captured and painted portraits of the Allies' wives. Once WWII was over, he immigrated to North America where he would spend the rest of his life. One of his greatest treasures was reviving alla prima (now called the wet-on-wet technique), a technique many of his mentors past and present use today. One of them is the late Bob Ross, whose twentieth anniversary of his death will be on July 4. Although Alexander died in 1997, he still remains an impact because he proved to all of us as artists and painters that it is possible to paint a great picture and not have to go to art school for so long. There are so many episodes featuring many of his greatest paintings. The show where it all started, The Magic of Oil Painting, can be found on YouTube. That show helped climbed the technique into popularity, where he won a Daytime Emmy.

On the 100th anniversary of his birth, The Alexander Art Company's website posted a tribute video to the late Bill Alexander, and I would like to share that with you.

I never got to meet him (I didn't know he existed until after he passed away), but I can still feel his spirit whenever I watch an episode featuring him and Ross's art.

You made an impact, Bill. May your impact last till the end of time.

And with that, here's an episode of Magic of Oil Painting, courtesy of electrotherapy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFnuc-Kxl7I