The Real Modern Art Movement: Growing the Wet-on-Wet Family Tree
- Hope Blakely
- Dec 10, 2025
- 9 min read
I don’t know what it is about standing in front of a canvas — especially one that still smells a little bit like linseed and hope — but sometimes it sends me drifting backward in time. Maybe it’s the quiet of the studio, or maybe it’s the way a brush loaded with Titanium White can open a whole world in a single stroke. Either way, every once in a while, I catch myself wondering:
How did we all get here?Not “here” as in my studio in Colorado, or “here” as in 2025.I mean here, in this strange and beautiful place where modern art isn’t just a black square on a wall —but misty mountains, crashing waves, soft florals, quiet portraits, glowing sunsets, and faces full of story.
I’ve met people who swear modern art means something abstract, confusing, expensive, or only meant for the “chosen few.” But the older I get — and the more artists I meet — the more convinced I am that modern art isn’t hiding in the high-rise galleries of New York or the echoing museums of Europe.
Modern art is alive in the hands of everyday painters.It lives in the lineage of teachers who cared enough to share their techniques.It lives in the work that hangs in real homes, not just exhibitions.And whether people realize it or not…
A huge part of that began with a German immigrant who just wanted people to feel joy while they painted.
⭐ The Spark Before the Movement
Before YouTube tutorials, before painting TikTok, before television even knew how hungry people were to learn… a German man named Bill Alexander stood in front of a canvas and decided to teach the world how to paint.
Not gatekeep.
Not complicate.
Not intimidate.
Teach.
His series The Magic of Oil Painting TheMagicofOilPainting was unlike anything on television at the time — energetic, joyful, full of thick strokes and that unmistakable “almighty!” spirit. Bill wasn’t just showing people what to paint. He was showing them that they could paint. And that message sparked something that echoed far beyond the PBS studios.
And from that spark… came a tribe.
⭐ The First Circle of Artists — Bill’s Early Companions
If you flip through old Alexander books (LINK:MagicofOilPaintingbookLINK: Magic of Oil Painting bookLINK:MagicofOilPaintingbook) or scroll through the teaching materials still preserved by Alexander Art LINK:AlexanderArtLINK: Alexander ArtLINK:AlexanderArt, you’ll find them: the original circle, the early believers, the painters who stood beside Bill or followed right behind him.
Diane André
One of the earliest and most beloved master artists to come out of the Alexander program. Diane’s landscapes had a softness — almost a quiet poetry — that offered a beautiful counterbalance to Bill’s bold style. She helped refine the movement and proved that wet-on-wet could be gentle, atmospheric, and tender.
Links:
Lowell Speers
The floral painter of the group — soft petals, gentle blends, and beautifully structured flowers. Bill knew exactly what he was doing when he said, “Go see Lowell for florals.”
Links:
Sigrid (“Sig”)
Sigrid is one of those names that drifts through the early days of the Alexander workshops like a quiet echo. You don’t find much about her online today — most records from that era disappeared long before the internet existed — but her name appears in old workshop rosters and taped materials often enough to know she was there, brush in hand, helping carry the method forward. She represents the many early instructors whose contributions shaped the movement, even if the digital world doesn’t preserve their stories.
Tom Anderson
A steady, dependable force who still paints for the Alexander Company today. Tom carried forward the heart of Bill’s teachings while adding his own calm reassurance to the mix.
Link:
Buck Paulson
Before Buck ever dipped a brush in paint, he was chasing fast balls on the pitching mound and coaching sports — a life of motion, discipline, and energy. But when he first picked up oils, he discovered a different kind of rhythm: the sweeping motion of a brush, the sharp curve of a palette knife, the art of transforming blank canvas into light and landscape.
After years of painting and refining technique under master teachers (and eventually teaming up with Bill Alexander), Buck left his recreation-department job in 1970 to commit fully to art. What followed was decades of reaching thousands: from national PBS ratings on his long-running show Painting with Paulson, to seminars, to tutorials; he became one of the influential “hidden pillars” of the wet-on-wet movement.
His style blends the athletic intensity of his youth with the fluid grace of wet-on-wet — paintings that glow with “surface intensity,” as he calls it, and a teaching voice that reminds you of a coach shouting encouragement before a swing. Buck’s story proves the movement wasn’t just about calm wilderness landscapes or gentle florals — it was also about bold reinvention, the freedom to start over, and the courage to be different.
Buck Paulson Art official biography/background page — https://www.buckpaulson.com/a-little-background.html BUCK PAULSON ART
Painting with Paulson PBS show page — https://www.prairiepublic.org/television/painting-with-paulson/ prairiepublic.org
YouTube demo — “Portrait of the Artist as Television Teacher” — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdK21Zg2kNM YouTube
The Bill Alexander & Buck Paulson wet-on-wet series — https://www.alexanderart.com/the-art-of-bill-alexander-buck-paulson-series-16
And finally - at lest to keep this blog from to long I will stop with,
Valerie Stewart
Valerie’s name appears in Alexander Art’s early records as one of the contributors who helped shape Bill Alexander’s instructional materials during the original wet-on-wet era. While her personal history isn’t widely documented today, Alexander Art credits her with helping create, write, and refine several of the books that accompanied Bill’s televised teaching.(Source: AlexanderArt.com — Chapter Twenty: Alexanderland)
Like many contributors from the pre-digital years, her work lived mostly behind the scenes — in print, in course materials, and in the foundation of the method itself. We may not have a full picture of her artistic journey, but we do know her efforts supported the educational backbone of the wet-on-wet family tree during its formative years.
If more information surfaces, her section will be updated, because contributors like Valerie quietly helped build the structure the rest of us stand on.
⭐ Bob Ross, and the Day the Spark Became a Fire
Somewhere between workshops and TV studios, a young Air Force man named Bob Ross discovered Bill Alexander. He watched him on TV. He studied him. And eventually, he learned from him — picking up those first wet-on-wet techniques long before the world ever heard him whisper, “Let’s add a happy little tree…”
Bob may be the most famous student in the lineage, but fame isn’t the point.
Bill lit the match.Bob carried the torch.And generations of painters followed the glow.
The Joy of Painting didn’t just teach painting,
It taught people to believe in themselves.
⭐ The Next Wave — Artists Who Shaped the Modern Movement
What I love most about this lineage is how each artist grew the style forward — not copying Bill, not copying Bob, but taking the foundation and building something entirely new on it.
Dana didn’t train directly under Bill, but he learned the early techniques the same way so many of us did — watching the masters work, absorbing every stroke, every blend, every “let’s give this a little push.”His early mountains and mists fit beautifully into that wet-on-wet world…But then he evolved.Today, Dana’s wildlife and Native American portraits are some of the most emotionally striking works you’ll see.
Part of the next generation of Alexander Art instructors, Wilson blended Bill’s foundational method with deeper realism and detail. He became a bridge — someone who carried the technique forward into more refined territory.
Marion Dutton
Marion’s path into the wet-on-wet world started not through Bob Ross, as many assume, but directly with Bill Alexander’s method. She earned her certification in 2011 — July 2nd, to be exact — and the last steps of her training required her to teach. So she did what any determined new instructor would: she posted free class flyers in her local chippy and post office.By the time she got home, every spot was already filled.Twelve students, gone in an instant — six per class.
During her training she met Buddy Person online, another painter working through the same course. Their early conversations, combined with the Bill-focused curriculum, shaped the solid foundation she still credits today.
In September 2011, Marion began offering classes from her “studio,” which at the time was literally a ping-pong table — the same one she used to sew curtains on. She charged £25 a day and included everything.And from there, it snowballed.
Before Bill’s method, she had taken a class with Valerie Steward in 2010, but it was only after several months of Bill-style flowers and landscapes that her true calling emerged: pets and portraits.She offered a six-week evening course — three hours a night — where students completed a single portrait. In the industrial town of Bolton, it was wildly popular. When she moved to a more retirement-centered area, demand shifted, but her passion never did.
Marion’s journey shows how the wet-on-wet method doesn’t box artists in — it opens doors. Bill taught her how to teach, but portraits revealed her voice. Today, her work stands as a modern, masterful evolution of the lineage — grounded in technique, powered by heart.
If you’d like to learn directly from Marion through her online tutorials, you can join MazArt Academy using my referral link: https://mazartacademy.com/?referral_code=DgccJaciFkcHDB — it helps support my work while connecting you with her incredible teaching.
J.D.’s lineage takes a slightly different path than most. Before he ever discovered Bill Alexander’s fiery style, he first learned the wet-on-wet method through Wilson Bickford’s calm, structured teaching. That foundation gave him the tools — but it wasn’t until he later encountered Bill’s energy that something inside him lit up.And once it did, he took off running.
Known as “The Rock and Roll Painter,” J.D. became famous for his fast-paced, no-nonsense approach — painting full pieces in the time it takes to play a rock song. He even did local television demonstrations, powering through canvases with speed, rhythm, and an infectious sense of fun.These days you’ll see him paint everything from bold barns inspired by Indiana life, to charming snowmen, to quick landscapes done with more punch than polish — all in a style that’s unmistakably his.
His work is proof that the wet-on-wet tradition didn’t end with Bill or Wilson; it evolved. And artists like J.D. are the modern continuation of that lineage, carrying the spirit forward in their own voice, tempo, and style.
People who trace their roots back through the lineage:Bill → Bob → Dana → other teachers → the entire wet-on-wet family tree.
I didn’t learn from Bill in person, and yet somehow… he’s there every time I load my brush.Every time I say “just a little push,” whether out loud or in my head.Every time I remind a student, “You can do it.”
That’s the power of a lineage.You don’t have to meet the people who shaped you for them to leave fingerprints on your work.
⭐ Why This Is the Real Modern Art Movement
People like to pretend modern art belongs in museums — giant installations, sweeping abstractions, pieces you have to squint at while reading a plaque for ten minutes just to figure out if it’s right side up.
But if you walk into the average home today?You don’t see conceptual art.
You see:
mountains
flowers
birds
sunsets
portraits
quiet stillness
real stories
real emotion
real places
You see art meant to be lived with.
This is modern art.This is now.This is what people choose.
And so much of it exists because Bill Alexander believed that art belonged to everyone.
⭐ The Legacy Lives Everywhere
Sometimes I imagine Bill looking down at all of us:
Diane, Tom, Lowell, Sigrid, Bob, Dana, Wilson, Marion, J.D., Me, My students, My students’ students, And thousands more
All connected by a simple belief:
Art is for everyone.
Not for critics.Not for the elite.Not for gatekeepers.
For the people.
⭐ If You Want to Explore This Legacy Yourself…
Click on the links though out the blog to see more about each person.
⭐ Conclusion — The Tribe Lives On
The real modern art movement isn’t abstract.
It isn’t exclusive. It isn’t unreachable.
It’s alive in every person who picks up a brush and dares to believe they can make something beautiful.
Bill Alexander didn’t just paint landscapes.He painted a future — a world where millions of ordinary people could become artists.
And we’re still living inside that world today.
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Keep happy trees alive - Hope
Captivating blog and as usual well written.