Building off my most recent still life, SMOKY OLD FASHIONED, I wanted to finish another piece with smoke effects so I could refine the process and build on the original. SMOKY ON ICE changes some core compositional structure, none of which is hard to miss, but obviously the focal point is the massive ice cube. The challenge, in addition to that pesky smoke, was making sure the other key elements worked the viewer back to the ice.
First, let’s talk about that ice cube. Even clear ice cubes have flaws, but they’re hard to see in standard light. Ironically, if you drop one in a low ball of whisky and incorporate some mood lighting, the imperfections will jump out. And these imperfections are the coolest part of a clear cube!
The cherries hovering over the glass, immersed in smoke, are a design decision to keep the proverbial “you” in the glass… with the imperfect ice cube… and all that tasty whisky (GlenAllachie for me, please)… you’re welcome! Lastly, I used a palette knife for the cherries to give them a different texture. It also worked out better with manipulating the red colors into the smoke without smudging, which was hard to avoid when using a brush. The ice cube was done with thinner paint and brushes, ensuring a smooth, glassy look.
Thanks for reading!
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Art Bern 
This is really good, Bern — even better than Smoky Old Fashioned, i think, at least technically speaking. I want to think some more about making that giant ice cube the focal point. It certainly is, but i find my eye keeps wanting to go to the cherries, and knock that ice cube down just a little. It might be really interesting, in your next iteration of this, to change the viewer’s angle a bit —perhaps seeing the glass from slightly above. I’ll think on it all some more. But great job — really lovely.
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Thanks for the nice comments! I like the idea of a slightly higher angle, too.
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