Author: Bern

The Stick Won’t Throw Itself

ZIP TOOT | Mixed Media on Board | 8×10”

Painting and the creative process has always been a zen-zone for me, even on days when the paint just won’t line up right! When life decides to punch you in the face, painting can be calming, even downright cathartic.   

Our beloved pup, Zip – aka “Zippy”, “Zipster”, “Zipper”, “Toot”, “The Pip” and dozens of other nicknames – took her trip to the Rainbow Bridge a couple months ago. She was a HUGE personality, the boss of any space she occupied, and a precious family member who will be forever in our hearts. She loved food, playing ball, car rides, hikes, and she even enjoyed the occasional trip with me into the landscape to paint “en plein air”. But more than anything in the world, she loved to swim, especially if a stick was involved. ZIP TOOT is a nod to her larger than life personality doing what she loved more than anything else.  

As to the artwork itself, this is another foray with spackle, but leveraging the unique opportunity to create textures that simply can’t be done in oil paint – at least not by me. The spackle was laid down in multiple layers, oftentimes so thick that it created a lot of cracking when it dried, which actually played well with the subject matter. Once the shape of the tail was done, I used a dark gray layer (almost black) as the base, then textured in lighter grays and whites. The effect is to give the impression of various hair colors intermixed, even in the areas that are dominated by black or white. Zip was a spotty dog, so getting this right was tricky, but manipulating the spackle while it was still soft made for an effective outcome. 

The final step was going back in with acrylic paint to make the entire tail look more vibrant, which is a weird comment given we’re dealing with black, white and grays. The background is intended to represent her swimming days, the last of which were on Lake Austin at a boat ramp next to Mozart’s Coffee. If you look closely you can see some blue glittery bits splashed around the tip of her tail, reminding me of her need to shake thoroughly between throws and her all-out rush back into the water to recover her favorite stick. 

Go play with your dog cuz the stick won’t throw itself.

RIP Zip

The Zip!
Layer 1 – Spackle
Layer 2 – Spackle + Cracks
Texture!
Shake Effect
ZIP TOOT
ZIP TOOT

#artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #painting #art #abplanalp #austinartists #atxartist #atxart #atxlife #contemporaryart #bernabplanalp #zip #mozartscoffee #rainbowbridge #fetch #mixedmedia #dogswimming 

by Categories: Mixed Media, RescuedTags: , , , , , 5 Comments

Barns, Bluebonnets, and Barks

COMMONS FORD RANCH BARN | Oil on Artboard | 9×12”

This is my first composition of an old barn and it was an absolute blast! I came across this barn exploring a metro park near my home called Commons Ford Ranch. My initial goal was to simply find a new place to explore with my dog, and I was surprised to find this metro park on the map near my home, of which I’ve lived in for decades.

Commons Ford Ranch parkland was donated by Bradley and Wooley, Inc. in 1983, but the historic buildings, including the barn, were from the Resaca Ranch, which was a working cattle ranch in the early 20th century. If you live in the Austin area, I strongly suggest exploring this small park, which has riverfront, hiking trails, and obviously historical elements to enjoy.

After my plein air recon visit with Wolfy, I returned a few days later to do some quick field sketching. Having no experience with barns, I took some time back in the studio doing a more formal drawing, trying to figure out how best to simplify the elements of the barn and ensure I could get the whacky angles figured out. When I finished the drawing I realized the better angle was going to be from the other side of the barn because the tree was a distraction no matter where I put it, seemingly popping out of the barn like a jack-in-the-box gone wrong. But this is why we do sketches and practice drawings, right? 

I spent about 3 hours painting on-site the following week. The weather cooperated for the first 90 minutes, then the clouds rolled in, which threw off some of the preferred lighting. Luckily I took a few reference photos when I first setup and was able to use those back in the studio. I really focused my plein air session on highly contrasting values, something I feel would help improve the realistic nature of my landscapes. 

The studio work went very quickly, which I’m convinced was due to the strength of the values throughout the piece. I was able to convey a more realistic composition with depth. At least that’s my impression. The most tricky bits, which were honestly a bit maddening, were determining the colors for the wood. The gray of the actual barn wasn’t going to make for a very interesting painting, so I went with 20 versions of reddish brown. I used almost exclusively painting knives for the barn, finding ways to maximize wet-on-wet technique to get swirls and variations in the wood panels, giving them (hopefully) a more aged look. Lastly, using the edge of the painting knife, I applied somewhat random crisp black lines to get a more realistic look to the slats and slight gaps between the wood.  

The addition of wildflowers was a suggestion from my wife, which I think adds a nice pop of central Texas spring to the piece. These were also done with a knife, using scraping and splotching techniques. 

Overall, the Commons Ford Ranch Barn was a great introduction to this type of landscape feature that lends itself nicely to en plein air. 

#artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #painting #art #abplanalp #austinartists #atxartist #atxart #atxlife #contemporaryart #bernabplanalp #pleinair #pleinairaustin #commonsfordranch #getoutside #hikeaustin #austinparksfdn

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The Texture of Porter

PORTER | 4×4” | Mixed Media on Wood

My recent foray into mixed media, courtesy of plaster and acrylic, has opened up a new perspective for my still life compositions. A good place to start was with my favorite adult beverage, a tasty Porter.

This is a very small composition, 4×4”, but in large part thanks to the 3D-ish impact of the thick plaster, it has a lot textual appeal. I did this without a reference photo, or beer model for that matter, going from memory of similarly themed past paintings. This one is most notably related to Last Sip, but oddly enough it was infinitely easier to create for a couple of reasons. First, the smaller size makes things go much faster. But more notably, the use of colored plaster and the simplicity of the subject make for a quick creation.

I might have just gotten lucky, too, and nailed it on the first try.

I might return to this specific piece and do some direct painting using acrylics on the plaster, which would add more vibrancy and get rid of the slight chalky effect.

Thanks for reading!

#artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #painting #art #abplanalp #austinartists #atxartist #contemporaryart #bernabplanalp #contemporaryatx #texturedpainting  #acrylics #beer #porter #stilllife #mixedmedia

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Bob Ross Goes Skiing

FRESH TRACKS | Mixed Media on Canvas Panel | 5×7”


This is project #2 from the aforementioned Textured Painting workshop at The Contemporary at Laguna Gloria. This was a real Bob Ross experience, as my original plan was to simply experiment with texture and some pottery tools to see how they manipulated the joint compound, as well as experiment on canvas board with my newfound medium. Lo and behold, I discovered ski tracks in the snow – an abstract painting exploration turned “real” composition.

The coloring of the snow is actually tinged with yellow and muted with purple, which is very hard to see in the photos. The first step was to paint the canvas panel all black, let it dry, then cover it with the off-white spackle. The pottery tool was some kind of metal prong with a very small, circular tip. Dragging this tool through the soft spackle exposed the black board underneath, sometimes closing back up over itself in the thicker sections, much like skiing through fresh snow. 

On day 2, after the initial spackle had dried, using a water spritzer, I applied some kind of sparkly dust provided in the instructor’s box of goodies, which created a very cool reflective effect, like sun on snow. The last step was to apply a sky-blue acrylic mix to some of the wider tracks, which added color and the effect of the sky reflected in the snow. 

Overall, I’m very happy with this abstract turned ski tracks realism piece. I think it would be a very marketable piece, too, at a larger size in a black frame for someone who loves skiing. Thank you, Bob Ross!

Virtual Frame
Fresh Tracks Zoom
Texture
Texture, Sparkles, and Blues

artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #painting #art #abplanalp #austinartists #atxartist #contemporaryart #steamboatsprings #skicolorado #bernabplanalp #getoutside #contemporaryatx #texturedpainting  #acrylics #mixedmedia #bobross #happyaccident

by Categories: Abstract, Landscapes, Mixed MediaTags: , , , , 4 Comments

Spring Point in Spackle

SPRING POINT LEDGE LIGHTHOUSE 2 | Mixed Media on Wood | 8×10″

I recently attended a 2-day workshop at The Contemporary at Laguna Gloria. The focus was textured painting, which ultimately boiled down to playing with joint compound (gypsum spackle) and acrylic paint. I was amazed at how easy and fun it was to adapt to this medium.The technique is very straightforward, whereby one mixes acrylic paints into the joint compound, which is an off-white, and do whatever you want provided it’s put on a hard surface, for which I used wooden boards.

Most of the class did abstract pieces, which make sense as you get to play with pottery tools to get cool shapes and textures. It’s very forgiving, too, because you can simply wipe it off and start over again provided you don’t wait more than a day, at which point it hardens. I chose to do still life and landscape pieces, taking advantage of the impasto nature of the spackle. The instructor said she hadn’t considered doing landscape compositions with this technique, but to me it seemed intuitively suited for the textural nature of the real world. 

I intend to add some vibrancy to this composition with acrylic paint… I think. This is definitely the start of a new and exciting medium! Stay tuned for a number of new pieces in spackle and acrylics.

#artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #painting #art #abplanalp #austinartists #atxartist #contemporaryart #southportlandmaine #abplanalp #bernabplanalp #springpointledgelighthouse #lighthouse #maine #portlandmaine #getoutside #fortgorges #contemporaryatx #texturedpainting 

by Categories: Landscapes, SeascapesTags: , , , , , , 3 Comments

Icy Imperfection

SMOKY ON ICE | Oil on Board | 8×10″

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!

#oldfashioned #cocktail #bourbon #agedandcharred #thecraftycocktail #cocktailsmokers #theglenallachie #buffalotrace #whiskey #whisky #artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #painting #art #austinartists #atxartist #atxart #atxlife #contemporaryart #abplanalp #bernabplanalp #stillife

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Time Warp – Smoky Old Fashioned

Every once in awhile I find the motivation, and patience, to make a time lapse video of a painting. I did this for Smoky Old Fashioned, but it was done over the course of numerous short painting sessions (1-2 hours), so it gets a bit frenetic at times with lighting and zoom variations. Tight cropping and good music are included so as to distract from the lack of cinematography talent.

I’ve learned a lot about the process and iterations artists have to endure to get a composition just right by watching time lapse videos. Having done a few of my own this year, I’ve learned they’re also a great way to capture how I did something and be able to return to it later as reference for future work that harnesses the same subject matter.

Enjoy!

Smoky Old Fashioned | Oil on Canvas | 6×8″
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Holiday Group Show: Small Wonders at Austin Fine Art Gallery!

I have the good fortune of 7 of my paintings being included at Austin Fine Art Gallery’s annual holiday group show of small arwtorks called “small WONDERS”! All works are framed and ready to go on your walls, or, given their relatively small size, they’re easy to ship to friends and family who might appreciate authentic art from an Austin artist. 

  • BLACK LAB | Graphite on Paper | 11×13″ 
  • BULL CREEK, AUSTIN | Oil on Board | 6×8″ 
  • DOG TIRED | Oil on Board | 16×12″
  • JUST THE RIPE SIZE | Oil on Panel | 5×7″ 
  • SPRING POINT LEDGE LIGHTHOUSE | Oil on Board | 8×6″
  • POPCORN | Oil on Canvas | 14×11″ 
  •  SOMETHING BLUE | Oil on Board | 12×9″ 


Small WONDERS will consist of over 300 mini works by over 35 greater Austin artists, ranging from 5×7’s to 16×20’s. Everything will be PRICED to GIFT with prices ranging from $100 to $600. Don’t miss this wonderful show to start or add to an art collection for you and your loved ones!There will be an opening reception on Saturday, December 9th from 4-7pm. There will be holiday treats, drinks and live music during the opening reception. The show runs through early January. 

For more information about the gallery and this show specifically, go to www.artframingservices.com, navigate to the “small WONDERS” show announcement, and consider dropping by for some holiday cheer and say hi during the opening reception. 

Artists showing include:

BERN ABPLANALP
UMBREEN AHMAD
TOM BENTLEY
VICKI BREVELL
TAMMY BROWN
HOLLY CRAIG
ALAN EHRLICH
PAT FLATHOUSE
ANN FLEMINGS
JULIA FLETCHER
SALLY FRASER
OLGA GORALEWICZ
LACY HUSMANN
JESSICA GREENWOOD
PING IRVIN
CRAIG IRVIN
CHRISTINE JAMES
CAROLYN KILDAY
MELISSA KOTZEV
SCOTT LEOPOLD
MARCH MATTINGLY
LINDA MONTIGNANI
M MURDOCK
EDD OGDEN
NANCY PATON
RICARDO ROBLES
JOYCELYN SCHEDLER
ANASTASIA SHIMANSKAYA
CELESTE SMITH
CONNIE TAYLOR
MINDEN TEN EYCK
LILIANA VASQUEZ
LINDA WELLS
JOHN WEST
ELIZABETH WILSON
WALKER WINN
RENEE WOMACK

#artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #abplanalp #atxart 
#austinartist #austinart #originalartworks #austingifts #texasartists #austinfineart #austinartframe #artforyourhome #texasartist #instaart #artoftheday #smallwonders #christmasartist #christmas #holidaycheer #gifts #giftideas 

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In the Old Fashioned Way… Plus Smoke

SMOKY OLD FASHIONED | Oil on Canvas | 6×8″

SMOKY OLD FASHIONED is a recent commission piece, something I love doing, especially when it’s for a gift or something sentimental. In this instance, the painting is for a gift for someone who apparently has everything. Painting to the rescue! 

My process for custom work involves a number of preliminary discussions followed by sketches that give compositional options. Just like blocking in the value structure of the actual painting is key to a good outcome, with a custom piece, coming to an agreement on the core elements and structure of the composition is vital. 
I’ve painted a number of libation-based still life compositions, but nothing with smoke. It required me to investigate if painting smoke was similar to creating fog, mist, or larger fire-based plumes.

The answer, it turns out, was an emphatic NO! It seems that once you pump smoke into a cocktail glass, weird shit happens and it becomes lifelike and animated. Looking at reference photos further complicates matters, introducing possibilities of upward windy smoky tendrils, or smoky bits that spill over the edge toward the table. Come to discover both of these considerations are smoked red herrings! Smoky tendrils are “fresh” burning anomalies, and the only smoke that sinks seems to be dry ice based smoke, which you can imagine is in a lot of cocktail glamour shots. 

The trick with this piece was clearly… smoke! But before getting to that challenge, there was the issue of compositional tension. Technically, an Old Fashioned isn’t so much a cocktail as an origins story of composition. The Meehan’s Bartending Guide, my personal true North for all things cocktail, notes “the cocktail was first defined on May 6, 1806, in The Balance and Columbian Repository as ‘a stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water and bitters’. By the time it showed up in a professional bar manual for the first time in Theodore Proulx’s 1888 The Bartender’s Manual, it was already “old-fashioned”.” My personal preference is rye whiskey, simple syrup, bitters, 1 cherry and an orange twist. Now back to the painting…

The request for this piece was to incorporate Luxardo cherries, orange peel, and a large round ice cube. Figuring out how best to structure this as a piece of art was trickier than I thought, even without the smoke. Once you put all that stuff into a lowball glass, it’s impossible to not notice the tension of so many things jammed into a small space. To tackle this problem we simply talked through various sketches that presented different solutions, and we ultimately landed on cherries on a toothpick, angled into the glass, orange peel also on the toothpick but above the whiskey line, and lastly a demotion of the round ice to the background. As a pleasant surprise, once the smoke was added, it significantly improved the compositional structure because it broadened the view and seems to have further reduced the tension, essentially granting the viewer a larger viewing room. 
Lastly, the smoke technique. I still need to refine the approach, so stay tuned for more smoky cocktails, but the core approach seems sound. The smoke is not white, that’s the first thing. Turns out it’s about 20 variations of gray, leaning warm (cad yellow deep) above the glass, and a little cool (lemon yellow) below the rim. The brushwork boils down to a lot of push and pull between the light grays and the black background, using a lot of scumbling with an oversized round brush. As the smoke expands above the glass, it was important to make sure there was a very thin layer on the outside edges of the core smoke to lend it a sense of movement. The person who commissioned this piece has a cocktail smoker top, which sits on the top of the glass and is then pulled off in a flourish when the smoking is done, which pulls some of the smoke up and out of the glass. It’s all very entertaining, until you try to paint it!

#oldfashioned #cocktail #bourbon #agedandcharred #thecraftycocktail #cocktailsmokers #buffalotrace #whiskey #whisky #artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #painting #art #abplanalp #austinartists #atxartist #atxart #atxlife #contemporaryart #abplanalp #bernabplanalp #stillife 

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FALLING INTO WINTER – Group Show at Art for the People

Gallery! Welcome to Winter(ish)! I’m honored to be included in another group show at Art for the People Gallery in Austin. I’ll have 4 paintings in the show covering a wide range of topics – beaches, mountains, dogs, rowing, and champagne!

Ready for the Show
MIMOSA
BEACH DOG
FLATIRONS
MORNING ROW
Falling into Winter show

The show runs October 28th, 2023 – January 5th, 2024, opening reception Saturday, November 4th, 12-4pm CDT.


Reach out if you have any questions, or better yet go to the gallery and check out all the arts:

MIMOSA | 12 x 16″ | Oil on Canvas Board | $400

MORNING ROW | 9 x 12″ | Oil on Canvas Paper | $275

BEACH DOG | 9 x 12″ | Oil on Canvas Paper | $275

FLATIRONS | 8 x 6″ | Oil on Art Board | $240

Thanks for reading!

#artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #abplanalp #austinartists #atxart #artforthepeoplegallery #aftpg #rescuedogs #dogsofinstagram #pleinairaustin #austinpetsalive #beachdog #stillife #champagne #happyhour #mimosa #brunch #mimosawalk #bouldercolorado #eldoradocanyon #flatirons #cubuffs #coachprime #lakeaustin360 #texasrowing #ladybirdlake #texasrowingcenter #bartonsprings #lakeaustin360

by Categories: Events, still lifeTags: , , , , , 1 Comment