Category: Landscapes

What a Patio!

KERBEY LANE CAFE, SAN MARCOS | 9 x 12” | Oil on Canvas Board

As a nod of thanks and appreciation, I recently completed a landscape of the Kerbey Lane Cafe in San Marcos, where I recently wrapped up a solo show, “Something for Everyone”. The restaurant is located in a historical building on the San Marcos River. The view of the river from the patio is amazing, but the sight of the restaurant from the river itself is arguably the better perspective. 

Now the first time you look at this painting, you might actually need the reference photo to know what you’re looking at. It’s not every day that one comes across a restaurant with “river AND a waterfall” as a seating option AND $7 local brewery pints! 

This painting introduced new challenges and the according hard lessons along the way. Two of particular note dealt with architectural elements:

  • Window Reflections: I’ve done reflective surfaces numerous times, so I understand the foundational techniques. However, the windows on the back of the restaurant had a coating that effectively made them massive mirrors. This meant the sky reflections needed to be more precise, yet despite numerous wipes and re-paints of the windows, I couldn’t get it just right… something just looked artificial about it. On a whim I put the vertical window seams into the composition and “voila!”, suddenly it translated as mirrored windows!
  • Screen Windows: There is a real nuance to getting this right, and something I’d never tackled before. I’ll be honest, luck had more to do with the final result than anything – my artistic creativity isn’t the best of friends with architectural features of the world. If you look closely at the screened-in patio, you’ll notice the most prominent part is in the sunlight, and that area is nothing more than the original underpainting of burnt sienna. The very thick, toothy nature of the canvas board also contributed ideally to the aesthetic without much need for artistic technique. That said, I’ll remember this bit of serendipity the next time I run into a screened porch. 

Ultimately, I’m very happy with the final result. The staff at this location were fantastic supporters of my artwork and an absolute pleasure. I’ll have to do another show at that location in the future. 

#austinart #artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #abplanalp #austinartists #texasstate #txst #oldmain #texasarchitecture #sanmarcos #paintings #kerbeylanecafe

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Cuenca: Multi-Focal Point Strategy

CUENCA | 9 x 12” | Oil on Canvas Paper

More European inspiration, this time from a little city called Cuenca, Spain, which is located about 100 miles east of Madrid. Cuenca is magnificent and thankfully not on  the itinerary of the selfie-taking, speaker phone talking, culturally ignorant hordes. This city is in the mountains, founded by the Moors (like most everything in central Spain), and best known for their hanging houses, called “casas colgadas”. In my view, they’re the original “room with a view” architecture, and it’s frankly amazing they’re still clinging to the cliffs. 

We were visiting in late May and did a lot of strolling as we explored the old town. This particular scene is from the Plaza Mayor, looking north towards the Cathedral of Santa Maria and San Julian of Cuenca. Even during this morning hour, there was a lot of activity and the city had a sense of energy and vitality, which I’ve tried to capture with this piece.

Initially, the intent was to do a quick study in preparation for a larger piece. While I still intend to do a larger, more composed painting, I kept getting sucked into the details of CUENCA. There are two focal points – I know, I know, that’s not how the rules work – but I’ve developed the opinion that multi-focal point perspective in a composition can work really well. In this case, focal point 1 is the Cathedral, which anchors the background as it captures the morning light before the rest of the buildings. Focal point 2 is the guy in the foreground walking right at you, also touched by the light, contrasted by the shaded patio immediately behind. 

Lastly, there are various bits of sky blue incorporated through the piece. It’s an experiment to see if it gives the viewer the sense of having a relatively blue sky overhead, adding to the depth of the painting. Not sure if it works because I was actually in Cuenca to take this photo, therefore I always have that sense of a sky overhead when I think about this scene. 

If you haven’t been to Cuenca, Spain… go! The setting, sights, food and people are wonderful. 

Thanks for reading!

#austinart #artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #abplanalp #austinartists #pleinair #cafe #spanishcafe #spain #cuenca #patio #europe #atxart #atxartist #atxlife #contemporaryart #spainart

Progress 1
Progress 2
Final
Detail Focal Point 1
Detail Focal Point 2
CUENCA Plaza Mayor
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Dappled Lunch

LATE LUNCH | 16 x 20” | Oil on Canvas

Inspired by past trips to Europe while enjoying a mid-afternoon lunch on a beautiful day, LATE LUNCH is meant to capture the slow pace of catching up with friends in an idyllic setting. 

There were numerous challenges with this one, most of them self-inflicted as I really wanted to capture the presence of people doing their thing at the restaurant. I have a fair bit of experience incorporating people in landscapes, but not many have been seated. To my surprise, managing proportions of someone seated is particularly tricky and takes some practice. But even more arduous were the chairs, which have shapes that are all over the place and best done in an impressionistic style… which I will do next time. 

Ultimately, though, LATE LUNCH is anchored on dappled sunlight and starkly contrasting values from tree shade. The dappled effect is designed to frame the scene between the umbrellas and the foreground, with the expansive green tree limbs putting the viewer in the cool shade of the afternoon. 

Thanks for reading!

Progression of LATE LUNCH

#austinart #artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #abplanalp #austinartists #pleinair #cafe #frenchcafe #patio #europe #atxart #atxartist #atxlife #contemporaryart

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Colorado En Plein Air

A great day of painting en plein air in Colorado with my mom. The weather and setting were perfect, so the fact that the paintings turned out nice put our day in the bonus. 

The location is just off highway 36 north of Lyons, a couple miles up the canyon towards Estes Park. The compositional options were wide-ranging and, in all honesty, a little overwhelming. Upstream or downstream? Canyon walls or creek… or both? Wide focus or narrow? Ultimately, I opted to highlight the creek while leveraging the canyon walls for perspective. 

I haven’t done a lot of plein air this year, but it continues to be preferred over painting in the studio, in large part because it makes me paint smarter. The quick pace forces one to make instinctive decisions without overthinking things, which can fail sometimes, but on this day it proved effective. 

This piece will need some refinement in the studio, but I’d say it’s 80% complete, which is pretty good for me in terms of getting it done outside in one session. My mom did a bang-up job on her piece, too, opting for the wider view of the canyon to include the water and the tops of the canyon walls.  And, like I said, painting with my mom on a  perfect afternoon was pretty awesome! 

#austinart #artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #abplanalp #austinartists #pleinair #pleinairaustin #paa #pleinaircolorado #rockymountainnationalpark #lyonscolorado #coloradoartist

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Hill of Life: The Gnarly Side of Barton Creek

HILL OF LIFE | Oil on Canvas | 24 x 20” 

Say hello to the inaugural composition for 2025, HILL OF LIFE. If you’re a mountain biker living in Austin, then you know. For the rest of you, this is the northern endpoint of the Barton Creek Greenbelt, 7 miles upstream from one of Austin’s most iconic sights, Barton Springs. 

It’s fitting that the two ends of the greenbelt are polar opposites. The southern end is accessible via a short walk from a parking lot, and is suited for swimming, cooling off, and relaxing in the shade of live oaks. Conversely, the northern entry is a sketchy ride down a steep, rocky, 300 foot drop-in and is suited for mountain bikers with a death wish or adrenaline junkies. 

The HOL is actually an old maintenance road that was used (I believe) by the city to access the trail in emergencies, be it fire fighting or EMS services for some poor bastard who’s riding skills couldn’t cash the check their ego was writing. Over the years, the road was decommissioned and all that remains are the cement joints that connected the main sections. Over the years, erosion has created  big “steps” off the lip of these joints… and therein lies the focal point of HILL OF LIFE. Oh, and great sunsets, too!

This piece started with plein air sketches, which was easy to do given this location is a 5 minute hike from my house. I had intended to do a plein air study from this location, too, but after the sketches and my own personal experience with this trail over 20+ years, I felt like a study wasn’t necessary. So I teed this up in the studio and started throwing paint at the canvas! 

Hill of Life Old Road
Hill of Life Sunset
Impasto Sun
Hill of Life
Kerbey Lane Show

The obvious focal point is the huge setting sun, but I also consider the darkest section, namely the last ledge down the trail, as a main hook for the viewer. The odd looking concrete bar at the base of the painting is one of the aforementioned joints in the original road, which makes a little more sense when you look at the painting and reference photo side-by-side. I spent considerable time ensuring this was more realistic than impressionistic to garner interest in the piece, hopefully without causing confusion for those who haven’t been to the Hill of Life. 

Lastly, the sun is done primarily with thicker paint application using a palette knife, which gives it more texture and a stronger presence on this larger canvas. It also allows for more blending, which I find helpful when trying to nail the value and warmth of something as intimidating as the sun. 

For those of you in the Austin area, this piece is part of my solo show, “Something for Everyone”, on display (and for sale) through end of June at Kerbey Lane in San Marcos. 

Thanks for reading!

#austinart #artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #abplanalp #austinartists #pleinair #pleinairaustin #paa #hilloflife #bartonsprings #hikeaustin #alltrails #bartoncreek #violetcrowntrail #kerbeylanecafe #sanmarcos #HOL #mountainbiking #hiking

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That’s a Wrap – EAST Summary

SPRING POINT LIGHTHOUSE
SMOKY ON ICE
STROLLING DOG

Day 2 of EAST Austin Studio Tour was a huge success for the Plein Air Austin group show! Lots of foot traffic at arguably the best location in the entire EAST show at EASTBOUND, a beautiful facility that had lots of people asking “how the hell did @pleinairaustin pull this off?!” Join us at a paint-out or better yet become a member and find out all our secrets. 

On a personal note, I’m honored to have sold 3 original pieces this weekend. Headed to new homes are “Smoky On Ice”, “Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse 2”, and “Strolling Dog.” 

Thanks for reading!

#austinart #artbern #artbern.art #berntx #crashboomzip #abplanalp #austinartists #atxart #atxartist #atxlife #pleinair #pleinairaustin #paa #austinstudiotour #bigmedium #thingstodoaustin #springpoinglighthouse #lighthouse #portlandmaine #dogsonbeach #beach #whiskey #oldfashioned #cocktails #paintings

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Acorn Street, Boston

ACORN STREET progress
ACORN STREET | 12×9 | Oil on Art Board

As promised, here is the finished work (maybe) of the ACORN STREET study. I say “maybe” because I might opt to add people and give it more activity, but I also like the calm, quiet morning vibe this gives off. I’m guessing the early mornings are the favorite time for the residents of this street as the tourist throngs are still in their AirBnBs second guessing why they hadn’t opted for a hotel with an in-room coffee machine and room service.

I wanted to ensure value contrasts and a loose painting style were key elements of this piece. The flag and sunlit building opposite were intended to draw the viewer down the street, which wasn’t difficult to do as this composition kinda designed itself. The big challenge since the original progress post was adjusting the light from the photo reference so that it realistically “hit” the flag, which meant letting it sneak up the end of the street more than was originally planned. 

Lastly, the cobblestones were a last minute addition. I was trying to avoid anything too detailed in an effort to keep the painterly feel, but anyone who’s been on this street knows the cobblestones are integral to the charm. I need to refine my technique in future work, but there are a lot of cobblestone streets that I’d love to paint in the future! 

#acornstreet #boston ​#​cobblestones #austinart #artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #abplanalp #austinartists #atxart #atxartist #atxlife ​#cambridge #flag #unitedstates #oilpainting #fineart #atx

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Boston Study

New work-in-progress, ACORN STREET, oil on canvas board. This piece is also serving the purpose of a study for a larger composition, provided it turns out well. It’s off to a good start, though, but it will take a few more hours on the easel to get there. The perspective and values are solid and should provide the foundation for an eye-grabbing painting. 

This was also my first session as a student in an open studio class taught by Robin Cheers. Her artwork is beautiful, very painterly, and really captures a sense of place and activity. As an instructor, she made a very strong first impression and provided some great insights that will go a long way to improve my technique. 

Stay tuned for the finished work!

#acornstreet #boston #robincheers #austinart #artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #abplanalp #austinartists #atxart #atxartist #atxlife 

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Congress Bridge Bats

BRIDGE 56 | Oil on Canvas | 12 x 36”

This piece is inspired by the bat colony under the Congress bridge in Austin, Texas, but note they are not the focal point. The 56 silhouettes along the bridge are the intended focal point, which as a group, show the evening observations of the bats on a summer evening. However, as you look at each individual person, you can see how their experience is unique. Hopefully you, as the observer, have some emotional response to some of these folks. 

The sun plays a big part in this composition, cascading it’s golden light across the landscape, creating some strong value contrasts not only on the horizon, but also on the silhouettes, especially those on the right side of the bridge. It also creates a balance between warm and cool hues, with subtle purples in the middle creating a temperature transition. Lastly, the sun has been finished with a palette knife for an impasto effect, which helped amp up the brilliance. 

Another element of the composition is the use of the 1.5” edge of the canvas, allowing the bats and silhouettes to flow around the frame. The figures on each side are looking into the painting, which should help direct observers into the composition. 

Stay tuned for additional bridge silhouette paintings! 

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14 Palms at Sunset

14 PALMS | 20×16” | Oil on Canvas Board

Shoreline Park in Santa Barbara is one of those places that almost makes the cost of existing in California understandable. Stunning views of the ocean, cool breezes, and sunsets that make you say “C’mon! Seriously!”

If I lived in the area I would definitely do a number of plein air sessions at this location, but I had to settle for personal photos taken while strolling the shoreline. Interestingly, I started this piece a couple months ago, then set it aside and just didn’t get back to it for awhile. In that gap I managed to inadvertently delete my reference photo! 

Turns out my bonehead move was a bit of good fortune as it forced me to work from memory and not a photo reference. Turns out I rely too much on photo details, which often distort values and hues, and it was easier to capture the essence of this scene without the distraction. 

As to the composition itself, this was the first time I’d done something with such a strong sun. While it’s not meant to be the focal point, it’s the source of brilliant light that envelops the palms and makes them spectacular. From a design perspective, I wanted to incorporate some strong contrasts between the tops and bottoms of the palms, whereby the tops were more painterly and softened, while the bases were structured and crisp. The intent is to have the viewer drawn to the center of the palms bathed in sunlight, but then move up and down the trees to see the different light effects. 

Lastly I’ll note the intentional exclusion of people, picnic tables, cars, and other such signs of humanity. Sometimes that’s done because I’m lacking motivation (or skill) to tackle those details, but in this instance it’s a nod to Santa Barbara as the source of Earth Day, which was started here way back in 1969. 

#artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #abplanalp #austinartists #atxart #santabarbara #earthday #shorelinepark #palms #palmtrees #sunset #california

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