Category: still life

New Show – ART SPREE at Art for the People Gallery!

The very fun, energetic and popular Austin art gallery, Art for the People Gallery, will include 3 of my pieces in the new show called ART SPREE! The show runs from January 29th – April 9th, 2022.

  • Airstream
  • Last Sip
  • Puppy Butts!

It’s always an honor to work with Lynnie, Hallie and of course, Charm Charm Sparkles and Tassel PomPom. Unfortunately the in-person opening reception for February had to be cancelled – damn you COVID! – but the gallery is open regular hours and the staff is as warm and welcoming as ever, so swing by if you’re in Austin and check out the art.

I’ve written blog posts about all of these pieces, but as a grouping they do a pretty good job representing me and my world. Airstream is clear nod to my love of travel (no, I don’t own an Airstream, but I know some very cool people who do); anyone who knows me can attest to my love of beer, especially a tasty porter as represented in Last Sip; and lastly, Puppy Butts! for my adoration of dogs and all they can bring to the world.

If you’re interested in any of these pieces, or anything in the ART SPREE show, you can also browse and shop using their online store. From the Art for the People Gallery store go to Shop > ART GALLERY – All Original Artwork > ART SPREE – Exhibition. I can attest that Lynnie and the AFTPG staff will do an excellent job fielding questions and making any purchasing seamless and fun.

Thanks for reading!

#berntx #crashboomzip #painting #art #abplanalp #austinartists #artforthepeoplegallery #aftpg #Airstream #LastSip #PuppyButts #austintx #Austintexas #atxlife #atxart #atx #austin360 #austinart #atxart #rescuedogs #bernabplanalp

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The Champagne of Food

Popcorn | 8” x 6” | Oil on Canvas Board

First still life of 2022 inspired by the fun of popcorn! It’s basically the champagne of food if you think about it. And my wife absolutely loves popcorn, so I knew this would make her happy. 

I try to do these small still life compositions alla prima, basically in one sitting. I had to do some highlight adjustments the next day after the paint had settled, but that’s pretty typical for me because it seems wet paint is just hard to “read” as final. 

I had a lot of fun with this piece, working from a photo… real popcorn never would have lasted. If you like progression details, I made a time lapse of this piece which you can see on YouTube called “Popcorn Playalong” embedded below.  

#berntx #crashboomzip #painting #art #abplanalp #austinartists #popcorn #impasto #popcornplayalong #champagneoffood

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Just the Ripe Size

Just the Ripe​ Size | 5” x 7” | Oil on Paper Board  

I​f you love a ripe avocado as much as I do, you can appreciate the moment you cut one open and just hope that a) it’s ripe and b) the pit isn’t so big there’s no actual avocado to eat. Just the Ripe Size is meant to elicit that gratification. Not quite as satisfying as a great batch of guacamole from Jack Allen’s Kitchen, but it’s a good start!

This piece was a little tricky because it’s painted on a paper-based board – basically a really nice piece of cardboard that you pay a lot more than you should at the art store. I think it will be great for graphite and maybe colored pencil drawing, but it was too quick to soak up oil paint. However, I do like the finished piece and the flat finish it has, which gives something like this avocado a more realistic look in terms of texture. I’ll try to varnish it in a couple weeks and post an update of the outcome. 

Now go grab an avocado or order some guacamole! 

#avocado #guacamole #jackallenskitchen #justtheripesize #avocadopainting #stilllife #dailypaintworks #berntx @abplanalp #crashboomzip #oilpainting #art #austinartists

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You’re So Vain

You’re So Vain | 5” x 7” | Oil on Canvas Board  

This small piece is brought to you by caffeine and Carly Simon. I thought painting clouds in my coffee would be a little more straightforward, but it presented some tricky bits that will need to be tackled again in future still life. The resulting composition of this first effort is good, but I’m missing something on the technique and it ended up losing some of the cloudy effect. 

​This is an ideal composition for practicing the technique of blending wet-on-wet oil​ paint. While I’m very familiar with the technique, it’s part of the standard tool kit for painting in oils regardless of one’s skill level, I hadn’t really considered the fact that this composition was going to be dominated by wet-on-wet. It became abundantly clear that was to be the challenge once I got started, the realization making me chuckle aloud in the studio… idiot! 

Next time I’ll use a smooth surface (board) instead of a canvas, which should make for easier blending. I’ll also make more time to pre-mix a range of coffee browns to give the “cloudy” effect a more realistic look. 

This piece was also inspired by all the neighborhood coffee shops around the country and the world, all of which have their own unique vibe and appreciation for a cup well poured. Ignoring the occasional douchey independent shop filled with anti-social Wifi leeches, there’s a lot of great coffee being brewed in these shops.

My neighborhood favorite is Trianon, which has been a caffeinated cornerstone of this area since the 80s. They have dozens of coffees from around the globe and the owner, or any of his friendly staff, will take the time to walk you through the nuances of each farmer’s crop and what makes them unique. When was the last time that “barista” from Starbucks took the time to walk away from the register and come chat with you about the 20 rotating coffee beans on the wall… never!  

Thank you Trianon! 
​

#trianoncoffee ​#coffee #carlysimon #stilllife #dailypaintworks #berntx #crashboomzip #oilpainting #art #austinartists

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Juicy

Juicy​ | 5” x 7” | Oil on Canvas Board  

JUICY

Small still life paintings are very gratifying because it’s possible to finish them in a single session, which is a nice change of pace after having worked on a number of larger pieces recently. 

Juicy is an orange (hopefully that’s abundantly clear) backlit with just enough light to see through the thinner areas. ​I used reference photos instead of an actual still life setup in the studio, but I think it would have been easier with a real orange slice as the subject. 

Lesson learned from this composition was the importance of relative values. I initially failed to darken the reds sufficiently, making it difficult to get the transparent light effect through the thin areas. I went back in and tamped down the saturation and darkened the value, which helped a great deal. I need to remember next time that instead of trying to use the lightest value for the transparency, focus first on emphasizing the adjacent darker areas to make it pop. 

Stay tuned for more small still life in the coming months… suggestions are welcome! 

#​orange ​#stilllife ​#dailypaintworks ​#berntx #crashboomzip #oil​painting #art ​#austinartists​

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Getting Thirsty

Last Sip | 5” x 7” | Oil on Canvas Board

Last Sip | Oil on Canvas

Dark beer as an inspiration seemed like a great idea for this quick still life. As you can guess, I do love a good dark porter, #512brewing!

This piece is also influenced heavily by the work of Neil Carroll, who has a great talent for making simple still life transform into beautiful, relatable art. In this case, also quite quaffable.

The Last Sip was a great piece for glassware still life. I liked the challenge of defining the pint glass despite having a dark beer on a very dark background. I thought that would be more difficult than it was, but the dominance of dark values actually made it easier to pull the glass reflections out of the piece.

I also tried to work in some warmer elements of sienna, orange, and out-of-the-tube red to distinguish the porter from the dark background coming through the clear glass.

Hope you’re thirsty… go grab a beer!

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Yellow Rose Botanical

Yellow Rose Botanical | 8” x 10” | Colored Pencil on Paper

I finished my botanical drawing (virtual) classes last week and this Yellow Rose is my final project. The sessions were 2 hours weekly for 8 weeks, the instructor (Jenny Granberry – @jennygeeberry) was hilarious, and I learned a lot about both botanical artistry and how to use colored pencils properly.

Yellow Rose Botanical Drawing

The biggest challenge was figuring out how to incorporate a range of colors beyond basic yellows to add interest, value variations, and realism. I was using a limited palette (12 pencils), but through some trial and error I managed to land on a few color combinations that added a lot of depth to the overall piece.

I’m hoping to do a few botanical series over the course of this year. I like the idea of colored pencil drawing because it incorporates drawing and a lot of oil painting concepts, although the techniques are very different.

#contemporaryatx #berntx #crashboomzip #rose #art #drawing

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Vine Tomatoes in Colored Pencils

As we settle into a new year, hopefully a better one than 2020, I thought it was time to learn something new on the art front. To that end, I’ve been attending a weekly Botanical Drawing class. The theme of “new” is splattered all over this class – it’s done virtually (a first for me), focused on botanical drawing (another first), and in colored pencil medium (yet another first… kinda). 

This week’s subject was a pair of tomatoes on the vine. The first two classes were graphite only, no colored pencils, so this was the first session that introduced color. I’m using a small set of 12 SoHo colored pencils, which are very vibrant and so far seem to do the trick. It’s going to be a challenge pivoting from oil painting, where colors are seemingly endless through mixing of a core set of hues. The colored pencils are a different challenge because there’s only so much layering of colors that the paper will tolerate. In oil painting, if you overdo it with oil paint colors it goes brown or a dirty grey, but you can wipe it off the canvas. The colored pencils, however, can only support a limited amount of mixing on paper, and it’s largely un-erasable. It’s a wee bit stressful at times!

I really like the challenge of capturing the reality of botanicals, which is at the heart of botanical drawing. It will be interesting to see how the various compositions evolve on the color and value front over the remaining 5 weeks of class. 


This week’s composition vine tomatoes is done on standard paper and measures about 7 x 5”. 

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Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Oil on Panel | 9” x 12”

This composition is from a trip we made to Germany not too long ago, although after this awful year it seems like a hundred years in the past. Since traveling isn’t an option, I’ve decided to start painting great locations as a meager alternative.

If you Google Rothenburg ob der Tauber, this scene is what will show up in the list of photos. While I agree it’s an outstanding view, I wanted to drive the focal point to the clock tower instead of the orange wooden house in the foreground.

This is the end of a late Fall day, which wasn’t very clear without the addition of bundled up people walking through the streets. I struggled with the decision to add people to the piece, but in the end I wanted to convey the sense of season and a more idyllic time without tourists.

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“Something Blue” Auction

Trying out an eBay auction this week for a piece posted recently called Something Blue. If you’re interested in bidding check it out here. The auction runs through Sunday 5pm CT.

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