Tag: art

A State of Contrasts

FLATIRONS, BOULDER | 12 x 9″ | Oil on Art Board

What the hell is a “flatiron” you ask? The really boring definition is from  geomorphology, which I won’t repeat here, but the layperson’s description is “cool looking red and orange rocks pointing out of the ground at extreme angles.” 

This was a plein air outing just south of Boulder, Colorado, in an area called Eldorado Canyon, at the South Mesa Trailhead to be specific. I was fortunate to spend this painting session with my mom, who had picked the location because of the great views of the Flatirons. I love seeing the Flatirons from this vantage point because you can see Devil’s Thumb very clearly and easily appreciate the jagged topography. 

The location is also unique because if you turn around and look east, one can see a mere 5 -10 miles away the largest superfund site the in US history, Rocky Flats. As far as I could tell, the Flatirons weren’t glowing from the plutonium trigger waste, but I’m glad the wind was blowing in the other direction today. This may seem like a very weird mash of nature in one direction and nuclear waste in the other, but Colorado is a state full of contrasts – politically, environmentally, and geographically. As artists, though, it’s great because we all know stark contrasts make for good compositions. 

I spent about 2-3 hours in the field working on this composition. I had never painted the Flatirons before, and not much by way of mountain landscapes either, so this was a challenge. Being on-site was definitely a plus in terms of capturing the essence of the Flatirons and helped shape the decision to use a palette knife and some impasto to shape the rock faces. It was also a little easier for me to get a sense of what I was looking at because decades earlier I had learned to rock climb on these very mountains! In fact, my first “real” rappel was from the top of Devil’s Thumb. 

The final few hours of work was done in the studio back in Austin. In truth I had some fundamental trouble getting the depth right, namely the whole thing looked very flat, so I set it aside for a few weeks and returned with a fresh perspective. Turns out the greens were too similar throughout the piece, and the darker values in the middle ground weren’t cool enough. I think the final adjustments, especially the cooler greens in the middle ground and horizon proved to be a vast improvement. 

If you’re in the Denver / Boulder area, I highly recommend a visit to Eldorado Canyon. There are some great views (obviously), beautiful hikes, and you can also watch some of the craziest free climbers in the country scale the canyon walls. 

Reference Photo
Homestead at Trailhead
South Mesa Area Map
Setup and Progress
Very Flat, No Depth, Too Green
Final Composition With Depth

#artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #painting #art #abplanalp #austinartists #atxartist #atxart #atxlife #contemporaryart #bouldercolorado #eldoradocanyon #rockyflats #flatirons #cubuffs #cualumni #abplanalp #bernabplanalp

by Categories: plein airTags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Rosé All Day… and Night?

ONE MORE BOTTLE | 9 x 12″ | Oil on Board

Inspired by travel with dear friends and recalling the joys of the day over a bottle of wine… or two… or three! 

When time flies by chatting with friends, so too does the wine, and we all need a friend who suggests “ONE MORE BOTTLE?”. I’m lucky to have such friends. 

This composition went through a few iterations and ultimately strayed so far from my original reference photo that it’s not worth sharing. The wine is a rosé from #grassinifamilyvineyards out of Santa Barbara. While I personally don’t care for many of the Santa Barbara area wines (Paso Robles is much more to my liking), the wine and setting at the Grassini tasting room patio was excellent.  

The use of a dark background in this composition made for a difficult painting, namely getting the pink/orange color of the rosé to show up properly against the black backdrop. Do a Google search for “still life painting of wine”, sort by images, and see how far you have to scroll to find a composition that’s not red wine and not against a very dark background. 

Regarding the largely blank right side of the composition, it’s designed to create tension for the viewer: Why the hell is half of the painting missing? Is it finished? Is there something there I can’t see? The truth is I initially planned to paint an empty bottle in that space, but ultimately felt like it would create more clutter and wouldn’t add anything of artistic interest – I mean who wants to stare at an empty wine bottle. That’s just sad. The artistic vacuum I opted for instead feeds to the ONE MORE BOTTLE theme.

Let me explain.

If you note the amount of wine in the glass and what’s remaining in the bottle, it’s pretty clear there is more in the glass than what’s not in the bottle. The viewer is left to assume that ONE MORE BOTTLE has been procured and the wine in the glass is actually what was from the previous bottle and perhaps a little topper from the new bottle. 

Finally, rosé is a wine for daytime hours (at least for me), so the dark background and soft light indicates early evening or dusk, which in my mind is how time among friends can fly by – namely you start visiting at lunch in the light of day with a bottle of rosé and the next thing you know you’ve filled the recycle bin and it’s damn near time for dinner! 

For the artists out there, a few notes of interest. First, there’s a lot of texture on the painting surface, which is largely a byproduct of dumb luck from working over a previous painting. Sometimes textures from old paintings are a real pain in the ass, which is why I usually gesso or sandpaper them to a smoother surface. However, this is the second painting I’ve done recently that’s used a previous failure and I neglected to smooth the surface. I gotta say, I prefer the textured option. 

Lastly, I used a palette knife to do the wine in the wine glass to add texture and realism. Rosé is a chilled wine, so the glass has to have some element of water beading or glistening. Furthermore, it helps add visual interest with impasto-like thickness. 

Thanks for reading and cheers to all your close friends!

#artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #painting #art #abplanalp #austinartists #atxartist #atxart #atxlife #contemporaryart #grassinifamilywines #santabarbarawine #onemorebottlerob #winepainting #roséwine #winepainting #onemorebottle #abplanalp #bernabplanalp

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Serenity Now

MORNING ROW LAKE AUSTIN | 9 x 12″ | Oil on Canvas Paper

First, let me give props to the reference photo, which I came across randomly while mindlessly scrolling through my Instagram feed. Thank you @lakeaustin360 for the wonderful shot! 

I started this painting as a visiting student in my mother’s art class, using my plein air setup, but inside… which was a little weird at first, but it was better than sitting down for 2 hours! I guess this piece is a pseudo plein air piece, especially given the subject matter, but ultimately it was finished in the studio back in Austin earlier this week. 

This is intended to be a study, as I anticipate making a go of this on a larger scale. I love the colors and the serene nature of the composition, despite knowing the rower must be exhausted. Or about to be. I struggled a little with putting the rower in the center of the canvas, so I made sure the horizontal positioning was dropped to the bottom 1/3rd. I tried to use other compositional elements to ensure the piece was balanced, namely the oar bars pointing into the rower, and the color sandwich effect of the orange from the trees on shore and reflected in the water. Lastly, the subtle glance of the rower to the right gives some additional interest in terms of what’s happening just out of sight. Like I said, it’s one hell of a reference photo!

Lastly, Lake Austin is so crowded with paddle boards most of the year, the mere fact that a rower could find some peace and quiet brings a smile to my face. 

#artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #abplanalp #austinartists #atxartist #atxart #worldrowing #rowing #texasrowing #ladybirdlake #texasrowingcenter #texasrivers #bartonsprings #saveoursprings

by Categories: LandscapesTags: , , , , , , , 1 Comment

In the Waning Light of Day

DISC DOG | 12 x 16″ | Oil on Canvas Panel

DISC DOG is inspired by the life we live with our canine family members and those bonding moments that form lifetime memories, like frisbee on a beach in the waning daylight hours. 

A few months ago I did a piece called BIRD DOG, which was a silhouette similar to DISC DOG, but it pushed the contrasts more intensely. DISC DOG incorporates more hues while maintaining the impact of a silhouette and the unbridled enthusiasm for life that only a dog, especially those thankful rescue dogs, can convey. The underpainting was a light cadmium red and burnt sienna, which shows through in some areas, but more importantly served as a helpful guide for laying down the clouds with a setting sun somewhere “off camera”. I painted over a previous composition for this piece, something I rarely do, so I was pleasantly surprised to essentially have a pre-treated surface on which to work. Somewhere under DISC DOG lurks a really bad painting of monochromatic wine bottles. 

Oddly enough, the most challenging element of DISC DOG was the frisbee. As you can see from the sketch, I noted the idea of using a frisbee instead of a ball. While the ball would have been much easier, the body position of the dog is more akin to waiting to jump at a frisbee rather than chasing a ball in the air. The trick with the frisbee turned out to be the odd look it had as a silhouette. For the life of me I couldn’t get it to convey “FRISBEE”. I kept wiping out and repainting versions of what looked like UFOs. Ultimately I switched gears away from the dark shape and allowed the light from the setting sun to make it pop, but tried to do so without making it the focal point of the composition. The angle of the disc, the lines of the waves, the red collar, and various other elements try to move the viewer to the dog as the star of the piece.

Special thanks to Austin Pets Alive! for all the great rescue work they do for the animals of the city of Austin, the state of Texas, and various cities throughout the United States. In Austin alone, every year there are thousands of rescue dogs playing frisbee, like DISC DOG, thanks to the tireless work, innovation, love and compassion of APA! and their wonderful staff and army of volunteers.  

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New Group Show – CELEBRATION

Art for the People Gallery in Austin has included 2 of my new paintings in their Winter 2023 group show “CELEBRATION”, running January 28th – March 24th, 2023. I’m very excited to be included in this VERY talented group of artists! If you’re interested in original artwork by Austin artists, check out AFTPG either in person in Austin or browse their online store. 


If you’re interested in any of my pieces, I’m happy to answer questions or better yet, go to the gallery and check them out in person!

BIRD DOG | 18 x 24″ | Oil on Canvas Board

BLOWN AWAY | 18 x 24″ | Oil on Board


Thanks for reading!

#artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #abplanalp #austinartists #atxartist #atxart #artforthepeoplegallery #aftpg #rescuedogs #dogsofinstagram #dogsofinsta #petsofinstagram #contemporaryart #fosteringsaveslives #dogsofig #adoptme #takemehome #austinpetsalive #mutts #muttsofinstagram #snouts #wetnoses #beachdog #beaches #galveston #whimsicalart #umbrellas

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Soup for You!

The Soup Peddler (study) | 12 x 9” | Oil on Canvas Paper

I’m learning a lot more lately en plein air, painting outside essentially. In 2023 I intend to get in at least 30 days outside – I’ll keep track and post updates against that goal… more to hold myself accountable, but perhaps it will entertain all of you as well. 


There is a great artist group in Austin called Plein Air Austin (www.pleinairaustin.org), which organizes multiple outings monthly for members – non members are encouraged to come join us to see what it’s all about, too. This particular outing was what we call “Urban”, where we get together in an area of town that has great architecture and buildings, as opposed to nature-based landscapes, and try to capture the scene. This particular outing was on South 1st near Mary Street, which has plenty to work with in terms of urban scenes. I tagged along with one of the other artists who had scoped out these great blue green umbrellas at a restaurant called The Soup Peddler. 


The weather was ideal, a little chill in the air, but the clouds cleared out around 10 and gave us plenty of sunlight. It was tricky to simplify this scene, an ongoing challenge for me with plein air compositions, so I tried focusing on the umbrellas first and building the painting outward. Having just painted umbrellas in a recent studio piece, I was able to quickly get the bones of this piece on the canvas before the lighting changed. Luckily the lighting was steadily improving all morning, so I never panicked due to major shifts in value. 


In terms of compositional challenges, I got most of it worked out in the field because I was happy with the umbrellas themselves. I also got very lucky in getting the structure of the building, sign, and patio details on the first try. Sometimes those architectural details trick me and I have to make a few attempts to get it right, or at least avoid having it tank the painting before it even begins. The updates I made in the studio were pretty straight forward, building on what I had already started, but I did leverage some artistic license. Most notably I opted to exclude the cactus coming out of the metal planter, in large part because it was nearly the same color as the umbrellas, and even a deviation from the coloring would have been a distraction. And while I don’t love the final look of the metal planter it serves as a good balance for the composition. Maybe I’ll add some other plants in the future, but for now I’m calling it done. 

Finished!
Studio Refinements
Starting Studio Refinements
On Site – Always Alert for Cars
Sky Starting to Clear
Anticipating Light
Fellow Painter Tom
End of Session Get Together Review


Thanks for reading! 

#artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #painting #art #abplanalp #bernabplanalp #austinartists #atxartist #atxart #atxlife #bullcreekaustin #pleinairaustin #souppeddler #souppeddleraustin

by Categories: plein air, Urban LandscapesTags: , , , , , 3 Comments

Stop With All the White Boats!

Casco Bay Boats (study) | 7 x 5” | oil on Canvas Board

The weather and views were so fantastic, frankly I didn’t care how this plein air piece turned out. The vantage point was from a hillside trail in the shade looking out across Casco Bay. I had originally setup along the water, but had to move due to the rantings of a homeless guy who felt me and another guy nearby had infringed on his oceanfront property.

The boats were tricky to paint because the scale was so small – this was the first time I’d painted a seascape with various boats on a small canvas. I realized I had to pay more attention to giving the impression of details with singular brush strokes, almost dots in some places. The other challenge with boats, maybe it’s just in this particular bay, but the vast majority of them are white, the entire boat, not just the sails.

Overall this was a successful study and I’m looking forward to future compositions, both in plein air and studio refinements. There are also some great hues to work with in the sky, water, and the backdrop of green forests and islands. What’s not to like?

#artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #painting #art #abplanalp #austinartists #atxartist #atxart #cascobay #portlandmaine #landscapesmaine #pleinair #maineart #sailing

by Categories: Landscapes, plein air, SeascapesTags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Coastal Plein Air

I’ve been traveling a bit this summer and managed to get in some plein air work! At first it was mostly drawings of coastal scenes – lots and lots of boats and beautiful coastline. But lately I’ve managed to get in some solid time with the paints and I’m working a few pieces in parallel.

I still need to return to a few of the plein air locations before I can finish with studio refinement. One basic change I’ve tried with the recent plein air compositions is essentially simplifying the focal areas and zooming in so there’s less to tackle. That’s been hard for me because I typically want to capture as much of the landscape view as possible in any given composition because it’s so damn beautiful.

Next projects will be some very photogenic coastal lighthouses. I’ve done a few practice sketches to get a feel for how I want to approach the works and not self-inflict panic during the speedy reality of painting on site. What’s really apparent, at least in my drawings, is that the lighthouse is going to be a piece of cake – it’s the rocky seaside that might well drive me insane. But I believe if I keep it “fast and loose” and focus on the lighthouse, the rocks will be simplified in a supporting role.

Hopefully I’ll be able to post a couple of completed pieces in the coming week.

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Keep Those Pencils Sharp

Central Coast – Morro Bay | 9 x 12” | Colored Pencil on Paper

A few months ago we took a trip to indulge in wines of Paso Robles, California. This is a beautiful area, a little hard to get to, and the wine is fantastic. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no wine snob… my palette is worth a $40 bottle of wine at best. However, over the years we’ve done a lot of travel around the world and there is no better way to find wines you like than to be in the actual region and explore. Again, we tend not to go to places for the purpose of doing wine tastings, but what else are you going to have with dinner?

We took a beautiful drive from Paso Robles, CA to Morro Bay. Along the way we came across this stunning view, giving a first glance of the ocean as we wound through the hills. As you can see from the reference photo, it’s beautiful, but as an artist you see a whole lotta green! 

I chose to do this piece in colored pencil instead of oil paint for two reasons. First, I’ve recently started experimenting with colored pencils and the investment in a new pencil set needed some return. Secondly, it gets brutally hot in my upstairs studio during the summer, so having the pencils setup downstairs is an easy way to get my creative fix for the day if I don’t feel like running the AC for 3 hours in the middle of the afternoon. Pragmatism, go figure. 

I’ve done a few practice sessions with colored pencils after taking a workshop from Jenny Granberry, who is a great artist and instructor, a rare combination. This piece was a challenge and intended as a massive practice exercise with the goal of something “completed” in the end. This composition was a challenge for reasons beyond my lack of colored pencil experience. First, I can’t remember the last time I’d done a drawing-based landscape, and secondly, the greens! 

What I find the most interesting part of this piece is the fact that I worked from the top down (far to near), and I don’t know about you, but I can definitely see that the bottom part of the drawing is notably better than the top. I can hear Jenny now… keep your pencils sharp and go slow. I hear you Jenny, I hear you, it just took half a page to get there. 

As to the greens, I focused on blending variations of blues in the more distant hills, segueing to stronger yellow in the foreground. I wasn’t excited about the final look initially, as it lacked warmth from the sun, so I drank some wine to work up some liquid courage to grab an orange/red pencil to add an overlay to the foreground hills. Unlike oil painting, you can’t just wipe off pencil – true, it can be erased, but then you’re compromising the “tooth” of the paper, and at some point I hope to be good enough that something like that matters. 

In the end, Central Coast – Morro Bay was a great learning experience and provided a wealth of knowledge through trial and error. I also think I’ll return to this subject matter in landscape perspective for a larger oil painting. 

Thanks for reading!

by Categories: colored pencil, Drawings, LandscapesTags: , , , , , , , 2 Comments

“ABUNDANCE” Group Show at Art for the People Gallery

Art for the People Gallery in Austin Tx, is a showcase for 100 local artists.

Art for the People Gallery in Austin has included 3 of my compositions in their Summer group show “ABUNDANCE”, which runs July 2nd through August 26th, 2022. I’m thrilled to be a part of this talented group of artists! If you’re interested in original artwork by Austin artists, check out AFTPG either in person in Austin or browse their online store. 


The following paintings are part of the show (links lead to previous blog posts about these compositions):

Sniffer | 16 x 20″ | Oil on Canvas Board

Dog Tired | 16 x 12″ | Oil on Canvas Board

  Shaken | 8 x 10″ | Oil on Board

Thanks for reading!

#artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #painting #art #abplanalp #austinartists #atxartist #atxart #atxlife #sedona #pleinairaustin #artforthepeoplegallery #aftpg #rescuedogs #bestfriends #dogsofinstagram #dogsofinsta #dogstagram #petsofinstagram #contemporaryart #fosteringsaveslives #dogsofig #adoptme #takemehome #austinpetsalive #mutts #muttsofinstagram #snouts #wetnoses #blacklabs #labradorretrievers #martinigin #monkey47 #martinipainting

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