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
Art Bern 