Tag: landscape

SHORE ROAD | 9 x 12″ | Oil on Canvas Board

SHORE ROAD is a short but beautiful ride along the Atlantic Coast in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. A drive along its curvy asphalt reveals breathtaking ocean views, wooded trailheads, idyllic sea glass hunting coves, farms (yes, farms!), ice cream shops, and Portland Head Light, Maine’s oldest and most photographed lighthouse. And when you’re not sucked in looking at what’s on either side of the road, one can simply enjoy the road ahead and wonder what surprises are around the next curve.

This is actually a preliminary painting that I wanted to do prior to tackling a much larger version, probably 20×30″. I opted to exclude things like the sidewalk and telephone poles, which while they don’t dominate the landscape, would have made the composition too cramped. I also didn’t want to distract from the focal point, which is the sunlit curve and surrounding trees. I think the larger version will incorporate more detail in terms of foliage along the roadway, but otherwise it should look very similar.

I also wanted there to be a very high value contrast using the sunlight that’s getting through the trees. I’ve come to learn that I don’t push the darks as much as they should be on the first go, but lately it’s come more naturally and I haven’t had to think about it so much… it’s just the way I paint now. SHORE ROAD also delves into an updated palette I’ve been using for landscapes, most notably working on fewer saturated hues, and more loose brush strokes.

Stay tuned for the larger version later this winter!

#austinart #artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #abplanalp #austinartists #atxart #atxartist #atxlife #paintings #maine #capeelizabeth #atlantic ​#portlandheadlight #landscapes #ocean #shoreroad

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New Artwork! Pennybacker Bridge at Kerbey Lane

PENNYBACKER BRIDGE | 24 x 18” | Oil on Board

One of the most iconic landscapes of Austin is the Pennybacker Bridge, as viewed from the overlook near Courtyard Drive, which includes the pristine Austin Country Club golf course, Lake Austin, the quintessential rolling hills of central Texas, and lastly the Austin skyline. Instagram thirsty “influencers” (still not entirely sure what that means) and overwhelming herds of tourists have essentially overrun this viewing area, so in an act of social generosity I did a large painting of this scene so you don’t have to throw elbows with the dregs of the social media obsessed. 

Named after Percy V. Pennybacker, a Texas engineer who made a name for himself creating innovating welding techniques, apparently, the fact that the bridge happens to have the color of a nicely aged penny has nothing to do with the Pennybacker name. 

This was a bit tricky from an artistic perspective in a few ways. First, the obvious challenge of the bridge shapes and related linear perspective. Secondly, there was the need to simplify the landscape, which has a lot going on in real life. Lastly the hue of the bridge, which let’s face it, if you can’t get the coloring right on this one, there’s really no point. 

The bridge is beautiful, but its shape is a maddening challenge. I refuse to use projections or tracing for my work, which has proven helpful, albeit far from perfection, when it comes to landscapes and plein air work. I’ve noticed over the years that I can free-hand a wealth of shapes and structures that I couldn’t do previously. While it took a number of adjustments throughout this project, ultimately the bridge looks “right”. 

Next challenge was the complexity. If you’ve seen this view live, you know there’s a lot more going on in the background than what’s captured in this painting – distant skyline, bumper to bumper traffic, and Austin Country Club. The skyline was nixed because it is distant, and I didn’t want to take away from the focal point of the bridge; traffic has no appeal, and dropping cars along the highway would have been an exercise in tedium; and finally the country club was simplified to be the golf course without the greens and manicured fairways. Ultimately, I’m happy with the simplified outcome and the more serene feel it lends the landscape. 

And last but not least, the coloring of the bridge. It’s a beautiful copper hue, and when it’s drenched in late afternoon sunlight, the shadows and highlights are striking! I used a broken color technique, starting with a large pool of a mother color, then worked in variations along the way. 

PENNYBACKER BRIDGE will be making it’s debut at my current show at the original Kerbey Lane restaurant, running through end of June. Come check it out and have some coffee and pancakes while you’re there perusing the artwork. 

Thanks for reading!

#austinart #artbern #berntx #crashboomzip #abplanalp #austinartists #atxart #atxartist #atxlife #paintings  #kerbeylanecafe #coffee #eateraustin #austinbrunch #pancakes #paintingsandpancakes #pennybackerbridge #iconicaustin #austincountryclub

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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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