water – Art Bern

“Emergent”: A Brushes With Cancer Collaboration

Oil on Canvas | 40” x 30”

I’ve been working on a very exciting piece in a program called Brushes With Cancer, which “provides psycho-social support to those touched by cancer to improve the quality of life for cancer patients, their family and loved ones, through a unique art experience.”

Emergent is a collaboration with JoAnn Sackett, another participant in the BWC program, who is a cancer survivor and the inspiration for the piece. You can learn more about our pairing and the creation of this piece at our page on the Brushes With Cancer Austin event site.

It’s an honor to be involved with Brushes With Cancer and their Austin 2020 program. I hope you enjoy learning about their mission and enjoy the artwork in the links provided in this post.

October 11, 2020 by Bern Categories: Flowers, Landscapes, still lifeTags: art, Brushes with cancer, japanese, lily pond, lotus flower, painting, water 1 Comment

Diving Whale Tail

Stuck with the whale theme for this next project. This is a diving whale based loosely on a reference photo I found on-line. Also bought some Payne’s Gray to work on a more balanced value gradation on this piece that is dominated by the tail.

I think this is pretty close to done, but I don’t like the matte finish, so I’m going to do a final glaze layer in hopes of giving the entire piece a wet look.

This is a diptych, each panel measures 9″ x 12″. I was pretty specific with the panel choice so as to get good proportions for the tail. In fact, I think the painting looks better than it really is b/c of the diptych layout. Curious what others think, too.

Technical Details:

2 gesso panel boards, 9″x12″ each
Brushes – 2 flats (sizes 2 and 4), 1 round (size 4)
Tail palette – Payne’s Gray, Titanium White, and variations of Black and Ultramarine Blue
Ocean – Ultramarine Blue + variations of Pthalo Blue, Pthalo Green, and Titanium White.
Water dripping off tail – Titanium White + Naples Yellow + Paynes Gray + Ultramarine Blue

Water running off tail and updates to ocean near tail with ripples.

October 26, 2015 by Bern Categories: painting projects, WhalesTags: art, impasto, ocean, oil painting, painting, water, whale, whale tail 1 Comment

Giverny – There’s no panic in painting!

Took another stab at Giverny. Added the remaining foliage in the lower left bank, added the wooden posts, and took yet another whack at the water.

This water is looking much better than past efforts. Did some research and practice sessions to work on the technique. Pretty sure this will be easier the next time I take on moving water because it will be from a clean slate, but correcting/updating this piece is tricky. Regardless, I stuck with my “don’t panic, there’s no panic in painting” mantra and pressed forward. I’m happy with the progress, but the water will have a couple more sessions of work. However, for the first time, I feel like the basic structure and feel is in place. Yeah, some of the greens are too saturated, and the gray sky reflection (the white-ish part in the center) isn’t working yet, but it’s a huge stride past where I’d been stuck before. Feel like I’ve pushed past a plateau and can build from this. That said, anyone with helpful advice is more than welcome to offer; as you can tell from past posts on this project, I could use the help.

August 17, 2015August 17, 2015 by Bern Categories: painting projectsTags: art, Giverny, impasto, paint, painting, reflections, water Leave a comment

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