Southern California landscape is Bert Ernie’s very first photorealist painting; this is where it all started. Bert was never happy to just paint what he saw – he would modify the source material to suit his needs. The idea from the very beginning of his painting ‘career’ was to take visually and conceptually interesting source material and comment on them using the genre of photorealism.
That idea of being a commentator is made quite clear. Bert painted himself in there, holding up a microphone as he called the action.
BMX is a subject Bert has painted many times. He plans to return to it one day.
Dimensions: 61x91cm
Painted: 1999
Materials: Acrylic on canvas board
Private collection
The story behind Southern California landscape
Bert’s first photorealist painting’s source photo was taken from Snap, an American BMX magazine. He realised that a grid would enable a detailed drawing to be made; so he took the magazine pages, stuck them together and drew a grid over the top with a biro.
The picture features two riders prominently – Christophe LeVeque and John Purse, who at the time was dominating the sport of BMX. This race was called the So. Cal. Nationals and this became the basis for the title of the painting – ‘Southern California landscape’.
There was a smaller image on the left which was overlayed onto the main image, which was a problem. Bert’s solution was to use whiteout to cover it and interpret how the shadows would form. Just as Bert was finishing the painting, he needed reassurance that he had got it right. So Bert e-mailed the magazine, explained his situation, and they e-mailed the original image back. Bert was thankfully spot on!
Source image of realism painting Southern California landscape
