Mark Eberhard - Cincinnati Wildlife Artist

If you ever thought that artists have a leisurely life, getting up late and painting when you feel like it, then Mark Eberhard’s story will prove you wrong. Mr. Eberhard was born in Cincinnati and currently lives in Terrace Park , on the east side of Cincinnati . He received a master of Fine Arts in graphic design from Yale University . As a graphic designer, he designed promotional materials for John Ruthven, the wildlife artist. He had always been interested in art and painting and this further sparked his interest.

Mr. Eberhard strong interest in painting led him to begin working as a graphic artist by day and painter from 10 p.m.-2 a.m. each night. He picked birds as a subject matter, indulging fond childhood memories of feeding and watching the birds and consulting his grandparents’ bird guide book. He works to bring a contemporary approach to wildlife art, using graphic design principles of color and placement. Mr. Eberhard relies heavily on the computer to help him place elements of a painting to make the greatest visual impact.

By the mid-1990s, he had created enough paintings to have an art showing a local art institute. Since then, he has sold his artwork at shows around the country and has won local and national awards for his works. His paintings appear in a wildlife book, an art museum in Wisconsin and some art magazines. You can see his paintings at Row House Gallery in Milford . He continues to do graphic design work, as well as painting.

THE PHYSICAL PROCESS OF CREATING A PAINTING:

“I first start with thumbnail sketches in my sketchbook. After I have resolved the basic concept, I find the visual elements of the painting and photograph them. The photos are then scanned into the computer, where I do the design of the painting. The computer is an incredible tool for this part of the process. It allows me to change sizes, color and position of elements instantly. Once I have my final design done, I return to a more traditional process. I do the final drawings, transfer them to the canvas and apply the paint.

Discussion of Mark Eberhard’s Works

Mr. Eberhard has said, “Point, line, shape and color are the basic design elements I see in observing nature and in creating my art.”  We’d like to discuss these elements in the following works.

Beach Party

This painting was created as a submission for a national “Birds in Art” show in Wisconsin . The sand castle is a replica of the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum where the art show is held.

1)      What are some of the points and lines? (Points: birds in the air, toy duck, umbrella; Lines: where sky meets ocean, where beach meets ocean)

2)      What is your eye drawn to? How does the artist use color to call attention to certain elements in his work? (vivid pink flamingo contrasting with blue sky)

3)      How many birds do you see, real or fake? (flamingo, duck, macaws on beach towel, flying seagulls, bird on kite, seagulls on beach, pelican in right-hand corner)

4)      Once Mr. Eberhard has an idea and has made some sketches, he scans the

sketches into the computer so he can work with the design. How do you think a computer might have been useful in this painting?

5)      What is the mood of this work? Do you think the artist had fun creating it?

Macaws

This painting was inspired by a light-hearted poem about birds. Listen to the poem and see how well the artist captured its essence. (Have a student read the attached poem. It may be helpful before the reading to tell students that the poet is British and Kew is a place in the southern part of England .)

1)      What elements of the poem can you find in the painting?

2)      The artist believes it is more interesting to have a large amount of one color and smaller amounts of other colors. How does he carry this out? (lots of red, some blue and green as accents)

3)      How does your eye move in looking at this painting? (red draws your eye down to macaws)

4)      How might the computer have helped Mr. Eberhard in this painting? (shifting different elements for interesting and proper placement)

Blue Throated Macaws

This is a more serious painting by the artist.

1)      What is striking about the colors? (blue stands out, with a touch of gold on macaws as accent; great contrast between birds and orange/brown background)

2)      What does the artist do to make the design interesting? (shifts birds to the left instead of in the center; has birds looking in opposite directions; puts one in light and one in shadow)

3)      Round shapes dominate this painting. What kinds of round shapes do you see? (eyes, beaks, head, body)

The Birdwatchers

This painting also was submitted for the “Birds in Art” show. It hangs in the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Museum in Wisconsin .

A quote from the artist: “People looking up into the trees searching for birds. That image always amused me when I would see it in magazines about birdwatching. A group of people, necks bent back, binoculars pointed toward the sky.”

1)      What do you think is the tone of this painting? (light-hearted, humorous)

“In all my ‘Birds in Art’ pieces, I have tried to incorporate humor. I think we take ourselves too seriously sometimes and a little humor can be refreshing. I am very serious about the process of creating art, and humor is just one of the concepts I can use.”—Mark Eberhard

2)      What colors do you see first? (blue, then eye is drawn to green of leaves and red of man’s shirt, as well as the tan hat)

3)      There are five birds hidden in the shapes and shadows of the leaves. Can you find any of them? The birds are hummingbird, flamingo, wild turkey, seagull and cardinal. (See attached cheat sheet.)

ART LESSON

In the art drawer, there are simple, step-by-step instructions for drawing several different kinds of birds. The assignment is to select a bird to draw. Then put a humorous twist on it by placing the bird in a setting where each student likes to spend time, e.g. football stadium, beach, mall, etc. The objectives are to learn the basics of drawing a bird and to have fun in creating the art.

MATERIALS: 9 X 12 white paper, pencil for sketching, colored pencils