A Graphic Designer Turned Fine Artist - Teresa Bernard Oil Paintings

Trading Ctrl+Z for the Art That Chose Me

My journey from graphic design to fine art hasn’t been a straight line, but it’s brought me to a place where the brush feels more like home than the keyboard ever did.

From Pixels to Oil Paint

While painting was my earliest creative language—taught and nurtured by my father, a professional fine artist—graphic design became my first professional voice. I spent years shaping visual stories through type, layout, and code. I loved the precision, the instant feedback, and the way a single keystroke could open new possibilities. Mistakes? Easily undone with a quick press of the delete key. It was a world of layers, grids, and ideas that could be endlessly revised, resized, or reshaped.

But over time, something shifted.

The screen began to feel a little too perfect—too reversible. I started craving something more tactile, more vulnerable. That’s when I picked up my paintbrush again and never looked back.

Oil painting, unlike design, doesn’t offer an “undo” button. A misplaced brushstroke means waiting for it to dry, or painting over it entirely. Sometimes, the mistake guides the piece in a new direction. It’s less controlled, more intuitive—and strangely, more human.

Echoes of Graphic Design in the Art Studio

And yet, my background as a graphic designer still whispers through my oil paintings. I find myself drawn to composition, balance, negative space. Years of arranging pixels taught me how to guide the eye—but now, I compose with pigment, light, and shadow instead. The canvas may be physical, but the design principles still apply—they just breathe differently.

In many ways, graphic design was easier. But painting is truer. It’s slower, yes—but also deeper. And while I can’t hit “undo,” I’ve found something richer in letting the process lead me, mistake and all.

I may be retired from the digital design world, but I’ve never stopped creating. This is just a new chapter—messier, more textured, and infinitely more rewarding.

Teresa Bernard, graphic designer turned fine artist