Stylistically, Ernie Barnes paintings emerge out of the milieu of "The Ashcan School" of American art as practiced early in the 20th century. With a loyalty to themes reflecting everyday life, Barnes is aligned with Edward Hopper, George Bellows and Thomas Hart Benton. But with elongation and distortion, Barnes moves beyond the athletics of this period to mannerism, as practiced during the 16th century Italian Renaissance. Deemed a master of the "analyzed moment" of an action, each painting seems to be fueled by a desire to freeze-frame an emotion.