Dormant Tree

Dormant Tree
Watercolor (QOR watercolor on Arches Rough)
2.5” x 3.5”
Chris Breier © 2015

The original painting is available.
This tree can be found at Island Park, clinging to the edge of Ellicott Creek.

It was important to complete the sky first and then paint the tree over it. If I were to rework the sky after the tree was painted, I would risk picking up the muddy colors of the branches. The transparent nature of the watercolor makes it difficult to cover up mistakes–which can be frustrating. However, it also makes you a better painter because you learn to plan ahead and figure out more efficient strategies for layering a painting.

This is the last of the Artist Trading Card paintings, I'm returning to regular size. You may be interested in my other watercolor paintings.

Bridge

Bridge
Watercolor
2.5” x 3.5”
Chris Breier © 2015

Bid on the original painting.
This is the bridge that crosses Ellicott Creek, next to Glen Park. In the warm summer months kids like to fish along the edges of the creek, but this was a school day and it was too cold outside to play hooky-so there's no fisherman in this painting.

The bridge was the tricky part, I wanted to imply the detail of the stone work and concrete without overworking it. I emphasized the abstract quality of the shadows and the vegetation along the edge of the creek.

Island Park Entrance

Island Park Entrance
Watercolor 2.5” x 3.5”
Chris Breier © 2015

The original painting is available.

It was the reflection of the water that first attracted me to this scene. I like the contrast of the dark shadows with the bright white cloud reflections in the water. You may recognize the red building in the background from a previous painting, which is a hardware store.

October Walk

October Walk
Watercolor 2.5” x 3.5”
Chris Breier © 2015

The original painting is available, click here to bid in the auction.

I was surprised by the amount of depth that I captured in this tiny painting. After analyzing it, I realized that it employs numerous techniques for creating the illusion of space. The sidewalk, shadows, street, and phone lines all converge to a point as they recede into space; this is a common technique known as perspective drawing. Another method for creating the illusion of depth is to make the objects in the distance smaller than the ones in the foreground, which is how I handled the trees.

This painting also made me think about how it's tempting to remove power lines and signs from paintings, but sometimes they can be used to enliven a composition. Here they converge with the shadow of the phone pole to create an interesting zigzag.

Island Park, Late October

Island Park, Late October

Qor Watercolor on Arches Rough

2.5" x 3.5"

Chris Breier © 2015

The original painting is available

I took the picture for this painting on an unusually warm day in October. I spent the entire afternoon at my favorite parks taking reference photos for paintings. I merged many of the complex shapes into a dark purple mass instead of painting every detail of the trees and underbrush. This is especially important with small paintings because putting in all of the details would require a very tiny brush and a magnifying glass! My favorite part is the bank of trees on the left, there's a bit or orange beneath the purple and that gives them more depth.

You might be interested in my other Artist Trading Cards or my other watercolor paintings.

Church on Milton Street

Church on Milton Street

2.5" x 3.5"

Watercolor on paper

Chris Breier © 2015

The original painting is available.

This is a church that I have often admired on my frequent walks through the neighborhood. I like the architecture, especially the bell tower. I'm really happy with the way the sky turned out. The Indian Yellow from the bell tower spread into the sky area making the clouds appear as though they are illuminated by the late afternoon sun.

I kept the bell tower simple; the dark shadows of the windows that are the only details that I added to it. There are a few faint pencil lines from the initial sketch that show through. I'm always reminding myself to go heavier on the line drawing because I like the look of the pencil marks in a watercolor. It's also another way to "cheat" and put in a few details that would be difficult to accomplish with a brush.

I used QOR watercolors on Aches Rough watercolor paper.

Red Building on Ellicott Creek

Red Building on Ellicott Creek
QOR Watercolor on Arches Rough
2.5”x3.5”
Chris Breier © 2015

I completed a series of Artists Trading Cards in watercolor. Each painting is the size of a baseball card–2.5”x3.5”. I worked on these over the holidays as a way of taking a break from larger paintings that take more than one session to complete.

It’s also important to create variety in the studio by working in different mediums and formats just to keep things interesting and to stretch my abilities.
 

Grand Island Bridge

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The challenge of this painting was to simplify the complexity of the bridges. I accomplished this by merging similar shapes and by eliminating the minor details. There are two bridges; one is Northbound and the other is Southbound. They are much taller than they appear in this mini painting! That narrow strip of light blue is the Niagara River.

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Guitar on a Bed

Guitar on a Bed
2.5”x3.5”
Chris Breier © 2014

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These mini paintings are fun to paint but sometimes they can take longer than expected because it's difficult to work at such a small scale. I was interested in conveying the late afternoon sunlight coming in through the window and how it makes the colors in the guitar standout.

Golf Course

“Golf Course”
Acrylic on paper
3.5” x 2.5”
Chris Breier© 2013

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My favorite walking path is located next to a golf course. What interested me was the large cloud formation and the way that the late afternoon sunlight was hitting it.

I painted this one a little thicker and with bolder brushstrokes.

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Lake Street Elmira NY

“Lake Street, Elmira NY”
Acrylic on paper
2.5” x 3.5”
Chris Breier 2013©

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My goal when I work on a painting is to try something new and learn from it. With this painting I used unbleached titanium for my white instead of the regular titanium white. Unbleached titanium is an off white (it's sometimes called Buff Titanium, it depends upon the manufacturer). The off white color of the unbleached titanium adds a warmth to the lighter colors and highlights. I also used cool colors in the shadows to contrast the warm tones of the sunlit areas.

I didn’t know what this building was when I took the reference photo for this painting but with a little research I found out that it’s the Lake Street Presbyterian Church.

Rockwell Museum

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The Rockwell Museum is located in Corning New York. The art collection is focused upon Western and Native American Art. The special exhibitions that I've seen there include Ansel Adams and Andy Warhol. The building is the old City Hall building that was built in 1893 and was designed by A.J. Warner.

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Seneca Lake

Seneca Lake
Acrylic on paper
3.5"x2.5"
©Chris Breier 2013

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This was fun to paint because of the colorful reflections in the water. There’s enough contrast between the highlights of the boat and the dark greens of the trees that it makes the water look shiny and reflective.

There are some industrial buildings in the background, I’m not sure what those are used for but there’s a boat dock in front of them. The red and blue sails of the boats add some contrast to the duller colors of the buildings.

I took a number of pictures of this building and a few of them had boring compositions. I don’t like it when there’s a horizon line exactly in the middle of the painting. It’s better to divide the space up into unequal parts. The rule of thirds is commonly referred but I think it’s better to aim for asymmetry of any kind.

Greg Alberts' book The Simple Secret to Better Painting covers this concept in great detail. The secret is to never make two intervals the same. While this may sound simple the author covers how it applies every aspect of painting. I have used these principles to find and correct weak areas in my paintings.

Letchworth State Park (SOLD)

Letchworth State Park
Acrylic on paper 3.5"x2.5"
©Chris Breier 2013

I found this scene while hiking along a trail at Letchworth State Park. Nature images have very few well defined shapes and edges, it’s mostly a jumble of color with very few solid objects to delineate. This type of image requires a more impressionistic approach which can be very enjoyable.

I especially like the oranges and reds in the foreground and how they play off of the blue-green background. This was taken in late afternoon so the sunlight created highlights on the right side of the trees and long shadows on the left side. The boulder is a nice touch because it adds some variety and depth to the foreground.

Running shoes

Running Shoes
Acrylic on paper
3.5" x 2.5"
Chris Breier ©2013

These are my running shoes on a hardwood floor. The background was kind of tricky to paint. I've been painting interior scenes and the colors in the reflections of wood floors are sometimes surprising. The key to painting any representational subject matter is to paint the colors as you actually see them instead of making assumptions.

The colors of wood flooring are usually warm colors like browns and oranges but the highlights from the windows and the reflected light from objects in the room can change the color of the flooring. The section at the top of the painting is actually a gray and blue runner rug, but the rest of the gray below that is the reflection from an off white wall. 

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Watkins Glen (Part 2)

The reference photograph for this painting is extremely busy and complex, there are so many masts and shapes from all of the boats in the harbor it would be tedious to paint it all.

I gave myself the challenge to create the impression of the harbor but without getting too bogged down in the details. I think it works, I like how my mind gets to fill in some of the blanks. It's strange how early in the painting process that the mind starts too read just a few brushstrokes as a landscape.

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Books, water and remote

Books, water and remote
Acrylic on paper
3.5" x 2.5"
Chris Breier ©2013

This is a variation on the same theme as the previous painting. It's a similar setup but from another angle. This one features a remote control on the left. I normally don't paint electronic gadgets but I like the extra oomph that the bright green power button creates, it plays off the orange in the wood table. I believe that remote was for the DVD player but it stopped working shortly after I created this painting.

Is the glass 3/4 empty or 1/4 full?

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Books and water

Books and water
Acrylic on paper
3.5" x 2.5"
Chris Breier ©2013

I found this still life already set up for me in my living room. It was late afternoon when the sunlight takes on that golden glow, sometimes this is referred to as "Golden Hour."

Creating the illusion of glass was enjoyable. The complicated abstract patterns that the reflections create a nice challenge to paint. The dust jacket on the book was another interesting element to paint. There's the impression that there's text printed on there without actually having to paint letters (it's the back cover that contains endorsements). There's a second book underneath but it's not as visible because the one edge is obscured by the shadow.

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Chestnut Ridge Park II

"Chestnut Ridge Park II"
Acrylic on Paper
2.5" x 3.5

Today's painting is another scene from Chestnut Ridge Park in Orchard Park, New York. There are numerous trails in the park for hiking. I enjoy hiking along the streams and this one features a few miniature waterfalls.

My favorite part of this painting is the water in the foreground, it looks transparent and reflective. I get the impression that there's rocks and leaves below the surface. It's real easy to overwork the detail and reflections in water but I think I managed to keep it simple.

Trees and nature scenes in general are tough to paint because there is just so much detail. The key is to just paint the basic shapes and disregard the mundane details.

The painting is in the Artist Trading Card format- it's the same size as a baseball trading card. These are fun and affordable way to collect original art!

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Main Street Williamsville (SOLD)

"Main Street Williamsville at dusk"
Acrylic on paper, 3.5"x2.5"
©cbreier 2013

I normally don't paint street scenes but dusk has a way of dramatizing everyday scenes through light and color.

The darks of the trees were painted first, then I defined the shapes of the leaves by painting the negative sky shapes around it with opaque paint. Some of the more brilliant colors were applied as transparent glazes.

Many artists complain that acrylics dry too quickly but I find quick drying times allow me to add many layers of color in a short amount of time.

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