Before the Falls

Before the Falls
Acrylic on gessobord
8”x10”
Chris Breier © 2017

During the summer I often wake up early to take a walk over to Island Park to visit the library, or buy fresh tomatoes, sweet corn, and blueberries at the farmers market. I enjoy walking early in the morning, especially on a warm and sunny day. The birds are active and shops are beginning to open. The sunlight is at a dramatic angle, and it's warm but not uncomfortably hot. I often bring my camera with me to capture some of these scenes so that I can use them as reference material for paintings.

This vantage point is of Ellicott Creek as seen from the only bridge to the island. The creek flows around the island and then passes underneath Main street before going over Glen Falls.

A House in the Woods

 

A House in the Woods
Acrylic on Gessobord
8”x10”
Chris Breier © 2017

I spotted this view of a white home on the shores of Ellicott Creek and it gave me the impression that it’s a lone house in the wilderness. In reality, it’s part of a suburban neighborhood but working on this painting made me think about what it would be like to live in the woods in the middle of nowhere with a creek in the backyard. I would survive, as long as there was enough room for a painting studio… and a garden.

Ellicott Creek at Dusk

Ellicott Creek at Dusk
Acrylic on Gessobord
8”x10”
Chris Breier © 2017

What attracted me to painting this scene was the surreal mood that the woods can take on right after sunset. I wanted to capture the luminosity of the sky and water so I used acrylics in a transparent manner similar to watercolor. I know from my experience with watercolor that if I overwork the painting it can lose the brilliance that can be achieved with transparent washes, so I focused on the essence of the image and aimed to get the colors and the values correct without making too many corrections. The original painting is available.

Sunlight and Trees

Sunlight and trees
Acrylic on Gessobord
5”x7”
Chris Breier © 2017

This is another painting from the bike path. As I was walking I noticed how the sunlight was illuminating the trees so I walked into the weeds to take a few reference photos. The sunlight brought out the warm colors of the bark which works well against the blue reflections in the water. I took the time to take a number of photographs so that I could try out a number of compositions, but I used the one that positioned the creek so that it was curving off to the right as it receded into the distance. The original painting is available, bid on Sunlight and Trees in the auction.

A Walk at Ellicott Creek

A Walk at Ellicott Creek
Acrylic on Gessobord
5”x7”
Chris Breier © 2017

I enjoy taking walks near water, it’s a good way to clear my mind especially after working at computer or working on something that requires a lot of mental focus. The reference photograph for this painting was from Spring so the trees were just starting to form buds. I captured some of the light green color of the buds in the bank of trees in the background. The light value of the trees also creates a sense of depth, especially when I painted the darker tree trunks over them. Bid in the auction for A Walk at Ellicott Creek.

Early Morning At Island Park

Early Morning At Island Park
Acrylic on Raymar canvas panel
8" x 10"
Chris Breier © 2017

On this particular morning, I decided to take a walk at Island Park. The sun was up and it was the beginning of a hot summer day. There are a number of areas of the park that would make a good painting but what attracted me to this spot was how the sun changed the appearance of the water. The area in direct sun reveals the muddy color of the water and the shadow areas reflect the blue-green color of the trees in the background.

I also enjoyed painting the tree, I used a little bit of impasto on the tree trunk (impasto is when the paint is applied in a thick manner to create texture). I used daubs of various shades of green to paint the foliage.

The original painting is for sale through email $160 plus $10 shipping.

Creekview

Creekview
Watercolor on paper
8"x10"
Chris Breier © 2016

The original painting is for sale. I was walking down Main Street in Williamsville New York when I saw the scene and recognized it immediately as a watercolor painting. I lined up the handrail of the bridge so that points at the subject matter, which are the people dining inside the restaurant.

The wet into wet technique helped to create soft edges between color transitions. I also didn't want to have too many sharp edges, I only added detail to the focal point.

There is a time lapse video of me painting this on YouTube, please check it out and subscribe!

Footbridge

Footbridge

Acrylic on wood panel

8”x10”

Chris Breier © 2016

The original painting is for sale. This painting is the result of taking a walk with my brother when the sun was about to set. He rolled his eyes at me when I pulled my camera out and stopped to take pictures. I couldn’t help myself, the light was amazing!

Early Spring

Early Spring

Acrylic on wood panel

8”x10”

Chris Breier © 2016

The original painting is available. This is another painting of Amherst State Park from around the same time as the painting I posted yesterday. I managed to get a watercolor look in some areas. I like how the reflections in the stream turned out, in some areas the brown silt shows through while other areas reflect some of the blue from the sky.

The Three Amigos

The Three Amigos

Acrylic on wood panel

8”x10”

Chris Breier © 2016

The original painting is available. I photographed these three trees at Amherst State Park last Spring. These trees are along the edge of Ellicott Creek which runs through the park. I enjoyed painting the bark of the trees and I added more detail to the ones in the foreground.

Spring Leaves

Spring Leaves
Watercolor and Gouache on paper
8”x10”
Chris Breier © 2015

The original painting is for sale. This is the second painting from when I visited Amherst State Park early last Spring, the first painting can be seen here.

The leaves were just beginning to open and they were a bright yellow green, it was fun to contrast with the orange brown of the creek. I painted this with transparent watercolor and gouache.

Reflections

Reflections
Watercolor and Gouache on paper
8”x10”
Chris Breier © 2015

The original painting is for sale, click to bid in the auction.

I have painted Ellicott Creek many times, but on this occasion I was interested in capturing the reflections in the water. The colors that can be found in the water are numerous, the silvery refections are created by the color of the sky. The green colors are created by the reflections of the trees, and the parts with the least amount of reflection reveal the murky browns of the creek bed.

The majority of the painting was completed with transparent watercolor with some highlights added in with Gouache.

Amherst State Park

Amherst State Park, Early Spring
Watercolor and gouache on paper
8”x10” (on 9x12 arches rough watercolor paper)

This painting is available

I took the reference photo for this painting early this Spring when I took a short hike at Amherst State Park. The leaves weren’t out on the trees in the foreground so there was plenty of sunlight reaching the forest floor. The patches of moss was so thick in areas that it looked like bright green carpeting. A couple of people were fishing but it didn’t appear as though there were having any luck, I don’t think they minded too much because it was such a nice day to be outdoors.

Red Building on Ellicott Creek 2

Red Building on Ellicott Creek 2

Watercolor

8" x 10"
Chris Breier © 2015

The original painting is available.
You may recognize this image because I recently painted it in a smaller format. I normally don't paint an image more than once but I thought this one would be worth enlarging to an 8"x10."

It's interesting to see the differences in the style that happened because of the change in size, which one is better is probably subjective. I like them both for different reasons.

The composition had to change slightly because the aspect ratio is different; the smaller painting is more rectangular whereas this one is closer to being a square. The taller format allowed me to include more of the sky and water.

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.

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.

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.

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.