Sunset at Buffalo Harbor

Acrylic on Gessobord
8" x 10"
Chris Breier © 2017

I visited the Buffalo Harbor on a Sunday evening with my brother, it's a great place to take a walk and relax. The weather was great and the sun was close to the horizon. I brought my camera so that I could take reference photos to work from in my studio. I was looking for a scene that would include the boats and the reflection of the sun in the water.

Acrylic Works 4

My painting "Early Spring" is on the back cover of Acrylicworks 4

The theme of AcrylicWorks 4 is "color" and there are many fine examples of a variety of approaches of using color in an acrylic painting found in this book. I was thrilled to see my painting reproduced in multiple locations throughout the book, including on the back cover–It's an honor to have my painting highlighted in such prominent locations. There are 127 paintings in this book which are grouped into five categories: Landscapes and Scenes, Portraits and People, Still Lifes and More, Abstractions, Animals.

In the caption for "Early Spring" I discuss how I use acrylics in a transparent manner similar to watercolor and how I also take advantage of the thicker more opaque properties of acrylics. When acrylic paint is used transparently it takes on more saturated and brilliant appearance that's similar to watercolor. When used in an opaque and thick manner, it can be used to cover over previous brushstrokes or to fix mistakes. 

QOR Watercolor Sample

I requested a sample from Golden for their new QOR watercolors so that I could have some fun and make a painting with them. The sample kit contains the 6 colors listed below and a small square sheet of watercolor paper to try them out on.

Pine Cone Drawing

"Pine cone" Chris Breier © 2012

Prints and Greeting cards of this are available.

This was drawn with Adobe Ideas on an iPad. It started out as a "simple sketch" but I then I became engrossed in the coloring of it. 

Paint tube wringer

With the cost of professional acrylic paint as high as $448 per gallon*, any product that allows you to squeeze extra paint from each tube is worth buying. I purchased a plastic tube wringer a few years ago and I have found that it definitely increases the amount of paint that can be squeezed out of each tube.

The manufacturer claims that it's as much as a third more volume from each tube. I'm not sure if it's that much, but if you use it on every tube of paint it will pay for itself in a short amount of time. It also works on other tube products such as toothpaste, frosting, and caulk. I recommend buying a separate wringer for food items.

Gas Pump Drawing

"Diesel"  © Chris Breier 2012
Drawn with traditional pen and ink. Colored with Adobe Ideas and Illustrator.

THE SKETCH

I brought my sketchbook along with me to the mechanic so that I would have something to do while my car was being repaired. Once I handed over my keys, I rushed outside to look for interesting subject matter. I started a number of sketches before I settled on this diesel gas pump at vacant gas station near the Buffalo Niagara International Airport. This was a challenging location to work in as there were airplanes flying overhead and cars racing by.

iPad portrait of Debra Morgan from Dexter (Jennifer Carpenter)

 If you like this you may be interested in more of my iPad Art

iPad Portrait of Bryan Cranston from Breaking Bad

Time lapse video of iPad portrait of Bryan Crantson being drawn. The finished portrait is below.

 

The preliminary drawing, focal points and compositional choices

I recently completed an iPad portrait of Jennifer Carpenter, who plays Debra Morgan on Dexter and I was somewhat disappointed with it. The finished portrait looked too stiff. I spent too much time on the details and I felt that the next portrait should be more expressionistic and fun.

Working from the general to the specific is a painting technique that I use where I start with the basic shapes and progressively refine the details as I go. Painting the general shapes quickly eliminates the white of the canvas and gives me something to react to. I can then make judgements about the proportions, colors and composition. If you watch the time lapse YouTube video, you'll notice that I make a major correction in the very beginning, where I actually move the drawing over to the right so that his head wouldn't be in the center of the frame. The first rule of composition is to avoid centering the subject matter, because that's boring!

Blue Caboose

Acrylic on paper
8"x10" © 2012
I completed this right before the Western New York Railway Historical Society started restoring it. Just this morning it received a coat of glossy fire engine red paint. Now I'm tempted to paint a red version...