Yachts and Mills

Yachts and Mills
Acrylic on gessobord 3/4" thick (cradled)
16"x20"
Chris Breier © 2017

I happened to stumble upon this boatyard when I was walking around the Buffalo waterfront. The buildings in the background are part of General Mills which is still active. Depending on which way the wind is blowing, I can often smell the aroma of Cheerios when I walk around the city on my lunch break. I assume they also make the chocolate variety because the neighborhood occasionally smells like brownies.



The large shadow on the left side of the building is from a billboard and the horizontal shadow below it is the shadow from the Skyway. I was going to eliminate it, but it's a subtle way to incorporate the Skyway into the painting. It's somewhat of an icon in the city and you can tell when the winter weather is especially severe because it closes down.

I like how this painting captures Buffalo's industrial history and the recreational aspsect of being located on the Great Lakes.

The gessobord is 3/4" thick with the edges
left unpainted. It has a wire attached
to the back so it's ready to hang.

Boat Hulls

Boat Hulls
Acrylic on gessobord 3/4" thick (cradled)
16"x20"
Chris Breier © 2017

I had spent the evening taking pictures of the Buffalo waterfront when I spotted these sailboats at a local boatyard. The sun was setting so I had to hurry before the boats disappeared into the shadows. I kept snapping pictures but I couldn't get anything that I liked. I was close to running out of daylight when I had the idea to find a different vantage point, so I squatted down and took a few pictures. Bingo! All of the distractions on the ground were out of sight, and the blue sky provided a simplified
background.



Most of my paintings are on 1/8" flat panels but for this painting I used a "cradled" panel that's 3/4" thick. I left the edges natural. There's a wire on the back so it can be hung without a frame. If you prefer a frame, the Ampersand Float Frame is a simple solution and you can do it yourself, or you can take it to a picture framer. Here are the instructions for how to install the float frame.

Most of my paintings are on 1/8" flat panels
but for this painting I used a "cradled" panel
that's 3/4" thick. I left the edges unpainted.
There's a wire on the back so it's ready to hang!

Boatyard on Niagara

Boatyard on Niagara

Watercolor on paper

8”x10”

Chris Breier © 2016

The original painting is for sale. For this painting I used a limited palette of ultramarine blue and burnt sienna, although I used a small amounts of other colors towards the end. I like working in a limited palette because it simplifies the color choices and I can focus more on the values.

Seagull

Seagull

Watercolor on paper

8”x10”

Chris Breier © 2016

The original painting is for sale. This seagull was giving me the “evil eye” when I was taking pictures at a boatyard in Wilson NY. I figured I’d paint his portrait. The background was a mishmash of odd boat parts and buildings so I handled in an abstract manner to make it less distracting. I used some gouache to paint the textures on the wood piling.

Yacht Club

Yacht Club
5”x7” acrylic on gessobord
Chris Breier © 2015

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

I’ve painted boats on the water numerous times so I thought I would shake things up and paint a few yachts that are in storage at a local boatyard. It’s fun to walk around and see them close up. The hulls are normally hidden underwater so painting them on land allowed me to paint the shapes of the rudder and centerboard.

In case you’re wondering, the centerboard is the shape was on the bottom of the hull. I had to Google “yacht anatomy” to figure what it was called, I know nothing about boats.

Yachts

8” x 10”
Watercolor (Qor watercolor on Arches rough)
Chris Breier © 2015

The original painting is available.
I took the reference photographs for this painting late in the day when the shadows were long and the sunlight was warm in color. What caught my attention was the way that the sun illuminated the grass and how I could use the green grass to contrast with the blue/purples. The long shadows add some directional lines in the painting and I used dry brushing to emphasize the texture of the gravel parking lot. I have painted this boatyard before, it's located near the grain elevators and the Skyway-which can be seen in the background.