Through the Trees

Through the Trees
Acrylic on gessobord
8"x10"
Chris Breier © 2017

I was walking around Island Park at dusk and I looked up and I noticed I could see the steeple from Saints Paul & Peter Church on Main street. Normally it's not visible when the leaves are on the trees but this was in fall. I never thought to paint the church from this vantage point. I quickly framed the steeple between the two center branches of the tree. I later used the photo references to complete the painting in my studio. This painting is available.

November Tree

Acrylic on paper
8”x10”
Chris Breier © 2016

The original painting is for sale. Another tree from the same location as yesterday–the park behind the botanical gardens. I used dark purples a small amount of orange on the trunk of the tree. I also used the orange to indicate some of the leaves that were still clinging to the branches.

Waiting for Winter

Waiting for Winter

5”x7”

Ink and watercolor on paper

Chris Breier © 2016

The original painting is for sale. Winter came late this year, November and December were mostly snowless which allowed me to get outdoors to take some photos to work from. This tree can be found at the park behind the erie county botanical gardens.

Trees

Trees

Acrylic on wood panel

8”x10”

Chris Breier © 2016

The original painting is available. For this painting I focused upon the abstract qualities of the tree. I used thin washes of acrylics on the background to create a watercolor effect and to help make the branches stand out. What makes thems really “pop” though are the thin highlights along the edges.

Woods

Woods

Acrylic on wood panel

8”x10”

Chris Breier © 2016

The original painting is available. I created the shapes of the trees by the light blue of the sky around the branches. For the color scheme I played the blue purples off the greens and oranges of the forest floor. I used washes of acrylic paint in the beginning and then switched to thicker opaque acrylic towards the end.

Olmstead Vista

Olmstead Vista
Watercolor and gouache on paper
5”x7”
Chris Breier © 2016

The original painting is for sale. The park surrounding the Botanical Gardens, which includes a small lake, was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. The weather was warmer than usual that day, but the cold winds made it clear that winter was just around the corner.

Lakeside

Lakeside
Watercolor and ink on paper
5”x7”
Chris Breier © 2016

The original painting is for sale. Can you spot the picnic table in this painting? At first I wasn’t going to include it but I realized that it could be used to create a sense of scale–it can be used to judge the height of the tree. I used mostly secondary colors in this painting (orange, green, and purple). The warmer colors were used on the trees in the distance which works well against the dark purple shadows in the foreground. 

Trail at Walton Woods

Trail at Walton Woods
Watercolor and ink on paper
5” x 7”
Chris Breier © 2015

The original painting is for sale. Fall is a good time of year to for painting lakes, I enjoy creating the mirror like reflection of the colorful leaves on the water. I managed to work in a small touch of red on the left, it’s an effective contrast to the tuft of green foliage on the right.

Autumn Leaves

autumn leaves
Watercolor and ink on paper
5” x 7”
Chris Breier © 2015

The original painting is for sale. I took a more abstract approach with this painting of Lake Audubon, I exaggerated the colors and used a looser approach with the drawing. I enjoy listening to podcasts and music while I paint and you may recognize the title of this painting as a jazz standard.

Evergreens

Evergreens
Watercolor on paper
5” x 7”
Chris Breier © 2015

The original painting is for sale. While most of the trees have brightly colored leaves or lost their leaves at this time of year, the evergreens in this painting add a nice splash of green to the landscape. I especially like the contrast of the bare branches in the foreground with the bright greens of the grass and the evergreen trees across the lake. I also decided to make the surface of the water appear more calm than it actually was.

Sunlit Trees

Sunlit Trees
Acrylic on Gessobord
8”x10”
Chris Breier © 2015

The original painting is for sale.

I was walking around my neighborhood while the sun was setting and I noticed that the red orange glow was illuminating the tree in the background but not the one in the foreground. I thought this would make an interesting contrast in a painting. I cropped the image down so that the branches would create an abstract pattern over the entire surface of the painting.

The lighting at this time of day changes rapidly, if I had been a few minutes later the trees in the background wouldn't have had the same dramatic lighting effect. Ideas for paintings are everywhere, but they can be fleeting. That's why I try to take my camera with me as much as possible.

Yellow Leaves II

Yellow Leaves II
Acrylic on Gessobord
8”x10”
Chris Breier © 2015

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

I thought I would try another attempt at painting this scene, but this time I included a portion of the creek at the bottom of the painting. I tried the technique of painting the background first and then painting the branches over it. The idea is that the background will look like it’s painted spontaneously because I won't have to avoid going around the branches. The problem is that this only works if you don’t make adjustments to the background after the branches and the leaves are painted, which rarely happens.