Autumn Afternoon

Autumn Afternoon
Acrylic on gessobord
8”x10”
Chris Breier © 2017

We're heading into Autumn which is one of my favorite seasons. The saturated colors and the longer shadows make for more dramatic landscapes. I sometimes feel as though the colors in my painting are exaggerated but some of the colors found in nature are even brighter. On occasion I'll be walking through the woods and I'll stumble upon a scene that seems like magic- in this scene it was the saturated yellow greens of grass and the long shadows that stopped me in my tracks.

Buffalo Theatre District in Autumn

Buffalo Theatre District in Autumn
Acrylic on gessobord
10" x 8"
Chris Breier © 2017

Last fall I had an afternoon off from work and I spent the day walking around downtown Buffalo looking for subject matter to paint. I turned the day into a photo expedition, it's generally easier to paint city scenes in the studio. It would be impossible to set up my easel in the middle of the street to capture this perspective. The warm colors from the foliage add some much needed warm contrasts to the cool shadows created by the buildings.

Red Maple

Red Maple
Watercolor and ink on paper
8"x10"
Chris Breier © 2016

I was taking a stroll through the woods this past fall and most of the foliage was various shades of yellow and orange, but when I turned the corner I was confronted with this bright red maple tree–the color was extraordinary. I took a couple of reference photographs to paint from and I played around with different compositions. I settled on positioning the path so it would curve around the trees in the foreground and lead right to the red maple tree. Below are some photographs of it at various stages of completion. The original painting is for sale.

Wooded Path

Wooded Path
Watercolor on paper
5”x7”
Chris Breier © 2016

The original painting is for sale. While reviewing my paintings I realized that I spend a lot of time walking through the woods. I was thinking about what made me take the reference photo for this painting, it was the way the light was illuminating the green foliage. The way the light passes through the leaves makes the green appear brighter than if it was just reflected off the tops of the leaves. It reminds me of how light passing through a transparent stain glass window creates saturated colors.

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.

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.

Palm Trees (SOLD)

I visit the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens on occasion to enjoy the tropical environment. During the winter the lush foliage is a pleasure to paint when the landscape outside is so desolate. The Palm dome is the large dome in the center of the greenhouse, at the front entrance. According to their website, it was the third largest public greenhouse in the US when it was first built in 1900.