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.

Nature Walk

Nature Walk
Acrylic on gessobord
8”x10”
Chris Breier © 2017

I've painted this lake many times over the past few years. Anybody who follows my work should know that I get a lot of my inspiration for my paintings from taking walks in nature or near bodies of water. I enjoy the solitude and the seclusion from the stress of modern life. I believe every body should take time away from cell phones, email, social media, and work each day to daydream and think about things.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.