Niawanda Park

The original painting is for sale.

I have noticed that many of my painting ideas are found while I'm taking a walk, this painting is no exception. It's a good way to exercise and to be creative at the same time, although if I stop to take pictures too often then it's not exercise.

Niawanda Park has a nice walking path that follows the Niagara River, which is left of the trees but not visible in the painting. I began the painting with a pencil drawing and then I used thin washes of acrylic paint to lay down the basic colors. I used thicker paint in certain areas such as the trees and grass.

Niagara River (SOLD)

Niagara River
5”x7” acrylic on Gessobord

I often walk along the Niagara River and on this occasion I took a few reference photos to work from. I found this stretch of the river to be interesting because I could use the tree to break up the space of the painting. The small structure in the distance is an old swing bridge that used to swivel around to allow large boats to pass by. The reference photo for this painting was taken during a summer when we had a minor drought and the grass was dried out. The warm colors of the grass created a nice contrast with the water.

iPad Drawing of Niagara River

Niagara River. Drawn with Adobe Ideas.  © Chris Breier  2012

The riverwalk is a nice place to spend a day off from work! I drew this from a park bench that was strategically located underneath a tree.

One side note: Polarized sunglasses do not work well with an iPad. I turned it on and the screen was completely black–I thought I had forgot to charge it. Then I realized that the glass on the iPad must also be polarized. (If you look through two polarized pieces of glass and rotate them, they will appear to darken). I've experienced the same problem with the displays on digital cameras.



Below is a Google map of the location where I drew this.

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