Sunlight and Trees

Sunlight and trees
Acrylic on Gessobord
5”x7”
Chris Breier © 2017

This is another painting from the bike path. As I was walking I noticed how the sunlight was illuminating the trees so I walked into the weeds to take a few reference photos. The sunlight brought out the warm colors of the bark which works well against the blue reflections in the water. I took the time to take a number of photographs so that I could try out a number of compositions, but I used the one that positioned the creek so that it was curving off to the right as it receded into the distance. The original painting is available, bid on Sunlight and Trees in the auction.

Glen Falls, Before the Rain

Glen Falls, Before the Rain
Acrylic on Gessobord
8"x10"
Chris Breier © 2016

I sketched this scene in my pocket sketchbook, and then returned a few weeks later to paint an acrylic version of it. Most of the painting was completed onsite but I finished it in my studio because it started to drizzle, water-based paints don't work so well in the rain.

Main & Cayuga

Main & Cayuga

Gouache on paper

5”x7"

Chris Breier © 2016

The original painting is for sale. I was walking home from the local farmers market when I took the reference photo for this painting. It was hot and I was carrying a backpack filled with sweet corn, tomatoes, and blueberries. What I wouldn’t do now for fresh tomatoes and sweet corn, I have to wait another 5-6 months!

This painting was done entirely with gouache which is opaque watercolor. I normally use it small amounts to add highlights to a watercolor. It’s water based and opaque like acrylic but it’s easier to achieve gradients and subtle blending effects with it. Maybe I should do more of these. What do you think? 

Williamsville Path

Williamsville Path

Watercolor and Gouache on paper

5”x7"

Chris Breier © 2016

The original painting is available. I’ve taken walks here many times, at the end of it there’s a small flower garden that includes a small tree. In the background you can see some of the surrounding homes. I couldn’t figure out why the painting didn’t look finished and then I added in some highlight details with gouache and that pulled the painting together.

Church on Milton Street

Church on Milton Street
Acrylic on Gessobord
8”x10”
Chris Breier © 2015

The original painting is for sale.

I often walk by this church when I visit the local library or the farmers market, and I’ve always admired the architecture. Lately I’ve been using watercolor techniques when I paint with acrylics. You can see some thin washes of acrylic paint in the building and the grass. I made a preliminary drawing in pencil and I like to leave some of the pencil lines showing through in the finished painting. The extra line work can be used to indicate detail, here I used it to define the shapes of the windows. (The is the Calvary Episcopal Church).

Autumn Trees, Glen Park

Glen Park, Autumn
8”x10”
Acrylic on Gessobord
Chris Breier © 2015

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

We had a couple of unusually warm days late last fall and I spent the day taking pictures outdoors. This is a view of Glen Park from across the street, where the parking lot is on Glen Avenue. What makes this painting work is the contrast between the dark tree trunks and the brilliant colors of the Autumn foliage. The sky was initially painted with a transparent wash of light blue acrylic. Towards the end of the painting I used an opaque light blue to cut back into the shapes of the trees.

Amherst State Park

Amherst State Park, Early Spring
Watercolor and gouache on paper
8”x10” (on 9x12 arches rough watercolor paper)

This painting is available

I took the reference photo for this painting early this Spring when I took a short hike at Amherst State Park. The leaves weren’t out on the trees in the foreground so there was plenty of sunlight reaching the forest floor. The patches of moss was so thick in areas that it looked like bright green carpeting. A couple of people were fishing but it didn’t appear as though there were having any luck, I don’t think they minded too much because it was such a nice day to be outdoors.

Walking the Dogs

Walking the Dogs
Watercolor on Arches Rough
8” x 10”
Chris Breier © 2015

The original painting is available.
Late one afternoon, I spotted this man walking a group of dogs and thought that this scene would provide me with a much needed change of subject matter. I waited to take the picture until he reached the point on the sidewalk where it makes the most effective composition; he’s positioned so that the right diagonal edge of the crosswalk points toward him. It’s a good compositional strategy to position shapes so that they lead the viewers eye towards the focal point. The crosswalk also breaks up what would be a boring area of flat color.

The figure and the dogs were fun to paint and I just focused on painting the light and dark patterns that define their shapes.

The Village

The Village

Watercolor
8" x 10"
Chris Breier © 2015

I recently completed a smaller version of this painting with Goldens QOR watercolor sample and I liked it enough to paint it again as a larger piece. It's not exactly the same composition because the first one was square whereas this is rectangular, which allows me to paint more of the surrounding area.

The church in the background is Saints Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church–the steeple is a very familiar Williamsville landmark and has been featured in a couple of my other paintings. Also, the white building in the front right is the same building from "The Repair Shop" watercolor painting.​

Click "Read more" below to watch the YouTube time-lapse video of this being painted.

Dormant Tree

Dormant Tree
Watercolor (QOR watercolor on Arches Rough)
2.5” x 3.5”
Chris Breier © 2015

The original painting is available.
This tree can be found at Island Park, clinging to the edge of Ellicott Creek.

It was important to complete the sky first and then paint the tree over it. If I were to rework the sky after the tree was painted, I would risk picking up the muddy colors of the branches. The transparent nature of the watercolor makes it difficult to cover up mistakes–which can be frustrating. However, it also makes you a better painter because you learn to plan ahead and figure out more efficient strategies for layering a painting.

This is the last of the Artist Trading Card paintings, I'm returning to regular size. You may be interested in my other watercolor paintings.

Bridge

Bridge
Watercolor
2.5” x 3.5”
Chris Breier © 2015

Bid on the original painting.
This is the bridge that crosses Ellicott Creek, next to Glen Park. In the warm summer months kids like to fish along the edges of the creek, but this was a school day and it was too cold outside to play hooky-so there's no fisherman in this painting.

The bridge was the tricky part, I wanted to imply the detail of the stone work and concrete without overworking it. I emphasized the abstract quality of the shadows and the vegetation along the edge of the creek.

Island Park Entrance

Island Park Entrance
Watercolor 2.5” x 3.5”
Chris Breier © 2015

The original painting is available.

It was the reflection of the water that first attracted me to this scene. I like the contrast of the dark shadows with the bright white cloud reflections in the water. You may recognize the red building in the background from a previous painting, which is a hardware store.

October Walk

October Walk
Watercolor 2.5” x 3.5”
Chris Breier © 2015

The original painting is available, click here to bid in the auction.

I was surprised by the amount of depth that I captured in this tiny painting. After analyzing it, I realized that it employs numerous techniques for creating the illusion of space. The sidewalk, shadows, street, and phone lines all converge to a point as they recede into space; this is a common technique known as perspective drawing. Another method for creating the illusion of depth is to make the objects in the distance smaller than the ones in the foreground, which is how I handled the trees.

This painting also made me think about how it's tempting to remove power lines and signs from paintings, but sometimes they can be used to enliven a composition. Here they converge with the shadow of the phone pole to create an interesting zigzag.

The Bank

The Bank
Watercolor 2.5” x 3.5”
Chris Breier © 2015

Click here to bid in the Auction.

While I was walking home from Glen Park, I took a picture of the rear of the buildings on Main Street in Williamsville. It's of the things that are normally meant to be hidden: parking lots, phone poles etc. Click here to view the Google Street view location for this painting.

Church on Milton Street

Church on Milton Street

2.5" x 3.5"

Watercolor on paper

Chris Breier © 2015

The original painting is available.

This is a church that I have often admired on my frequent walks through the neighborhood. I like the architecture, especially the bell tower. I'm really happy with the way the sky turned out. The Indian Yellow from the bell tower spread into the sky area making the clouds appear as though they are illuminated by the late afternoon sun.

I kept the bell tower simple; the dark shadows of the windows that are the only details that I added to it. There are a few faint pencil lines from the initial sketch that show through. I'm always reminding myself to go heavier on the line drawing because I like the look of the pencil marks in a watercolor. It's also another way to "cheat" and put in a few details that would be difficult to accomplish with a brush.

I used QOR watercolors on Aches Rough watercolor paper.

Red Building on Ellicott Creek

Red Building on Ellicott Creek
QOR Watercolor on Arches Rough
2.5”x3.5”
Chris Breier © 2015

I completed a series of Artists Trading Cards in watercolor. Each painting is the size of a baseball card–2.5”x3.5”. I worked on these over the holidays as a way of taking a break from larger paintings that take more than one session to complete.

It’s also important to create variety in the studio by working in different mediums and formats just to keep things interesting and to stretch my abilities.
 

South Cayuga Road

Bid in the auction for this painting
The reference photo for this painting was taken late in the afternoon on one of the last weekends of warm weather before it starts to get cold. It’s the time of year when the days start to get shorter and the quality of the light changes.

I’ve walked down this street many times but this time I could envision it as a painting because of the long shadows, the color of the leaves and the way the white house is drenched in sunlight. I played around with the composition until it was balanced without being symetrical.

I painted it with QoR watercolors on 140# Arches rough watercolor paper. The youtube demo is below. If you like this painting you might be interested in my other watercolor paintings.
 

Glen Falls, Williamsville

Glen Falls, Williamsville
Watercolor on Arches 140# rough watercolor paper
Chris Breier © 2014

Glen Falls is a popular destination in Williamsville NY. Some paintings can become a struggle but this one was a lot of fun to paint. I started it off with wet into wet washes which creates softer edges and allows the colors to bleed into each other. I also incorporated some spatters in the foliage and for the highlights on the water. I used QoR watercolors on Arches Rough 140# watercolor paper.

The YouTube time lapse video of this being painted is below (click "Read More"). 

The original painting is for sale

If you like this painting you might be interested in my other watercolor paintings.

The Repair Shop

The Repair Shop
Watercolor on paper
8”x10” (paper is 9”x12”)
Chris Breier © 2014

The YouTube time-lapse video is at the bottom of the post.
I noticed this repair shop when I was taking a stroll around Williamsville on a Sunday evening and thought it would make a great watercolor painting. The autumn leaves and the sunlit building are what caught my attention. The contrast between the warm and cool colors are what creates the drama in what would normally be a mundane scene.

If you like this painting you might be interested in my other watercolor paintings.

Williamsville Water Mill Complex

Williamsville Water Mill Complex
Watercolor on paper
8”x10”
Chris Breier © 2014

The original painting is for sale. The YouTube demo video for this painting is at the bottom.

Anybody from WNY will immediately recognize this image as the Mill located at Glen Falls Williamsville. During the summer months the parking lot is used for a farmers market where I buy fresh blueberries, corn and beefsteak tomatoes.