Strokes of Genius 8

Strokes Of Genius 8: Expressive Texture (Strokes of Genius: The Best of Drawing)
South Grand Island Bridge, Ink on Arches rough watercolor paper, 8"x10"
Basilica, Ink on Arches rough watercolor paper, 10" x 8"

I'm excited to announce that two of my drawings have been published in  Strokes Of Genius 8, by North Light Books. My drawings of the Grand Island Bridge and the Basilica are featured on pages 36-37. The theme of the book is "Expressive Texture" which is something that I often incorporate into my work. The bold lines were drawn with wood stick dipped into ink, which was and enjoyable break from using traditional drawing materials.

Strokes of Genius 7

I was recently informed that two of my drawings will be included in the book "Strokes of Genius 7: Depth, Dimension + Space!" which is being published by North Light Books in October of 2015. As the title indicates, the theme of the book is how artists try to create the illusion of space on a two dimensional surface. The drawings that I submitted are below.

Grand Island Bridge

Grand Island Bridge
Pen and Ink on watercolor paper
5”x7”
Chris Breier ©2014

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This ink drawing is the view of the South Grand Island Bridge from Niawanda Park.

Below is a time lapse video of me working on this drawing. You'll notice that I don't draw with pencil first, I start with the pen and just draw over any mistakes that I make. Also, in the beginning you can see me making hatch marks where the important shapes are located and then connect them.

I stopped the video when I thought it was done but then I decided that it would look more dramatic if I darkened the bridge so that it was in silhouette. I think this could be Framed Ink influencing me. It's more suited for comic book artists or storyboard artists but it has a lot tips about composition, using negative space and other topics that apply to the visual arts.

If you liked this drawing you may be interested in other painting or drawings of the Grand Island Bridge.

Ink Drawing - Tiger Orchids

Tiger Orchid
Ink Drawing on Watercolor paper
Chris Breier © 2014

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Make sure you watch the time lapse video of me working on this drawing! (Click on Read More below)

The paper measures 5.5" x 8.5" so there's a small white border around the image.

I found these Tiger Orchids at the Erie County Botanical Gardens. They call them Tiger Orchids because, from certain angles, the center of the flowers look like a tigers head (and they're orange like a tiger).

A few weeks ago I cleaned out my studio and found some ink and a watercolor pad. Cleaning is sometimes like going shopping because I find supplies that I forgot that I had. So I've been making ink drawings on the watercolor paper for the fun of it. I like how the ink looks on this paper, it dries to a matte finish and the black areas a nice and dark, and the paper has a nice texture.