Illustration

Birds, Nature, Landcscapes, Photography, and More!

brianleefritz

Sandhill on a Grass-Hill 8x10" acrylic on canvas

Sandhill on a Grass-Hill
8x10" acrylic on canvas

This is an older one, back when I was experimenting with palette knife work and texture and just slopping paint on the canvas. Right from the tube sometimes. It gave me this weird, fun, choppy look and was a lot of fun...until I went to paint the bird!

That much texture all over the canvas made it more difficult to move the paint around on top. I've since figured out a few ways around that and I still use a lot of palette knife in my work.

This painting was also important for my sense of abstraction. The background suggests what's behind the bird rather than explicitly depicting it. This lets you, the viewer, interpret that part of the painting and place the Sandhill somewhere in your mind where you've been or that you've seen. This brings the painting into your own world; by being so vague, I make space for you to be specific.

It's kinda beautiful.

This one is going for $120, framed.

Gold Leafing. Love the look, but it's a lot of wor

Gold Leafing. Love the look, but it's a lot of work!

I just hand-embellished a canvas print of SPECTACLE with composition gold leaf the other day and it looks so cool. The shine is just out of this world.

16x20" for 250

Let me know if you want one!

How it started ⏩ how it's going I love hummingb

How it started ⏩ how it's going

I love hummingbirds and I always have. They're just such neat little birds living on the edge. Everything is extreme for them and that's it's own kind of fascinating.

First pic is from 8 years ago, second pic is from this year. The main difference is that I stopped trying to paint every feather with a liner brush! I learned the art of focus and drawing the viewers eye toward a specific point by making parts of the painting sharper than others.

It's not that I don't like the old one, it actually stands up pretty well. But the new one is on a whole different level.

Which do you like best?

All set up at the @gutmangallery today from 11 to

All set up at the @gutmangallery today from 11 to 5 pm!

Come say hi and browse around!

Drop by the @gutmangallery today, I have something

Drop by the @gutmangallery today, I have something cool to show you 😉

Drop a bike emoji in the comments and I'll send yo

Drop a bike emoji in the comments and I'll send you the link!

Order yours today and I might be able to get it done by Xmas.

These hand-drawn and watercolored custom bike portraits are sure to look good on your wall and start up conversations about your bike. And I know that's what you're here for. Commemorate the miles you've ridden together, tell those stories.

I love drawing people's bikes because they all have different stories. They're all so unique and customized. This inanimate object, mass-produced, still has a personality because you gave it one. You put your own gear on there, your added stickers, you put on new rims and tires. You've ridden it for thousands of miles. You gave it that character. No wonder you have a name for it!

Snag yourself a charm of hummingbirds! Comment "c

Snag yourself a charm of hummingbirds!
Comment "charm" below and I'll send you the link!

I'm selling four-packs of 8x10 matted prints.

I'd put the price here, but nobody sees the posts where I do that.

They make great gifts or a wonderful way to add pops of bright color to your home.

Every painting that I do is a little love letter o

Every painting that I do is a little love letter out to the world.

Sometimes other people catch them.
Sometimes they don't.
Sometimes a lot of people get them!
Sometimes it takes some time.

Every once in a while, someone asks me to write one for them.

And as an artist, that's the greatest honor in the world.

Let me know if you want me to draw up your bike too.

Detail of Reynard the Fox What do you think he's

Detail of Reynard the Fox

What do you think he's scheming?

Prints are available on my website!

So sorry to hear that bud. Have you, like, tried?

So sorry to hear that bud.
Have you, like, tried? 😂

But for real, I get this line so often at art events: "oh wow I wish I had that talent, I can't even draw a straight line!"

I used to try and give these people a pep talk and explain that talent is just pursued interest, but now I just ask them: if everyone could draw, who would go to art fairs? Who would be around to appreciate the work?

Pro tip for the amateur artists in the audience: look where the pen is going to be, not where it is. Keep your eye on the endpoint and you'll get a much straighter line. 👍

Chickadee coasters are back! $15 for a four-pack.

Chickadee coasters are back!
$15 for a four-pack. Cutesy twine bow included.

Comment with a bird emoji and I'll send you the link.

Oh shoot, how do I turn this thing around? 🤣 I

Oh shoot, how do I turn this thing around? 🤣

I'll be at @sandhillwine today, come say hi and pull a print or two!

It's Small Business Saturday. Shop local. Amazon doesn't need your money, small businesses do. If you want to support a thriving local economy, you have to buy local goods and services. What better way to let your loved ones know that you care than by giving them a local handmade gift for the holidays?

And if you can't make it out today, you can grab three prints for $50 on my website.

See you out there! Shop small!

What the cluck 5x7" linocut print matted to 8x10"

What the cluck
5x7" linocut print matted to 8x10"

Because some days it's just like, what the cluck.

They're on my website now and part of my 3 for $50 sale!
I'll throw up a link in my stories.

Marion Oak 8x10 linocut print Just a quick little

Marion Oak
8x10 linocut print

Just a quick little block I cut while teaching a class a few weeks back. I had a some time while the students were busy carving and whipped this up. It's based on a picture I took of a beautiful tree while I was disc golfing. I printed up five of them, gave two to the students because they asked, sold one, consigned one...I'm going to need to print another edition!

Is it an oak? I don't know really. It sounds nice though. If you know what kind of tree it actually is, I'm open to changing the name 😂

This one will be on my website sometime soon. I'll have to re-print it first though.

New print going up on Friday! Can you guess what

New print going up on Friday!

Can you guess what I'm going to write under it? 😁

More little window scenes ❄️ Glass is a very

More little window scenes ❄️

Glass is a very different kind of painting surface, but I'm getting used to it and having fun!

I'm also loving this minimal style, just white paint has such a range of expression on glass.

@brushmonkeys

Better Together 5x7" linocut print matted to 8x10"

Better Together
5x7" linocut print matted to 8x10"

Sometimes it takes a while for a print to find it's voice and its audience.

I made this block back in February and it didn't really go anywhere. Then I got a set of letter stamps and started putting cute phrases on my little prints. I also started matting them.

Then people starting noticing them at art fairs 😳

Now I'm reprinting Better Together for the third time! 🎉

You can order one on my website. I'm also cooking up a special deal for Friday 😉

Sometimes a good idea just has to wait for the rig

Sometimes a good idea just has to wait for the right time.

A few months ago, I tried to advertise and offer 16x20 prints of SPECTACLE, embellished with gold leaf. I had some interest but no pre-orders, so I shelved the idea.

A couple days ago, I got an email asking about those gold leafed prints. She found it on my facebook page.

Never one to pass up an opportunity, I replied that while I didn't get any bites on the initial offer, I'd be happy to make one up for her.

We worked out the terms and I'd like to offer you the same deal:

I am going to be making a limited set of 16x20" canvas prints of SPECTACLE, embellished with gold leaf for $250.

Comment SPECTACLE or 🦚 and I'll send you a link.

Reynard 16x20 acrylic on canvas As requested by a

Reynard
16x20 acrylic on canvas

As requested by about ten people every show, prints are up on my website! Link will be in my stories.

Inspired by tales of Reynard the Fox, a fascinatingly sketchy rebel character from medieval folklore, this is the first installment in a series exploring some more common creatures and their relationships to humans.

Foxes have of course had a checkered past with humans at best. It’s really only recently that we’ve begun to appreciate them for their intelligence, athleticism and beauty.

Here, Reynard has a side that’s illuminated by the sun, but a good portion of him is in the shade, with the cool blues contrasting his warm red coat and hinting at his dual nature. The geometric blocks in the background are broken up by water, so they drip and bleed into one another, much like the fox makes its home on the edges of human settlement. The glimmer in his eye alludes to his intelligence and the plotting going on behind them.

What do you think is going on behind those eyes? What is he scheming?

Royal Oak Market Art Fair Edition Today, 11am - 9p

Royal Oak Market Art Fair Edition
Today, 11am - 9pm, Royal Oak Farmers Market
Booth 56

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