Illustration

Birds, Nature, Landcscapes, Photography, and More!

brianleefritz

Glazing/sizing my next Affirmation painting as stu

Glazing/sizing my next Affirmation painting as studio manager Marshmallow observes.

(Reposting without the music because WOW the last one got buried!)

I have some feelings about sharing views of my studio. It's always messy and I have about a thousand ongoing projects at any given time. It's not pretty and clean like so many other Instagram artists and I don't feel comfortable showing off my disaster zone of a studio. It doesn't make me feel good to share more than a very cropped picture every now and then.

But I'm here to be real with you. Always. No filters, emotionally or visually.

Here's my theory: I think that all those other artists' studios actually look like this on a non-shooting day. So in the spirit of full honesty, this is where I work and what I looks like. Sometimes I need to throw a drop cloth down and work on the floor. It happens. At least I'm not spending all day cleaning so I can fake-paint for a phone camera I set up in the corner. This is a studio, not a stage!

Ain't nobody got time for that! I have commissions to paint!

Have you ever heard of live painting? Because it's

Have you ever heard of live painting? Because it's my favorite thing to do as a working artist.

The concept is that I show up to an event like a charity auction or fundraiser, paint up a scene, and the audience bids on it throughout the process. After the event, I split the proceeds with the hosting charity.

I work mostly with trails an wildlife rehab organizations like @b2btrail and @howellnaturecenter, but I'm open to painting for a buch of other social and environmental causes as well. It's my way of using my talents to help causes that I care about.

It's a wonderful way to meet people who hold the same values as I do, in a casual, relaxed, low-stakes situation. I'm working on a painting, you can watch and ask questions, and we both have wine in our glasses and we're having a good time! It's a more comfortable setting than an art fair or gallery for everyone involved.

Are you in a nonprofit org that has a fundraising event coming up? You should consider a live painting. Message me for more info!

A customer recently bought my last Big Red print,

A customer recently bought my last Big Red print, then ordered two more! I pulled a set of 15 earlier this week and there are 9 left. Get yours before they're gone because I'm not printing another batch this season. When they're gone, they're gone for at least a year.

Who knows, maybe next year I'll come up with something cooler and just retire this print 🤷

Would you like to learn how to make your own block prints? Ask me about classes, I have three or four coming up!

Today is the fourth anniversary of my first mounta

Today is the fourth anniversary of my first mountain bike ride. I fell so many times and really hurt my back for a few days, but I was also grinning from ear to ear.

And so began my love afair with the trails. I've since gotten myself a nice mountain bike and put about 3000 miles on it.

The most important thing that mountain biking has taught me is how to be comfortable on the edge of control. Because that's where the fun is. I took up the discipline as exposure therapy for my anxiety. And it does that pretty well. But it also makes me feel like a little kid hitting jumps in the driveway on a Huffy.

So, uh, same as it ever was, huh?

What keeps you feeling young?

Hard at work over here prepping for the @aadlgram

Hard at work over here prepping for the @aadlgram Printmakers Fair! November 8th, 11-5 at the Ann Arbor Library!

No I'm not actually printing the loons now, this is an older video. What's the point of gathering all those clips I can't use them a couple times?🤣

The prep work right now is in matting up prints that are low in stock, making sure I have everything I need to set up and display, and making some better signage so people can find me later.

I'll have a handful of loons on me at the fair, but can't guarantee that they'll still be there when you visit. So if you want a Sunrise Loon in your life, let me know!

I also have a handful of exciting block printing classes to tell you about! Want to learn how to make linocuts from me? I'd love to teach you. Message me for a link!

Just a little peek into how I think about printmak

Just a little peek into how I think about printmaking and how my technique has improved over the years. It's a fun exercise to compare the same blocks printed in the same formation with the same colors, but five or more years apart.

So enjoy this slower kind of video, I'm an artist, not a video editor.

Nuthatches are available in like five different colors, I'm sure I have one in your favorite.

POV: you found some paintings at a brewery that st

POV: you found some paintings at a brewery that stopped you in your tracks and now it's time to flip thru some prints!

"Hey, my name's Brian and I make birds!
Let me know if I can help you with anything."

Maybe half of you have actually ever met me at a show of some kind and got to see everything all together, so I figured this would be a great time to try and give you a little of that in-person experience.

The Internet can atomize us a little and remove us from the reality and physicality of things. It's one thing to see, for example, that swan on your phone screen, but quite another to see it in-person, at full size, with the gold patterns and the way that the paint reflects the light.

Art is meant to be seen in the real world, not through a screen. I'd rather you see my paintings in a poorly lit room by candlelight than on your backlight screen. Because you're going to REALLY look at it that way. It's no longer "content" like a cigarette for your eyes, it's ART! It's an experience. I make experiences and I would love to invite you to one.

We're live at @ypsiarbor_artistshowcase Fall Fest

We're live at @ypsiarbor_artistshowcase Fall Fest at @hearsaybrewing! Find me here til 6!

The artists and vendors are great and beer is fantastic!

I only made 20 of these Sunrise Loons Why? Becaus

I only made 20 of these Sunrise Loons

Why? Because it was a long process and I have other ideas I want to move on to. This one was months in the making and that's such a slow pace for me! I know patience pays off and it did so in spades here, but that doesn't mean the wait wasn't agonizing!

And because if there were a theoretically infinite number of these available to be made, you could get one any time. And we all know how often "any time" turns into "never." 🤣

So there are twenty total. Maybe fifteen left now. I don't know how long they'll last, but I'll tell you that I have a printmaker fair in November and these things tend to fly off the shelves in those kind of settings. They're all hand-printed and individually (painstakingly) colored. No two loon prints are exactly the same. Beautifully inconsistent and human.

9x12 matted up to 11x14, and yours for only $75.

I'll try and post a link later today, but you can also DM me or drop any emoji you feel appropriate in the comments and I'll send it to you.

It's time for a reprint! Big Red, 9x12" linoleum b

It's time for a reprint!
Big Red, 9x12" linoleum block print

Cardinals mean a lot of things to a lot of people, so as a bird artist, I need to keep cardinals in stock at all times. It might be the most popular bird overall, although owls are close!

I just sold the last one of these in stock last night and the customer ordered two more after that. Which means that I'm reprinting! And I'm kind of excited about that because I'm a much better printmaker now than I was when I cut these blocks and printed the first edition.

Big Red is actually a very cool printing process and I'll take you through it in the next couple weeks. I'm hoping to have the new edition of Big Red in green and silver by the @aadlgram Printmakers Fair on November 8th.

I'm working with oil based inks this time, so wish me luck!🤞

Today is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day.

Today is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day. This day didn't mean much to me two years ago. But late last August, we lost Violet and all of that changed.

It's been a long and strange road holding onto and trying to let go of the grief. Over someone I knew, but still didn't really know.

After we lost Violet, Grace and I started seeing red-tailed hawks more often. Just like how some people see cardinals, we saw hawks. Just little reminders in the sky. On a telephone pole. Perched in a tree along the road as I rode by. So now every time I see a hawk, I say hi to Violet. It's a reassurance that I'll never forget her and how she changed my life before even taking a single breath, but also a confirmation that I'm following my heart and my joy.

I understood the cardinal thing before, but now I GET it.

So I titled this one Messenger. Because the red tailed hawk is a messenger for me and Grace.

It's raptor migration season now and I've been seeing some other raptors too...falcons and merlins. Hopefully I'll see a kestrel soon too. I'm thinking of these little raptors as representative of the little one on the way. I'll have to paint one soon.

So anyway. Light a candle, check in on someone who's dealt with pre-term or infant loss, tell your favorite people that you love them.

"Messenger" is currently reserved for someone who also has a special bond with red tail hawks, but prints are on my website and at shows.

RECENTLY SOLD BIRDS! I need to make a point to ce

RECENTLY SOLD BIRDS!

I need to make a point to celebrate the birds who have flown off to loving homes and share those stories with you. Quite a few have made it out into the world and that makes me so happy. And focusing on those positives is also important. Not to say I do it myself regularly like I should...but it's important. Remember, even the Affirmations paintings are reminders to myself as much as they are for you.

So I'm going to toot my own horn for a minute. Because it's mine. And tooting someone else's would be weird. 🎺

There are hundreds of people out there who have prints or paintings of mine up in their homes. Which is quite a thing to think about. Are you one of them? Send me pics!

Moody Flamingo Watercolor or paper, mounted to 9x1

Moody Flamingo
Watercolor or paper, mounted to 9x12, $80
Swipe for detail shot and how it's mounted

This one is a bit of a throwback, isn't it? I made it about six years ago and it still holds up. The reference was a very pale flamingo, so I surrounded him with a mysterious blueish fog to accentuate the pinks that he did have.

I then mirrored those pinks in the paper I chose to mount the painting on. It gives the piece a fun kind of emphasis, drawing your eye from the border, up the legs, to the wings and finally resting on that BEAK! And what a beak it is! Or is it a bill? I don't feel like looking it up and if you comment, that helps spread the post. Sooo...

Is it a bill or a beak? Please discuss, and hit me with your best flamingo facts 🦩

Available birds! They might be small, but they can

Available birds! They might be small, but they can make a huge impact!

Here's a quick rundown of the birds I've posted so far in #birdtober who still need homes!

These are nice little pieces for small spaces and they make great gifts as well. They're original works at affordable prices, and that's something that's important to me. I totally get that you might not be ready for something huge, or to totally reconsider how your home looks and feels.

This is a great place to start. Message me if you want to bring in of these little birds home to perch on your wall!

Indigo Bunting, 8x10, $125
American Robin, 8x10, $125
Northern Cardinal, 8x10, $125
Cedar Waxwings, 11x14, $80
Splendid Fairy Wren, 8x10, $80

Curious Crane 8x10 acrylic on canvas board, $100

Curious Crane
8x10 acrylic on canvas board, $100

Have I told you how much I love sandhill cranes?

I mean...I love all birds! But sandhills have a special place in my heart. Their attitude, their calls, the majestic way they fly in the sunset... That STRUT! Love em.

I took the reference pic for this one a few months ago on a walk in Kensington Metropark. The sandhills actually run the park, by the way. Traffic control, specifically! 😂 I don't take a ton of my own reference photos, but these guys will come right up to you!

But really, I love how I can watch the seasons through this very charismatic bird. They change colors with breeding season, we get to watch the little ones grow up, and they change colors again. It's one of those little natural cycles, you know? I've been noticing those more lately.

So in a way, sandhill cranes are a grounding presence for me. They remind me of one of my favorite places as well as tell me the season as I look back in photos. I always wave to them when I see them from the bike.

I'll be in Milford today for the Fresh Paint Out. It's like Paint Dexter, but in Milford and in the fall. You're going to love it! Reception is Sunday, 3-5 at the SHAC. Ask me for details!

Berry Bandit! 11x14 matted, $80 This drawing was

Berry Bandit! 11x14 matted, $80

This drawing was way out of my comfort zone.

But Brian! It’s a bird! How is that out of your comfort zone?

I made it entirely with alcohol markers. Marker is...not my medium. I have a nice big set of them, but never really learned how to use them. So one night, I decided to flock around and find out a little.

The Cedar Waxwing here actually relates to that theme pretty well; they’re always on the move, eating berries and flying along in a big chirpy group. They’re always on the edge of their comfort zone. Maybe they’re never really comfortable? What would it be like to live so nomadically, with no actual home? I get stressed and have trouble eating on a vacation, I can’t imagine living on the wing!

If this bird reminds you to get out of your comfort zone and out of your routine life, message me and I’ll fly it out your way!

Splendid Day to be a Fairy Wren, watercolor on pap

Splendid Day to be a Fairy Wren, watercolor on paper, 8x10 matted, $100

One of my favorite little watercolors and a huge step forward in my compositions. I only left what I needed you to see here, and it made the painting so much stronger because of it. Just a few forms make the leaves and the background, leaving all the detail for the bird.

It's also a Splendid Fairy Wren, which I think is an excellent name.

In real life, the lesson here may be to say what you need to and no more. I’ve often gotten myself into situations that I didn’t need to, just by giving too much information or saying what I actually feel when I needed to hold my cards more closely. And I’m sure you have too. I believe strongly in overcommunicating most of the time, but there are times when too much communication just turns into noise.

Speaking of noise, put this one in a simple white frame. Trust me, that will focus the composition even more. If you’d like to try that out in your own home, message me and I’ll send this little Fairy Wren your way!

Unnamed Cardinal, 8x10 acrylic on canvas, $125 As

Unnamed Cardinal, 8x10 acrylic on canvas, $125

As a bird artist, I have to keep a cardinal on me at all times. This little bird means so much to so many people!

The story is that the cardinal represents a loved one returning for a visit. So I've decided that I'm not going to name my cardinals anymore. You will.

Whoever takes this one home gets to name it after the loved one who they see in the painting. A reminder that they're watching and still love you.

So what is this one's name?

Heron’s Hideaway, 11x14 matted, $75 I think I h

Heron’s Hideaway, 11x14 matted, $75

I think I have like two of these left.

Sometimes a good thing takes a long time. Sometimes it’s like five years between the idea and the finished product. I know that’s fast in other occupations and industries, but it’s a glacial pace as far as I’m concerned! I made the initial sketch for Heron’s Hideaway back in 2020 with micron pens and only finally made it into a print in 2025.

But it was worth the wait. In the meantime, I cut a ton of lino and honed my skills as well as my tools. And when I was ready, I approached the project again. This time, I was successful and printed an edition of 25.

And by “worth the wait,” I mean that my execution of this print at age 33 was much better than it would have been at age 28. I have a better vision now, I’m better with the tools, and I have a press. None of those were true back then.

So if your next project is overwhelming you and isn’t super urgent, maybe put it down for a while, Go and learn some of the things you’ll need to tackle it, then come back better armed with knowledge and skill.

I’m not sure offhand how many of these herons are left. At least two in my bin right now, maybe a couple more in reserve. DM me for a link in my shop!

Load More... Follow on Instagram