Fly Fishing Art, Seclusion

11x14 oil    ( SOLD)

The places we seek out to fish takes a little effort to get to so its not often we see other fishermen, but when we do they usually have the same goals as we do so it is fun exchanging information on what is working on this day, or other streams in the area that have been fishing good lately.

The best part of it though is the seclusion from everyday life, a little downtime to recharge the batteries where your only worries are figuring out the best way to approach the trout without spooking him and hoping you chose the right fly.

Painting is very similar, your concentration is so focused you forget about life's problems even if its only for a little while.

Being cooped up in the winter gives me time to get all the fly fishing paintings out of my system.

Brown Trout Portrait

Brown Trout Study  5"x 7" oil                    (SOLD)

This started out as a study to see if I could do a decent portrait of a trout.
It gives me encouragement to paint something bigger.

Early Morning Surprise

I was making the coffee this morning looked out the window and saw a fox getting a drink out of the water bowl for the birds. He just sat  there looking around and then turned and trotted off, we lost track of him after that.

 A nice way to start the morning.

I finished up on a fly fishing painting recently, a scene from an upstate Pa trout stream. My brother Tom poised to catch a trout from a mountain stream.

Fly Fishing Art, A Good Run, 12x16

Fly Fishing Art, A Good Run, 12x16, oil on RayMar canvas panel  ( SOLD)

I repainted this recently after looking at it and seeing things that I didn't see before. It helps putting the painting away for a while and when you take it out again the areas that need help stand out.
The composition of the painting pretty much stayed the same but I repainted it using a limited palette.
I wanted to experiment this year using six primary colors and white.

Cad Yellow Lt.
Cad.Yellow Medium
Cad Red Light
Permanent Alizarin Crimson
Ultramarine Blue
Cerulean Blue
Titanium White

Thats me in the water, that section of stream has been good to us over the years.

A Good Pool  6"x 8" oil on wood panel

This is one of the streams in north central Pa my brother and I fish on our yearly vacation.
A careful approach and long casts are needed to help catch the trout in this clear water.

In this painting I tried to use a loose paint application aiming for correct values and shapes, the right blobs of color in the right place.
I like the trout skipping across the water. The idea for that came from watching fishing shows on TV.
I'll pay attention to the action shots on the show and make notes on how to depict it in a painting.

I have been experimenting with a limited palette of colors to try to bring more color harmony in my work.

From left to right titanium white, cad yellow lt, cad yellow med., Cad red lt., alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue, cerulean blue(not shown).
For the darks I'll mix all three primaries to get a dark value then adjust it whatever way it needs to go.
It will be a lot of experimenting and learning.

Fly Fishing Art, The Strike

The Strike  8x10 oil

This painting sat around unfinished for close to a year. Last weekend my brother and I got out fishing and this week I was able to finish it, funny how that works. Thats him from a trip we took a couple years ago.

Dolphin Rock Painting acrylic,  5 1/2" x 3"

I finished this rock painting of a dolphin, also known as a mahi-mahi.
When I spotted the shape of this rock it reminded me of the high forehead of a dolphin.
I keep forgetting to photograph the rock before painting it.

Fly fishing art,

I haven't posted anything in a while, I have been painting…. just not posting anything.
I find myself looking at finished paintings (or what I thought was finished) and seeing things that could be improved.
The painting below went through three different changes, I think this is the final version. This is one of the streams we fish in upsate Pa.

Young Womans Creek 11x14 oil