Drawing Flies 52 – 07_Hex Dun
Drawing Flies 52 Hex Dun in the Comparadun/hairwing-style (as in Hexagenia mayfly). Played with the technique that I ended up lucking into last week, and added a bit to the mix (some pen and some more color on the fly itself). Started a little late today (1:37, ended just before 2:00). Not bad; I see some places I’d adjust, but my real concern was overdoing the pen and I think I mostly kept myself in check.
Available for purchase? Yes (use the Contact JB link if interested).
Tech info: 9″ x 12″ Pentalic paper. Mechanical pencil, watercolor, and pen. Deliberately did the “draw and wipe” technique from last week (this time early on in the process), then went after the results with watercolor.
I used super-smooth Pentalic paper to allow me to work better with pen detail at the end, but didn’t give it enough time to dry after the water wipe and got a couple of eroded areas when I went back with my pencil. Still worked out well enough this time, though.
Once I got the fly color in, I chased it with some pencil lines and opaque white to add more detail and reflection. I then put in the washes, going for a feel of warm evening sun through trees, coupled with the cool blues and purples of shadows and water. The “sun” popped the image more than I had expected, and I really liked the final effect.
For the last touches I went in with the detail pen. I was worried that I’d get carried away with the pen and weight too many lines too strongly, but I think I stopped short of overdoing things (for the most part).
I should have used a couple of more minutes on the wing, but felt that I was in a comfortable place, so stopped.
Update 1: Decided that next week, I’m going to go away from color and go back to my classic pen that I love so much. We’ll see what happens (especially since we have yet to choose a new fly)!
Update 2: We have decided on an “artist’s choice” soft hackle for next week. Should be cool, and I probably won’t stay away from color entirely…
Jeff’s Hex Dun is here. I’ll have a good look and be back with more in a little while… (Just had a quick look: Ha! We both did extended body flies. Thought Jeff might go with a long-shank pattern, be he did go with the traditional full hackle and classic white wing. See my comment on Jeff’s site for more.)
![FF&W [art] - DF52 Grayling](http://fishfliesandwater.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/df52_16-grayling-sidebar.jpg)
I LOVE IT! My favorite one as of yet. Love the burst of color. :-)
Thanks, luv! I wanted the glow of the balmy evening sun, the green of new foliage, the purples of approaching shadows, and the quiet cool of early-summer’s water—all at once, just like the “magic hour” when the first Hex start to appear…
This is beautiful. My drawing may have to wait until next week :(
Matt—Look forward to seeing what you (and/or your daughter) come up with! It can be hard to get even 30 wide-open minutes (plus any additional prep time) to sit down and illustrate a fly undisturbed.
Wow Jason,this is the best one yet,IMO.Suitable for framing.
Bob—Thank you for the compliment! I may have to re-think a bit of my return to black and white next week, it seems. Perhaps I’ll do some sort of ink and wash instead…
Jason-Nicely done! I am really digging that yellow burst by the wing! I had to get my image done a day early since I had to travel to Michigan on Thursday. Funny how I ended up in Michigan the day I had to post a Hex pattern! When fishing in Michigan (Usually a few weeks before the Hex’s start strong), I had run across a few extended body patterns on shorter shank hooks. The theory with the shorter shank hooks is that they present a shorter lever when hooked in the mouth. The shorter lever provides a shorter moment to reduce the chance of loosing the fish. Similar theory behind tube flies. How about a soft hackle pattern for next week? Artists choice on pattern.
Thanks, my friend. I’ve always loved ex-body flies, and often tie them simply because I like the look (some might call me less than pragmatic, but I like what I like). Soft-hackle next sounds great, had a few requests on that front, too. So, artist’s choice it is (seemed to work out well this last time).
I finally was able to get to drawing last night. I am pretty happy with this one. It documents one of my earliest triumphant failures in fly tying, The Leaden Mayfly – http://www.undertheaspens.com/blog/2010/02/drawing-flies-52-week-7-hex-dun-the-leaden-mayfly/.