Drawing Flies 52 – 29_Loop WIng Dun
Drawing Flies 52 Loop Wing Dun. One of my all-time favorite patterns for spring creek trout (or any trout looking for small mayflies, actually). This fly has done the trick all over the world for me, and it is a permanent resident of my boxes.
Notes: It may be 11pm, but at least I wasn’t asleep on the couch this week! This one went fast. So fast, actually, that I got the brilliant idea of adding a cooler hue to the background—actually not so brilliant! Ended up with murk, but caught it before I did any more damage. Rest of the fly worked out pretty well, considering the speed.
This one is similar to the Connemara in approach, but I wanted to try a mechanical pencil instead of a grade-school number 2. Kinda like the grade-school approach better, but the mechanical allows finer detail work, as expected. Added more color overall than I had anticipated, but the hot orange seems to flow well with the paper. I’ll do some more like this, I think, just keeping as much to pure pencil and white watercolor as I can.
Tech info: Mechanical pencil and watercolor on brown craft paper.
Jeff’s Loop Wing is here. More subtle scribble work like last week—nice choice on technique, I think. PMD hatch, anyone?
Hey Jason!
I think I might have said this before, and I hope that I’ll say it again, but this one is your best yet.
As well as being a fantastic piece of art, it is also an amazing representation of your Loop Wing Dun – a drawing that I could tie a fly from and know *exactly* which materials to use to get the characteristics that you have defined as important in this painting.
Lars
Lars—Thanks for such a nice comment! Great to hear that you feel the drawing is of such a high level. Growing up, the Loop Wing was one of those flies to aspire to, with its slick multi-level wing structure and fine-boned appearance. Despite my artist’s preference for more exotic-looking flies (extended bodies, right-angle flies, under-hook parachutes, etc.), this pattern has proven itself so many times that it is often my “go to” when duns are on the fish’s menu.
Your Mickey Finn drawing is also on my plate for this weekend (it’s a big plate that includes some water-time, but I’ll get to the drawing no matter what). Sorry for the delay, but I will have your commission done!
JB-Nicely done! This one definitely has a place on my ever growing favorites list. How about a leadwing coachman for next week?
Jeff
Jeff—Leadwing works for me…