Drawing Fish & Flies 52 – 02_Brown & Stonefly
Drawing Fish & Flies 52 brown trout & stonefly nymph (two-tone, rubber legs). Like last week’s two-for-one, a brown-and-stonefly combo is a classic one in fishing (at least to me—and to Jeff, since this was his pick). The first truly big brown I ever caught, I did *not* catch on a stonefly nymph, but black stones have indeed counted for a pile of other big brownies over the years. The fish above is a trout from Montana’s Bighorn River, and it definitely took a nymph, although not a stonefly.
Notes: This was done in the same way as last week’s fish/fly, but this time it was deliberate from the start. Had to follow the same steps as before, and pace myself to make sure that I kept drying times, rinses, etc., more-or-less identical.
And like last week, the end result is like a cross between a tattoo (thinking New Zealand Maori tattoos) and a corroded plaster wall (I just like that feel, it has nothing specific to do with trout fishing, other than perhaps reflecting the look of certain buildings in some places that I have been over the years).
Process: Pencil and watercolor on 140lb Canson stock. Washed and wiped, then re-painted and scanned into Photoshop. Image levels and saturation adjusted in Photoshop.
Available? No, this is an analog/digital hybrid, thus no true “original” exists. Like last week’s ‘bow and Royal Wulff combo, this image may end up in a set of greeting cards.
JK’s Image: Jeff’s B&SN image can be found here. Looking forward to seeing the final painting.
Love the texture and colors on that piece.
I took a swing at this week’s subject.
http://flyfishingwarmwater.blogspot.com/2012/01/drawing-flies.html
John—Thanks for the compliment and for taking the time to follow along. 30 minutes comes up rather quickly doesn’t it? Dealing with DF/DF&F project stuff is kind of like plein air painting, but in a studio setting. In other words, you have 30 minutes before the light changes for good or a storm arrives on the scene: go!
You’re brave for jumping in, and we’ll see how many other readers will follow along. I hope we ultimately get more than two or three (we have two for sure now, so that’s a good start). I like your BH Stone. I tend to be fan of inverse images anyway, and if planned well, they can produce some effects that are rather interesting.
If you feel up to it, keep following along. Those 30 minutes will soon seem much longer, trust me….
Hi Jason!
A lovely piece – like last week’s. If I ever was to get a flyfishing related tatoo, this piece, or last week’s, would be high on the list of potential candidates :-).
I like the way you have to look around the painting for a second or two before you discover the stonefly, the way the stonefly is almost exclusively defined by its characteristic wing. And the way the strong colors on the gillplate of the trout draws the attention to the “important” part of the image, and the way the rest of the trout is so subtlely colored to not steal attention, and yet separate it clearly from the rest of the frame.
Just amazing, really :-). I’m grateful whenever people with a real talent, like you and Jeff, chose to share it with the rest of us in a manner like this!
Lars
Probably the most common scene at Madison and Yellowstone with large browns (occasonal whities…..). I like both yours and Jeff’s paintings and I have been taking upclose pictures like those.
Your idea of “fly tatoo” looks just fitting right on each trout so far (that’s my level of artistic comment).
Satoshi—Good to hear that you like the image(s). Kelley joked the other day that I should offer up some “tattoo-specific” images for those want fish-based body ink. I do live in the Portland area, which is pretty much tattoo central, so maybe I need to sell a series of of temporary tats for those who want something different in terms of art, but don’t want to wear it for the next 50 years…or maybe not. In any case, I’ll be doing a few more like this, so stay tuned.
Lars—Wow, that’s quite a review. Of course, you being a viking-archeologist, museum-type, art-lover probably helps, but still… :P
Joking aside, I really appreciate the in-depth look at the piece. And yeah, you pretty much hit it dead-on. As you’ll likely expect, the upcoming cutthroat will be designed the same way; in fact, each fish that I do this way (and there will be a few more here and there this year) will follow the same general construction that you’ve outlined.
You need to send me another good sea-trout photo this year, and I’ll see about getting into the DF&F 52 line-up.