Whether abbreviated as “DF&F 52″ or just “DFF 52,” the 2012 art project that I’ll be working on with Jeff Kennedy will encompass the subject of our two previous years. Yes, 2012 is the year of Drawing Fish & Flies 52. In other words, we’ll be doing both fish and flies this year, alternating between [...]

Drawing Fish 52 silver trout (extinct). Wanted to end the year with a fish that exists now only in literature and in the eye of angling artists. I went with a fish that has some of the shape and color that I might imagine in a fine specimen, but also went with enough additional “olde tyme” [...]

Drawing Fish 52 Aurora Trout. A very close relative of the brook trout, this little-known fish makes for some good painting opportunities. Went with a overly saturated aurora theme like week 49′s Greenland char. The colors and shapes of the fish flash and streak above a sparsely forested tundra foreground that surrounds a small lake. [...]

Merry Christmas Eve from FF&W. “Christmas Spey” from last year’s DF52 project.

The Drawing Flies 52 image from last year at this time: Winter’s Hope. This was one of my favorite fly drawings of the 2010 project. The full post is here.

DF52 Payara. Wanted something that felt like a prehistoric or even alien nightmare. A fish that the fossil record might reveal, a fish that has a singular, unwavering purpose, a fish that might have been beamed in from another galaxy. The fact that you can go and catch these on flies makes the image feel [...]

DF52 Greenland char. Only a week late. No excuses, just feeling a little tired. Went for a look of night and aurora, and the shape of fins and spots. Tough piece to paint due to the charcoal drawing (charcoal is all too easily turned into “watercolor”). I like this approach, but would prefer, I think, [...]

A little bit of Photoshoppery on another of Bill Sherer’s massive musky flies—this time a Figure 8 that also happens to be fly 10.19 in the upcoming Long Flies book. The original is 9.5 inches long (and is not purple, of course). I just felt that the fly looked cool (literally) in inverse colors, a la my “Icethroat [...]

There be trout in that water… As noted in a previous post, Kel and I did a little small-stream scouting over the Thanksgiving holiday. In addition to the streamside images of rocks and weeds that you’ve already seen, I promised something a bit more fishy. Decided to get “old-timey” and sepia-tone with the trees and [...]

After Jeff’s brutal week 47 (he mumbled something about 30-hours straight when we talked on the phone yesterday), we decided that today’s fish was to be whatever we wanted—anything goes! I decided to do a rather general “salmonid.” In other words, a fish that could be a lot of fish: trout, salmon, char, whatever falls [...]

Within the Jazz & Fly Fishing Shadow Cast Competition (that I recently finished judging with an iron fist), there was one entry that stood out in a way that I had not expected. It came from the guys at Fly Society Belgium, and is, to my eye, simply beautiful. When you see it, you realize [...]

Yeah, I know, DF52 week 41 is not in order (this is week 48), but I was thinking about big, late-season streamers, and had to re-post this. This Yellowstone Sculpin is vying to be my favorite from last year, and it is for sure in my top-five. I did one commission based on this painting, [...]

Forgive the image quality, had to get this into my system using a point-and-shoot instead of my usual scanner. This one is for my friends in Europe, in particular those of you in the northern Adriatic area (and your gorgeous, jewel-like waters). I like the marble trout for a a number of reasons, not the [...]

This Blue-Butt Caddis was last year’s week 47 image from the DF(flies) 52 project. It was chosen in memory of the late Tom Helgeson. Check out the full post for more about the fly and Tom. This year’s week 47 image will be a marble trout (due tomorrow, but with the holiday and all, it [...]