Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Brook Trout

Here is a recent painting I have done of another Brookie rising for his meal.  I used more muted colors for this painting for an older look to the work.  The deep browns, pale yellows, and burnt oranges of this painting seem to give it a look one might see in a color plate from the turn of the century.  The size of this work is not very big (@8x12) which is good because I have not had very much time lately to put paint to paper or fly to water.
As you can see, I started with a very simple line drawing.  What you can't see is the countless light pencil marks and erased miss cues I had to go through to get the finished line drawing you see here.  As I am finishing the line drawing up, I darken those lines I want for the final painting and erase all the others.
After the line drawing is done I start the process of dropping water onto the fish where I want the paint to flow and keeping the paper dry where I do not want the paint.  from that point on it is just a mater of building up layers of colors and pigments to get the finished look I am going for.  Unlike oil based painting, usually in watercolor painting you get only one shot at getting it right.  You can not just wipe it off and start over because once it is on the paper it is on it for good.  The art of using this medium is in how you let the paint/water flow.  All this has to be done without trying to control the paint.  If I try to control it then it just gets angry and gets the painter frustrated.  Instead I try and guide it where I want it to go, all the time letting the flow of the pigments do most of the work.

Also in response to that lack of activity on the fishing/blogging/painting front I have decided to start a new commitment to regular posting.  I am not sure if my lack of fishing has contributed to my lack of posting over the last few months or my lack of blogging has contributed to my lack of time on the water but I am resolving that right now with a new commitment to more frequent blog posts.  Last year my daily posting got me more time on the water than ever before and even though I am unable to return to that sizable commitment I will do this.  Twice a week I will be posting something on this blog.  One at the beginning of the week and one more at the end of the week for the remainder of the year.  It may be sun, mon or tue and it might come on on wed, thur, fri, or sat but it will be there.  With that I leave you till next time.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Angry Trout

I haven't been posting much over the past month, nor have I been out in the river, so the other day I put down a bit of paint on some paper in an effort to compensate for the lack of fishing.  A spastic painting I call Angry Trout that is a 10x7 watercolor.  This is a bit out of my norm but thought I'd do something different.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Hello Again

Hello again.... Okay, I know I have been slacking lately with this blog as well as my painting and my fishing.  I did get a day free while at work a few weeks ago up in Allentown PA to do a bit of fishing on the Little Leigh River but due to the previous weeks rains, all I got was muddy shoes and the opportunity to tie up a good two dozen flies to replace the ones the river claimed.  I would like to thank Mike from dubthethorax for pointing me in the right direction and hopefully next time that I am up that way I can get some better water conditions and big browns.  When I was there I could see the potential for that stretch of river.  Unfortunately due to the heavy spring rains the water was a deep chocolate muddy mess and I would have had to drag a hook across the back of an unsuspecting fish en-order to get a hook up.  I just spent the day shooting in the dark and praying for a lucky bite...... and it was still better than working.  Anytime I can do something like that while on a business trip is a good day, fish or no fish.
 Last month I really tore it up with the fishing and I decided (or I was informed) that I have tapped out my fishing days while at home for a while so I have been spending the last few weeks either at work or with the family and the time with the family has been quite enjoyable.  Hopefully I can get back into the groove soon with some new paintings and fish on the hook.  I also hope to spend a little time over the next few days catching up with what my fellow anglers have been posting.  I bet that there is a bunch of catch reports that will make for great reading.

(The above painting is @ 6x8 watercolor available for purchase - Email me for information on this piece)