Oil Painting Of A Trout In Hand

Back to painting and being inspired bu the blogging network.  Some of my loyal followers might have noticed that oil painting is not one of my more common styles of painting and to tell the truth it has somewhat intimidated me as an artist.  Up until recently most of my works have been watercolors, pen and ink, and pencil pieces but I thought I would push my boundary a bit and branch out into oils and see what happens.  After all, one does not grow without expanding the knowledge base and for me I truly only learn by just doing it.

For this oil I turned to a popular blogger and frequent collaborator - Josh from bigerrfish.blogspot.com .  I loved the simple colors and the lines of this fish half out of the water.  The smooth arch of the back and angle of Josh's hand dipped into the water made for a typical yet simply artful composition for me to work with.  I also loved the colors in the water as they ran around and reflected the sky, the grassy bank, and the fish.  I did not go into this painting with the idea of exactly duplicating the photo but instead simply use it as a springboard for the final piece.

The photo above was taken while the paint is still wet so there is allot of reflection of light and a few dark shadows that seem to alter the true colors of the piece.  I believe that the distant picture on top shows more of the actual feel of the piece and I figure that you get the overall gist of what it should look like.  Maybe when it is completely dry I can get a better photo of it but for now its as good as it gets.
"Red Arch Of Trout"
11x14 in. Oil On Canvas