Brown Trout In Spawning Colors

  Its been far to long since I painted a trout so today with the rain coming down and a little Yonder Mountain String Band on the player I sketched out yet another Brown Trout. I bet I have painted about thirty plus of these beautiful trout over the years but it never gets old.  Like all anglers, I just cant get enough of them either in the water or on the paint.

 As with most of my works it all starts out with a fairly clear idea of what the basic painting should look like so with that in mind I sketch it out.  Over the years I have improved this process.  I use to sketch out so many details, trying to plan out every paint stroke but over time I have found out the minimum amount of pencil marks needed for a final painting.

  It is a simple fact that the beauty of a brown trout in full spawn colors is one of the most amazing palettes of color in the natural world.  It is for this reason that I choose the brilliant yellows and oranges in my paint box to paint most of my brown trout.
  After dropping in some clean water into the area I want to paint I then begin building up colors from yellows, oranges, and olive greens for the back.  Pre-wetting the paper before I add the paint allows me to blend the colors easily.  It also makes for a good boundary for where I don't want paint to flow.

  I also opted for a little background pigment on this painting.  Mixing in a little blue with some of the same colors I used on the fish I let them flow naturally along the edges of the fish.  I also began the process of lifting off some of the pigment around areas where I wanted the spots to go.  This adds a faint halo of color similar to what a fresh caught brown displays.
  The finished painting measures roughly 7x9 and fits very nicely in a 11x14 mat cut with a 8x10 opening.

    "Brown Trout"
         Spawning Colors
Size        -7in x 9in
Medium  - Watercolor on paper
Availability - FOR SALE

I would love to keep this one but honestly I have a ton more clogging up the studio corners and I just don't have the room.  If you are interested just shoot me an email.  As always this painting will come in its own mat and backing board.