Two Rainbow Trout Paintings

Over a decade ago I moved to South Carolina and I took up hiking the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains.  Fishing wasn't a high priority ant the time and fly fishing was a complete unknown.  On these hikes I frequently found myself crossing the countless freestone streams that cascaded through ancient valleys and catching brief glimpses of active native trout. It was on one of these hikes that I ran across a fly fisherman casting to stream raised trout. Miles from a road and framed with the fragrantly green magnolias so common in the south, the angler made the picture of a classic American sportsman. He was straight out of a Winslow Homer watercolor: An Adirondack fisherman quietly alone communing with nature and casting to elusive rises. The poetic naturalist, H. D. Thoreau couldn't have placed words together to match the beauty of that moment for me.

 I watched him from a distance until he coxed a trout to take a dry fly then stealthily returned to my hike. He didn't realize it, but in that quiet moment that idyllic angler hooked two creatures with that one cast. The next week I bought myself a cheap rod and reel setup and began my adventure in fly fishing. It wasn't long after that I began painting the fish I brought to hand and the rest has led me to this.

Simply put I cant get the fish off my mind.  I tie flies to catch them, comb over the internet for gear to cast to them, I read about them, paint them, and have a blog and website dedicated to them.  A psychiatrist might classify it as a sickness and they'd be right but its still better than the other afflictions out there.  

For all you fellow sickos out there I worked up a two completely different trout this morning.  Both are watercolor and ink paintings on smooth acid free Bristol paper and measure 14x11 in.

Rainbow #1 (12/13)

First is the classic sketch of a rainbow trout on a drab brown background.  A simple illustration of a trout in full breading colors.

Rainbow #2 (12/13)

The next is yet another rainbow sketch with a bit of artistic liberty thrown into the mix.  Two completely different styles of illustration of essentially the same trout.  Love them or hate them, they are the product of a trout infused diseased mind.  Enjoy.

Both Paintings Are For Sale

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