Trout Paintings

Monday, August 31, 2009

Waterproof Membrane


This is a painting I did for an AIA art show, featuring art by architects. I was told that the art does not need to be architecture related. This painting features 3 different views of a rainbow. It is the first time I have drawn a trout from above and from underneath. This was an idea I got from looking at some various science illustrator's websites I like how scientific illustrators convey information with very detailed and accurate paintings. Don't mistake this paint for an accurate representation of trout anatomy, the bone structure is merely an artistic representation.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Reflections on Brown


Fishermen tend to be a reflective bunch, perhaps it is all the time we spend on the water not catching fish it gives one time to think over life's tough mysteries such as; where are all the big trout that live in this river? Fish have a tendency to be reflective too, not the way fishermen reflect but rather a literal reflecting especially while under the water. Here is a Brown trout doing some reflecting. I tried to capture this reflective quality of a trout under water with the risk of it looking like it had been whipped with a fly rod. I think it came out alright, despite the fact I went a little crazy on the background.

Watercolor 9"x11" limited edition print of 50 - $50

Monday, August 24, 2009

Dance of the Brookies


This painting was inspired by my recent backpacking trip, where I learned more about my friend the Brook trout. The Brook trout seems to be a very fun loving fish, always
frolicking about the lake jumping without a care in the world. Their variety of festive colors are also fun and what makes them one of my favorite fish to paint.

In this painting I tried to loosen up, paint faster and let the watercolors do their thing. Letting colors run together sometimes gives unexpected results, but thats the beauty of watercolors.

Watercolor 15x22 Limited print of 50 - $75

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Back Packing Mt. Jefferson







Just Got back from a Awesome 2 night backpacking trip with my father Ed and friend Les.
We hiked to some lakes on the southwest side of Mount Jefferson. The scenery was some of the best I have seen so far in Oregon. The fishing in the small lakes was alright for small brookies, I did however manage to catch one over 12" not bad for a high mountain Brookie, at least in these lakes.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Release the Brown Trout


This is another watercolor where I experimented with the background and worked in a subtle reflection off the water. I do not like paintings where the background visually overpowers the trout, so I kept the colors of the water toned down with not much detail to keep the attention on the trout. I was also experimenting using maskit to create it a "halo" around the black spots, this technique still needs some work but I like the affect this will be very helpful for brook trout.
(You might notice the stray caudal fin on the left side of the painting, not sure what I was thinking this started out as more of a sketch and then turned into a painting)

Water Color 9X12" limited print of 50 - 75$ contact me if you are interested in the original

Monday, August 10, 2009

Free Rainbow


I have been working on my watercolor technique trying to better utilize the qualities of watercolors.
This is a Rainbow trout not one that I caught (I never catch trout this big) but a image from a NW Fly Fishing magazine.
Watercolor 9X12" Limited Print of 50 - 75$

Friday, August 7, 2009

Beneath the Rapids


This is one of the first trout paintings that I have ever done way back in High School. Unlike most my paintings where the focus is on the details of the fish this painting tries to capture the subject's environment. The water reflections on the Trout's back really harmonizes it with its surroundings, I was reluctant to paint the reflections at first for fear of ruining the trout but my art teacher convinced me to do it and I am glad I did.

19" x24" Water Color, Limit Print of 50 - $125

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Lahontan Cutthroat


This is a water color of a juvenile Lahontan Cutthroat trout . I have not caught one of these yet but hopefully I will someday.

9"x12" water color limit print of 50 - 50$

My Favorite Trout that's not a Trout


Here is a painting of the Brook Trout my wife caught at rock lakes. The Brook trout is one of my favorites even though it's not really a trout but a Char. I love the brook trout's intense colors the bright orange/red belly and the dark green almost black back. The Brook trout's yellow spots however pose a challenge when painting it, next time I will use a "maskit" for the spots. I am also not too happy with the head its a little strange but over all its a decent rendering of the fish.

9"x 12" Water Color, Limit print of 50 = 50$

Rock Lake Brook


This is a nice Brook Trout that my wife caught on a backpacking trip to Rock Lakes ( I am holding it in the picture her hands are not that manly). Rock lakes is a small group of lakes south of Mount Hood about 2 hours from Portland. I normally practice catch and release but when it comes to eating dehydrated noodles or fresh trout after hiking 5 miles I choose the unlucky brooky.

"The perch swallows the grub-worm, the pickerel swallows the perch, and the fisher-man swallows the pickerel; and so all the chinks in the scale of being are filled" - Thoreau, Walden Pond

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Average Rainbow for an Average fisherman


I love fishing, but I will admit that I am an average fisherman at best. I hope I am better at painting fish than I am at catching them. This is a painting of the typical rainbow the type I might catch on a typical day fly fishing the streams in the Oregon Cascades, some photos of which I will post later. If you like this "Average Rainbow" e-mail me and I can sell you a limited edition print.

Water Color, 9x12"