Just Exercising the Brushes

I discovered this pencil sketch in my watercolor sketchbook and decided to get the brushes out and go at it. I had nothing in mind as far as colors type of fly or values when I started. I just wanted this to be a spontaneous fun piece.

This original is available - email me for details.

Drawing Flies 52_35 Crazy Charlie

Drawing Flies 52_35 Crazy Charlie

Original status: email me for information. Prints are available.

Swing by Jason's blog to check out his rendition of a Crazy Charlie!

Tech Info- Digital rendering in PhotoShop using Wacom pressure pen and monitor.

Went digital again with this one. A real quick monochromatic study using my Photoshop brush arsenal. I have been wanting to work on my digital drawing still, so I may experiment with a few more flies.

En Plein Air Trailer

en Plein Air (official trailer) from Wildman Pictures on Vimeo.

Friend and fellow artist Jared Shear at Terrapeer, shared this trailer to a new independent movie about plein air painting in the proposed Scotchmans Wilderness Area. There is nothing better than some great hiking, fellowship and plein air painting!

Drawing Flies 52_34 Hornberg

Drawing Flies 52_34 Hornberg

Original status: email me for information. Prints are available.

Swing by Jason's blog to check out his rendition of a Hornberg!

Tech Info- Digital rendering in PhotoShop using Wacom pressure pen and monitor.

Decided to do something different this week. I decided to sharpen my digital skills a bit and figured this was as good a time as any to do it. Started by creating a neutral gray background. It is always hard to get started with a big old white canvas staring back at you. I then roughly sketched it the shapes then started blocking in color using my "Chalk" brush. I have created a set of digital sketching and painting brushes that I like to use for this kind of work. I continue building shapes and values, just as I would when I use watercolor and gouache. One has to remember that digital painting is just a tool, the fundamentals are the same. I will say though that there is no "Control Z" or "Undo" key with conventional painting!

I have tied a couple of Hornbergs, but I cannot say that I have had great success with them. The Hornberg was developed a retired Wisconsin Conservation Warden named Frank Hornberg. The fly has been known to imitate a large sedge or a small minnow. Knowing that Frank was from Wisconsin, my bet is that the later was what he was striving for.

The Hornberg can range from "Real Scruffy looking" to more refined as I have shown. I chose this look because I new time would be a factor when rendering the mallard. I recall seeing seeing a while back a rendition of a Hornberg where the the tips of the mallard were brought together and glued with some head cement. That is the way I decided to render it.

There is nothing like jungle cock as great method to draw your eye to the center of interest on this fly!

Drawing Flies 52_33 Takayama Sakasa Kebri

Drawing Flies 52_33 Takayama Sakasa Kebri

Original status: SOLD

Swing by Jason's blog to check out his rendition of a Tenkara fly!

Tech Info- Watercolor stock, Bamboo pen, sepia ink, gouache and watercolor.

Jason through down artist choice on a Tenkara fly this week. I have to admit that I did not know that much about Tenkara. So I went to the web to do a bit of research. I was fornutate to come across the Tenkara USA site, which is chock full of information and videos. For those who are not familiar with Tenkara, the site states - " Tenkara is the traditional Japanese method of flyfishing which uses only a rod, line and fly. Tenkara is a category of fly fishing particularly well-suited for fishing streams and for fishing while back packing. It's a very effective, simple and enjoyable method of fly-fishing small streams."

I scanned the page that had the flies listed on it and chose the Takayama Sakasa Kebri. According to the site - "The Takayama Sakasa Kebari are thought to be one of the older "sakasa" (reverse hackle) patterns used in tenkara fly fishing. It's an "elaborate" fly compared to some of the other tenkara patterns, for this one has a peacock herl collar, and a "butt". We'll never know whether it really is one of the oldest sakasa flies,but it's a beautiful one.

These are tied with the softer part of a hackle, which makes them a great mix of soft-hackle wet flies, and the stiffer hackle sakasa flies. They can be very effectively fished as a wet fly (swung), or by giving it some life by light twitches on your rod."

I really like the look of the reverse hackle, and I am always a sucker for peackock herl and a bright butt! I was not quite sure which painting approach I should take with this fly. At first I thought something similar, like the fishing style itself. Then I thought about something with an oriental flair. I scanned my arsenal and decided, I had to use a bamboo pen! I layed down some sepia ink, then folowed it up with the color. After reading more about these flies, I was curious as to the idea behing the reverse hackle.Since the hackle is more of a soft style, I imagine that it flows back when swung, creating an inciting look! Swing by Tenkara USA and check all there is to offer about Tenkara.

Drawing Flies 52_32 Serendipity

Drawing Flies 52_32 Serendipity

Original status: email me for information..

Swing by Jason's blog to check out his rendition of the of the Serendipity!

Tech Info- Oatmeal paper stock, Graphite pencil, gouache and watercolor.

I was not sure exactly how to approach this weeks fly. I intended to pull out the old standbys, bamboo pen, sepia ink. Instead I went with a graphite sketch and then threw down some watercolor and gouache. Keeping true to the the name, I used all warm colors, creating a calm and serene feeling.

The serendipity was the second fly I fished when I started fly fishing. Unfortunately, it did not produce, but I will try it again when the time is right.