Drawing Flies 52_40 Wickhams Fancy

Drawing Flies 52_40 Wickhams Fancy (wet)

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

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

Tech Info- Watercolor and gouache 140 lbs watercolor paper.

A beautiful traditional English wet fly. I like the combinations of the wing, collar and gold body. Jason was looking forward to my "metal work", so I hope He likes this one, since it is a bit obscured by counter wrapped hackle.

Drawing Flies 52_39 Bunyan Bug

Drawing Flies 52_39 Bunyan Bug

Original status: SOLD

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

Tech Info- Watercolor and gouache 140 lbs watercolor paper.

I created this quick sketch in my new watercolor sketchbook. The paper did not react to the watercolor in the manner I am use to, but I will have to work with it some more to get the hang of it. I am going to leave the story of the Bunyan Bug up to Jason, due to his connection with "The River Runs Through It". The Bunyan Bug is one of those flies that not only looks good and catches fish, but has a story that captures your imagination. Below is a full blown painting I did of the Bunyan Bug. This one took more than 30 minutes due to the complex layering of washes, but I thought it would be of interest in this post. . The final picture is an in progress shot of the initial wash, my palette and brushes.

Post on Captain Rusty Hook

The Captain Rusty Hook blog has a nice post about Drawing Flies 365. You can read it here (You will have to use the translate function in your browser unless you are fluent in Italian!). Thanks for the nice post Captain! While you are visiting, be sure to check out his other posts.

Drawing Flies 52_38 Joliette Hopper

Drawing Flies 52_38 Joliette Hopper

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

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

Tech Info- Watercolor and gouache 140 lbs watercolor paper.

This is one of my favorite hopper patterns for late Summer trout in the Wisconsin Driftless area. Many a fish have fallen prey to this great pattern. I used a very tattered and beat up fly from my box as reference. If I painted it the way it looks now, it would almost be unrecognizable as a hopper. I just returned from a week long watercolor color workshop up in Northern Wisconsin. This was the first painting I did after returning. Nothing seemed to work the way I had envisioned. The brush felt sluggish, color mixing was off, but I struggled through and did the best I could today.

Drawing Flies 52_37 Rusty Spinner

Drawing Flies 52_37 Rusty Spinner

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

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

Tech Info- Watercolor and gouache 140 lbs watercolor paper.

Back to the traditional media I love best. I was going for the look of the spinner laying on top of the water withe the Z-lon wings and tail fibers supporting it. Great simple and effective pattern. More on this later.

Drawing Flies 52_36 Dahlberg Diver

Drawing Flies 52_36 Dahlberg Diver

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

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

Tech Info- Dirty sidewalk, 1600 PSI pressure washer, 15 degree tip and water.

Now for something completely different! I was instructing my Son on how to pressure wash our real dirty sidewalk. It suddenly occurred to me that this section of sidewalk would make a great canvas. I grabbed the pressure washer and started drawing, I mean washing, this image of the Dahlberg Diver. I evened signed it. The image only lasted an hour, before my Son cleaned it away.