Drawing Fish 52_52 Silver Trout

Original status: Available - See below for purchase links.

Swing by Jason's blog to check out his Silver Trout! 

Tech Info - Sharpie, watercolor and gouache and pastel on oatmeal paper. 10" x 12"

The extinct Silver Trout, Check out the history on Wiki. Next year's plan to follow!


Swing by Jason's blog to check out his Silver Trout!

Drawing Fish 52_51 Aurora Trout

Original status: Available - See below for purchase links.

Swing by Jason's blog to check out his Aurora Trout! Jason really nailed this one!

Tech Info - Sharpie, watercolor and gouache and pastel on oatmeal paper. 10" x 12"

Tried to get the movement that you would get with the Northern Lights. Did not quite hit what I had in mind, but it is what it is. I have never witnessed Northern Lights, but it is on my bucket list. In the meantime, here is a cool video of some Aurora's.


To Purchase the original, click below:

Driftless Caddis

The Driftless Caddis - A pattern by Jon Uhlenhop at Chicago Fly Fishing Outfitters.

Drawing Fish 52_50

Original status: Available - See below for purchase links.

Swing by Jason's blog to check out his Payara!

Tech Info - Sharpie, watercolor and gouache and pastel on oatmeal paper. 10" x 12"

This is one toothy fish! I really dig the way the two lower teeth slide into the pockets in the roof of the fishes mouth when it's lower jaw closes. One of nature's cool designs!


To Purchase the original, click below:

To Purchase prints, click below:

Prints are 8" x 10" reproduced on digital watercolor stock, signed and number. Each print comes with a signed certificate of authenticity.

Alaska Trip Inspiration

Sockeye Salmon as inspired by my recent Artist In Residence trip to Bristol Bay Lodge in Alaska.

12" x 18" Watercolor, Gouache and pastel on 140# watercolor paper.

SOLD

Drawing Fish 52_49 Greenland Char

Original status: Available - See below for purchase links.

Swing by Jason's blog to check out his Greenland Char!

Tech Info - Sharpie, watercolor and gouache and pastel on oatmeal paper. 10" x 12"

Another crazy week, but it is always great to come to the studio to paint! Jason and I have been discussing what next year may bring. Stay tuned for an announcement.


To Purchase the original, click below:

To purchase prints, click below:

Prints are 8" x 10" reproduced on digital watercolor stock, signed and number. Each print comes with a signed certificate of authenticity.

DF 52_48 Brookie in hand

Original status: Donated to EDTU Chicago Chapter.

Swing by Jason's blog to see his see his Fish of the week!

Tech Info - Sharpie, watercolor and gouache on oatmeal paper. 10" x 12"

All work and no play makes my paintings way too tight! This week was artist choice for fish. So I went with a brookie in hand. Similar to the brown in hand DF 52_35.

Drawing Fish 52_47 Marble Trout

Original status: Available, 

Swing by Jason's blog to see his see his Marble Trout!

Tech Info - Sharpie, watercolor and gouache on oatmeal paper. 10" x 12"

Sorry for the late post. The day job has been extremely demanding of my time along with being out of town for Thanksgiving! Hope I am forgiven!


To Purchase Original, click below:

To Purchase Prints, click below:

Prints are 8" x 10" reproduced on digital watercolor stock, signed and number. Each print comes with a signed certificate of authenticity.

Drawing Fish 52_46 Barracuda

Original status: Available, 

Swing by Jason's blog to see his see his Barracuda!

Tech Info - Sharpie, watercolor, gouache and pastel on oatmeal paper. 10" x 12"

I dig the car, the song by Heart and the fish! Went safe with this one. A very long and tiring week at the day job has really drained the creativity out of me.

To purchase original:

To purchase prints:

Prints are 8" x 10" reproduced on digital watercolor stock, signed and number. Each print comes with a signed certificate of authenticity.

Drawing Fish 52_45 Dolphin Fish

Original status: Available, email me for details.

Swing by Jason's blog to see his see his Dolphin Fish!

Tech Info - Sharpie, watercolor, gouache and pastel on watercolor paper.

Struggled a bit with this one. Went right to the 30 minute mark.

Drawing Fish 52_44 Snook

Original status: Available, email me for details.

Swing by Jason's blog to see his see his Snook! A great simple and expressive linework snook.

Tech Info - Sharpie, gray marker and white charcoal pencil on oatmeal paper.

Went with some simple line work for this snook with a bit of attitude.

Drawing Fish 52_43 Albie

Original status: Available, email me for details.

Swing by Jason's blog to see his see his Albie!

Tech Info - Watercolor, and gouache on oatmeal paper.

Jason decided to continue with the East coast theme for this week. Tons of colors and very cool markings on this tuna!

Drawing Fish 52-41 Blue Fish

Original status: Available, email me for details.

Swing by Jason's blog to see his see his Blue Fish!

Tech Info - Sharpie, Pastel, Gray markers on oatmeal paper

Tried something a bit different tonight. Put down the brushes and paint and used markers and pastel. I was real tempted to draw Dr. Seuss's little blue fish from One fish two fish red fish blue fish! Maybe later.

Drawing Fish 52-40 Steelhead

Original status: SOLD

Swing by Jason's blog to see his see his Chromer!

Tech Info: Watercolor, Gouache on Oatmeal paper

One of my all time favorite fish! If I could wade in a river and fish these incredible fish everyday and never get board. I have swung flies for chromers on my home waters in the Mid West and on the West Coast. I have many many more rivers to explore out west and look forward to that journey!

Drawing Fish 52-39 Spotted Gar

Original status: Available, email me for details.

Swing by Jason's blog to see his see his Gar!
wide format watercolor paper.

Continued with the toothy theme this week. I had a different image in my mind that I wanted to create for this week. A bit more dynamic image. Alas, I did not really have it in me tonight. I decided to showcase the long and sleek body of the gar by using my wide format watercolor paper.

Drawing Fish 52-38 Lamprey

Original status: Available, email me for details.

Swing by Jason's blog to see his see his Lamprey!

Tech Info- Watercolor, Gouache and Sharpie on oatmeal paper.

Jason suggested something a bit different this week! I really like his choice! He also forwarded an interesting article on the Pacific lamprey and how they are becoming threatened. Did you know that the lamprey dates back 450 million years! The lamprey is considered part of the First Foods with the Northwest Native Americans. The lamprey is native to both the Atlantic and the Pacific. Niagara Falls was a natural barrier until the Welland Canal was built in the early 1919 which allowed passage of the lamprey all the way to Lake Michigan.

Drawing Fish 52-37 Atlantic Salmon

Original status: Available, email me for details.

Swing by Jason's blog to see his see his Atlantic Salmon!

Tech Info- Watercolor, Gouache on oatmeal paper.

My tribute to Winslow Homers Leaping Atlantic Salmon.

Drawing Fish 52-36 Tiger Fish

Original status: Available, email me for details.

Swing by Jason's blog to see his see his Tiger Fish!

Tech Info- Watercolor, Gouache on oatmeal paper.

This past weekend my wife and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. We spent a long weekend in Santa Fe New Mexico and had a wonderful time ( I will post pictures on my Facebook page). I had so much fun that I sent an email to Jason inquiring which fish we would be doing this week. In his reply he stated it was my pick. I have been so busy between the Artist in residence program in Alaska and our anniversary trip that my weeks were all mixed up. Jason suggested we go with a Tiger Fish, so I obliged, so thanks to Jason for keeping me in line and coming up with this weeks suggestion. As for this fish, it called for bright withe teeth and blood red paint!

Drawing Fish 52-35 Brown Trout

Original status: SOLD

Swing by Jason's blog to see his see his Brown Trout!

Tech Info- Watercolor, Gouache on oatmeal paper.

So we decided this week to do a generic brown trout. Sometimes some real gems come in small packages! This image is a drift less area Wisconsin brown held by my best fishing buddy Corey. I am actually working on a full color painting of this sketch. Beauty can sometimes serve in the smallest of packages and experiences. Fishing the drift less area with Corey is someting that I will carry with me forever.

Drawing Fish 52-34 Silver Salmon

Original status: Available, email me for details.

Swing by Jason's blog to see his see his Silver Salmon!

Tech Info- Watercolor, Gouache and Pastel on 140 LBS watercolor paper.

Continuing with my Alaska theme, I decided to go with the fresh from the ocean version instead of the spawned up color version. We were fortunate enough during our trip to use the spey rods and swing for these on fire fish fresh in from the Bering Sea. The fish were so fresh and full of fight that they even still had sea lice on them.

Drawing Fish 52-33 Rio Grande Cutthroat

Original status: SOLD, Prints are available, email me for details.

Swing by Jason's blog to see his Rio Cutt rendition!

Tech Info- Watercolor, Gouache and Pastel on 140 LBS watercolor paper.

Went a bit looser with one. I will post some of progression pictures over the weekend. More later.

Used my new pad of extreme landscape format 12" x 24" watercolor pad.

Drawing Fish 52-32 Dolly Varden

Drawing Fish 52_32 Dolly Varden

Original status: Available, email me for details..

Swing by Jason's blog to see his Dolly Varden rendition!

Tech Info- Sharpie, watercolor and gouache and pastel on oatmeal paper.

I do not know where to start. I just returned from one of the most memorable fishing trips to date. I was privileged to spend a week as an artist in residence at Bristol Bay Lodge in Alaska. None of this would have been possible without the extreme generosity of the lodge and Bob White for making it happen. I will save the details of this trip for a different post.

This image is a portrait of a beautiful male Dolly that I caught while swinging a Morrish mouse pattern on my trip. Nothing like seeing a nice fish take a skating mouse! The colors of these fish are incredible. I exaggerated the colors a bit to drive this point home. The river that I caught this fish in was also filled with a turquoise-green rock that nearly matched the color of the fish.

I will have more images to post this weekend from this amazing trip! (you can see a few of the photos of the trip in my previous post).

Artist in Residence Week at Bristol Bay Lodge

More to come later!

Back From Bristol bay Lodge Alaska

I just returned from the Artist-In-Residence week at Bristol bay Lodge. What an incredible experience! There will be a separate post on this in the upcoming week. Special thanks go out to Bob White for putting together this great event and to Steve Laurent and the entire staff at Bristol Bay Lodge. I will be re adjusting to everyday life this week, and will start posting pictures, once I have had a chance to go through them. Drawing Fish 52, will resume this Thursday so stay tuned!

Drawing Fish 52-31 Chum Salmon

Drawing Fish 52_31 Chum Salmon

Original status: Available, email me for details..

Swing by Jason's blog to see his Chum Salmon rendition!

Tech Info- Sharpie, watercolor and gouache on oatmeal paper.

The Chum "aka Dog" Salmon has one set of teeth and spawning colors that deserve to be painted.

Drawing Fish 52 will be on hold for next week and will resume the following week with a bunch of great images.

Drawing Fish 52_30 Golden Trout

Drawing Fish 52_30 Golden Trout

Original status: Available, email me for details..

Swing by Jason's blog to see his Golden Trout rendition!

Tech Info- Sharpie, watercolor and gouache on oatmeal paper.

More info later! Stay tuned.

Drawing Fish 52_29 Muskie

Drawing Fish 52_29 Muskie

Original status: Available, email me for details..

Swing by Jason's blog to see his Muskie rendition!

Tech Info- Sharpie, white pastel pencil and gray marker on oatmeal paper.

I had a number of concepts on how to approach an image of the big bad north woods muskie! I settled on this foreshortened image and added the extra teeth hanging out for impact!

Drawing Fish 52_28 Stripped Bass

Drawing Fish 52_28 Stripped Bass

Original status: Available, email me for details..

Swing by Jason's blog to see his rendition of the Stripped Bass!

Tech Info- Sharpie, watercolor, gouache and pastel

Back home now and back to painting in the studio. Sketched this one out in Sharpie on 140 lbs watercolor paper. Quick washes with watercolor for value and tone, then details with gouache and pastel. I started mess with it too much at the end. I know I should leave well enough alone!

Drawing Fish 52-27 Sockeye Salmon

Drawing Fish 52_27 Sockeye Salmon

Original status: Available, email me for details..

Swing by Jason's blog to see his rendition of the sockeye!

Tech Info- Sharpie, watercolor and gouache

I spent the week of this post at a church group work camp with my son in Rochester New York. Youth came from all over the country to work in smaller groups on homes in the inner city of Rochester. My crew was assigned a painting job for the first few days, then we were reassigned to a wheel chair ramp construction site. It was an extremely rewarding experience for both the youth and the adult leaders. I was able to squeak this image in during the few minutes of downtime we had in the evening.

Drawing Fish 52_26 Smallmouth (Bronzeback) Bass

Drawing Fish 52_26 Smallmouth (Bronzeback) Bass

Original status: Available, email me for details..

Swing by Jason's blog to see his rendition of the bronzeback!

Tech Info- Sharpie, watercolor, gouache and pastel

I really dig fishing for these beauties in my home waters of the Fox River! Either by swing a Ralphies Minnow with the 6 weight or under a float when the water is high is always a good time.

Best in Show

I exhibited at the annual Art On The Fox Festival over Father's Day weekend. I was honored with a First Place Best In Show Ribbon! Totally unexpected.

To read more about the event, click here and here.

Be sure to check out the photos from the event.

Atightloop Magazine

Swing by Atightloop .com to check out the premier issue of this new Midwest Fly-fishing oriented e-zine. Stuart and Kurt have put together a great issue and look to expand the offerings on upcoming issues.

I am honored to have been interviewed for the premier issue. Swing by Page 63 to read the interview and click on the link to watch the interview at the end of the article.

Be sure to sign up and subscribe to future issues.

Drawing Fish 52_25 Yellowstone Cutthroat

Drawing Fish 52_25 Yellowstone Cutthroat

Original status: Available, email me for details..

Swing by Jason's blog to see his rendition of a Yellowstone Cutthroat!

Tech Info- Sharpie, watercolor, gouache and pastel

This is a memorable fish for me. In 2008 we packed up the family and the camper and headed to Yellowstone. After a bit of sight seeing, we decided to do a bit of fishing in the Yellowstone river. I had the family all spread out at the Nez Pierce access. I looked across the river and I could see fish constantly rising. The river was a bit high and I had a short deep section that I had to navigate. I felt confident with all of the steelhead wading I have done in the past. It was a tough slow wade, but it was worth it. I found a gravel shoal up stream of the rising fish. I stayed put for quite some time, mesmerized by the rising fish. I tried to determine what they were feeding on. made a nice cast and drifted the fly right over them. Nothing. They still continued to rise. I tried a few more casts with no success. To make a long story short, I tried just about everything in my box with no success. I decided to throw on a Royal Wulff. I had never caught a fish on this pattern, even thought I have tied a dozen or so and I know that in my heart it is a tried and true pattern. The proceeded to implement a parachute cast and let the Wulff drift right into their feeding lane. BAM! I set the hook and held on. It took a bit of chasing and dealing with the swift current, but I finally landed that beautiful cut. I was able to get close to shore so that my wife Janine could snap a few shots before the release.

Drawing Fish 52_24 Crappie

Drawing Fish 52_24 Crappie

Original status: Available, email me for details..

Swing by Jason's blog to see his rendition of a crappie!

Tech Info- Sharpie and pastel on cardboard

I had a different approach in mind then what I ended up with. I will try this different technique on a future fish installment. Sketched out the crappie with a Sharpie on a piece of cardboard. I then went in with pastels to add colors and value.

Drawing Fish 52_23 Leopard Rainbow

Drawing Fish 52_23 Leopard Rainbow

Original status: Original and prints are available email me for information.

Swing by Jason's blog to check out his rendition of his Leopard Rainbow!

Tech Info- Watercolor, Pastel and Gouache on Arches 140 lbs watercolor paper

This is the heavily-spotted form of the Alaskan Rainbow. Just started sketching with my pencil, then came in with washes and gouache details. Feeling a bit tight with this one. The brushes did not dance the way I would prefer. Adding the pastel helped to pull it together. There is always next week.

Drawing Fish 52_22 Permit

Drawing Fish 52_22 Permit

Tech Info- Sharpie, Watercolor and Gouache

Thanks to all that emailed your responses to Jason and myself. We did accept either the answer Permit or Pompano. So I gathered all of the correct answers and put them in a hat. My lovely wife will now pick the winner. And the winner of this Permit painting is......Donna L!

Donna - I sent you an email so that you can provide your mailing address. Thanks to all for entering and congratulations to Donna L!