Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Drawing Flies 52_22 Dr. Oatman


Drawing Flies 52_22 Dr Oatman

Original status: Original available, email me for info.

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

Tech Info- Gouache on neutral toned paper paper. Did a very quick sketch of the proportions in pencil, then went at it with the gouache. I started with the wing, then worked on the body. Started with basic flat shapes, then added darks and lights to make the surfaces read. I did a lot of "fiddling" to get things the way I wanted them and it caused me to run the full 30 minutes. Joseph Meyer at One More Cast asked my why I have never included a vise in any of my images. He told me that "after all I am also a fly tyer you should have a vise in a few images". Well Joseph, there you go!

I really like the long sleek lines of traditional streamer patterns. I also enjoy all of the patterns created by Lew Oatman. I was introduced to the oatman patterns by my friend Chris Delplato.
Chris also started the Streamer List, which is a network which is dedicated to tying, fishing and history of the long fly.

Chris provided this history on the Doctor Oatman - Not a lot of specific history on that fly. Circa 1953. As you know, Lew designed each of his streamers to imitate specific baitfish. This is the only one of his 'published' patterns (Bates' "Streamer Fly Tying and Fishing") which I suspect is a 'tribute' fly. As far as I can see, his notes for this fly don't reference a specific forage fish. None of the correspondence I have from him make mention of the Dr. Oatman as "an imitation of ...." This, coupled with the the naming of the fly, leads me to believe it is more a tribute pattern than an exact imitation of anything that swims."

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