I was raised by a dedicated fisherman. Year-round, my dad was out there, rod in hand. My sister tells me that whenever he’d visit her out West, they’d go for a drive and he’d invariably say, as they crossed a river, “A man could catch a fish in that stream …” Knowing my dad, he probably could.
Consequently, I have a soft spot in my heart for the sight of a person fishing. Childhood fish fries nourished more than my body.
This little guy’s cute, with his hard-edged colorful washes, but he’d really take over this little painting.
FISHING
Watercolor on rough paper
3" × 4" (8cm × 10cm)
This fellow was fishing from an aluminum Jon boat at Watkins Mill State Park. It was an overcast day and the fish seemed to be biting like mad.
I used the tip of a round brush and a lacy, dancing stroke to suggest the foliage at left as well as the tops of the trees on the far shore. A bit of scratching with the tip of a sharp craft knife augmented the dry-brush sparkle of the water.
I introduced a bit of brighter color here and there while the wash was still wet and let the color spread naturally. This works better than hard, sharp washes when you want the figure to complement your painting. When the washes were dry, I refined the details a little with dark shadows in the figure and the boat.
We pulled into a rest stop with a glorious view so I could paint and my fiancé Joseph could try fly fishing in the Hudson River. I didn’t know how long we’d be there, or how long he’d be in one place; like most fishermen, he tends to try out different holes. So, I used one of my favorite techniques, sketching with a fine-tipped marker with waterproof ink, then adding watercolor washes until I ran out of time.