EdgarArt Studio

Rainbow Trout, Oil on Canvas (2016)

Flyfishing on the Lower Mountain Fork River, in Oklahoma.  I hiked in about a mile before daylight.  When it became light enough to see I spotted a trout rising and feeding on caddis flies. 

I had none in my box and was unsuccessful. 

That evening I tied some flies to match what the trout were feeding on.  The next morning at daylight I was spotted the same fish surfacing.  I tied on one of my flies I tied the evening before. 

At the third cast, the trout rose and took my fly.  I landed him, laid him on some rocks on the shore and pulled out my camera and photographed him laying on the rocks.  I released him back into the river unharmed. 

I bought the canvas and wanted to use the trout painting as a motivator to paint even while in law school.  But, any attempt to finish the painting was unsuccessful as I could not paint backgrounds. 

The canvas stayed ½ painted for several years.  In 2015 I finally devoted my effort and focus on painting the background.  Closely studying the subtleties of each rock face. For the first time ever in my art, I painted a background.  I spent months painting the rocks and background first before I painted the trout.

I painted and repainted the trout using different brushes and techniques before I felt like I got it right. Close study of the scales of a rainbow trout shows they are fairly uniform in shape and even follow perfect diagonal lines. they only differ in size and color.

  This was the first time in my entire life that I ever painted a background, and as such is probably my finest work of art.