The Great Fisherman
And the one that almost got away.
I painted this fisherman over the summer when it was warm and perfect for fishing. It reminded me of the fishermen in my life, starting with my Papa. As I described in my blog post "Summers on the Lake", https://art-for-arts-sake.com/2020/11/27/summers-at-the-lake/ we all fished at the lake. Summers spent there bring back memories of bluegill hardly big enough to keep, minnows in a bucket, fishin' worms in Papa's shed, and sunburned kids. Grandma used to tell us kids we were "brown as hop toads."
Many family members still fish, just not at the cabin, as it was sold long ago. Siblings and cousins live all over the United States now. My brothers still live in WV though and have their own pond that they keep stocked for fishing. My nephews live near the ocean and fish quite often with their Dad. Here is a picture of one of my nephews reeling in 'the big one' recently. He struggled mightily to reel that one in but he did it! And his Dad was with him to record the moment.
Inspiration for this painting and a link to Reference materials can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXBoCtBJais&t=98s
You will find tips on mixing paint for skin color in this video which I found helpful. Getting that 'brown as hop toad' tan color can be tricky. :)
Unless you are ice fishing or live near the ocean, your rods and reels are probably in storage. So.....
Till next summer!
Helen