flyartist

There are only 2 days left to receive your $10 book discount! To preview and order your book today, click here. Enter the following code at checkout to receive the discount: Orders from the US (using US $): GREATGIFT Orders from UK (using UK £): GREATGIFT2 Orders from EU (using EU €): GREATGIFT3 Orders from AU (using AUD $): GREATGIFT4 View the full article

Jason Borger (whose credentials would take an entire post to list!) at Fish Fles and Water and I are going to collaborate on a new project starting January 1st. We are going to draw the same fly on the same day of the week. We will post those flies to our respective blogs every Thursday. Each fly will be our own interpretation that neither of us will see until we post it. The idea is to create a collaboration hosted by two artists who love to illustrate the same subject matter. To keep the project fun we are going to limit ourselves to 30 minutes total drawing time for each fly. That is more than enough time for me to get into creative trouble! The first fly we will be drawing is the Mickey Finn. And it will appear on each of our blogs January 1, 2010. We will post new flies every Thursday thereafter and we plan to keep it up for an entire year. We both hope that FF&W and DF365 readers will enjoy this new project. Stop back on the 1st to check out the Finn! View the full article

Blurb is offering $10 off either version of my new book! Enter the following code at checkout to receive the discount! Hurry, offer is valid until December 31st. Click here to preview and order the book Orders from the US (using US $): GREATGIFT Orders from UK (using UK £): GREATGIFT2 Orders from EU (using EU €): GREATGIFT3 Orders from AU (using AUD $): GREATGIFT4 View the full article

The Drawing Flies 365 book is now available! This 154 page book takes you on a visual journey as I draw/paint 365 fishing flies every day for a year. You can click here to preview 15 sample pages of the book. This link also directs you to the ordering and pricing page for obtaining your copy of the book. I decided to self publish this book through Blurb, who is a print on demand publisher. The book quality is superb. I am offering the book in two versions, soft cover or hard cover with a dust jacket. For those of you that pre-ordered the limited edition copies, you will receive an email with all the information for your order. This book will make a great unique Holiday gift! I hope you enjoy the book. Putting this book together brought back some great memories from that year. View the full article

"Bead Head Woolly Bugger" Watercolor and Gouache - 10" x 14" This painting was created for an upcoming project. More details will be released later. More images from these series to come! View the full article

Scott Hale over at ArtCreel is offering 10 limited edition prints from the Drawing Flies 365 Series 1 collection. Stop by and check out all of the available art. View the full article

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I have a number of items that will be announced the second week of November, namely the anticipated book release. But for now, I am Gone Fishing! View the full article

"Blue Butt Caddis Emerger" This painting was done for my freind Tom Helgeson over at Midwest Fly Fishing Magazine. Tom puts out a fantastic tabloid journal that covers fishing in the Midwest. It is refreshing in the age of digital books and e-zines, that someone can still print a quality journal that you can read while dozing of in bed dreaming about your next fishing trip or while on the can passing time dreaming about your next fishing trip. Tom also hosts the the Midwest Fly Fishing show in Chicago and Minneapolis every year. Tom, hope you like the painting, and I cannot wait to try fishing this pattern for trout! The blue tail does not that prominent in the pictures. It is a painting challenge getting that blue metallic flash tail to pop off the painting. View the full article

"Cassi's Tribute- Art on Skin" I received an email about a week back from Cassi asking permission to use a fly for a tattoo. I have had other request for use of fly art for tattoos, but Cassi has been the only one to not only follow through, but to send a picture of the art immediately after it's completion. Cassi used No. 363 as her choice of body art. Now for the coolest part of the story. Cassi had this tattoo done as a tribute to her grandfather. Here is what Cassi had to say about her life and her Grandpa: "My entire family lives in LA and I spent time with my Grandpa deep sea fishing for tuna and fishing for bass in Newport. I have been fishing with him since middle school. It has been the best time of my life. When my granpa turned 59, he retired from Lockheed and moved to Oregon to learn to fly fish. He unexpectedly passed away one year after moving to Oregon. Three years ago I moved to Oregon into my grandfathers house. A good friend of mine took me on a fly fishing raft trip. We were not that successful, but we had an awesome experience. This is what it must have felt like to my Grandpa to learn something new." I am extremely grateful that my art can help create a lasting memory for someone who had a great love of fishing and for his family. B.C. You have a fantastic Grandaughter who now has artwork inscribed in your memory. View the full article

"Respect The Fly" This was a collaboration between Steve at Fishing Florida Radio and yours truely. We ended up with one kick ass fly! Check out respect the fly.com to order a cool camo hat and more to come! I really enjoy working on these graphic representation images of flies. Kind of like fly team mascots! View the full article

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AGPzJaa9WGk/Spnl...TS+BUNNY+2B.jpg "Orange Flats Bunny 2" This is another of the paintings for Fishing Florida Radio. I really have been enjoying doing saltwater flies. Being from the midwest, the colors and shapes of these flies are a painters dream. Looking forward to trying saltwater fishing someday. Shoot on over to their site to register to win a painting! View the full article

My fly art will be featured weekly in the MidCurrent Fly Fishing Newsletter. Sign up for free to get your copy sent fresh to your inbox! View the full article

"Seaducer" Watercolor and Gouache.This is another painting for the Fishing Florida Radio Monthly giveaway. Enjoy. View the full article

"Royal Wulff" - 10" x 20"- Ball point pen, watercolor and gouache. I used a new technique to create this fly. I sketched the fly with a black ball point pen using some cross hatching to define shapes. I then went over the sketch with watercolor and a bit of gouache. What I really like about creating an image in this fashion is that you can see my pen marks through the transparent watercolor wash. I have 2 more paintings on the easel in which I am using this technique on. I will shoot pictures of the ball point image before I add the watercolor washes and show them on future blog posts. I picked up this technique from Jason Seilerwho is an incredible artists that specializes in portraits and humorous illustration. This is one of the flies for the monthly paintings which are given away on Fishing Florida Radio. Drop by their site to enter to win. You can also listen to their show via Podcasts. You will not be disappointed! View the full article

I would like to introduce my blog readers to a project that I am proud to be a part of. That project would be the Fishy Kid.org site. I was asked to be one of the artists to submit artwork for the kids coloring book project. This site is the brain child of Cameron (from Fiberglass Manifesto) and Kevin (Red Dirt Studio). Here is a brief description of the project: "The fishy kid site was designed to provide children and families inspiration to be outdoors and on the water. There will also be an educational component to the site as we link up with conservation organizations too. For our first project/contest we paired up with a stellar list of fly fishing artists and came up with a 30 plus page coloring book which can be downloaded from the site once you've registered as a member there. We've also paired up with a growing list of gear sponsors who are providing prizes that we'll use for a coloring contest that will run from August through November. The first week of December we'll be drawing winners and sending off prizes." Bob White, Derek DeYoung, AD Maddox, Kevin Powell, Paul Puckett, Kurt Warner and Mark Yuhina are just some of the contributing artist to the coloring book. Drop by the site and check it out. If you have kids, get them coloring and enter to win some of the great prizes they have lined up. View the full article

"Emulator Sculpin" - Watercolor and gouache. Dave P. (Speymaster and fly fishing guide extraordinaire), called a few weeks back and requested a commission painting. Dave was invited to Michigan guide Kevin Feenstra's wedding and wanted to give Kevin and his bride a unique gift. Kevin guides in West Michigan and his known for his Sculpin pattern and many other flashy steelhead patterns. Dave requested a painting of Kevin's signature pattern the Emulator Sculpin. This was the result. Dave called me last night to let me know that the Happy newly weds really enjoyed his gift. Congrat Kevin! View the full article

"Napkin Fly" Sharpie and gouache on napkin. I happen to be sitting outside eating my lunch one fine afternoon when fly inspiration struck. I pulled out my trusty Sharpie and started to sketch. When I returned to the studio that evening, I enhanced the sketch with a bit of gouache. View the full article

"Mark's Skunk" Watercolor and Gouache. Friend, fly tyer extraordinaire and fishing guru, Marty Howard contacted me to do a commission painting for his good friend Mark O'Meara (the professional golfer). Marty wanted to give Mark a unique gift as a wedding present. This pattern is one that Mark likes to fish and tie. It is pretty cool knowing that one of my paintings is hanging up in a professional golfers house. I wonder if Mark keeps an eye out for rises in the ponds while he is golfing. I can imagine him asking his caddy for his 5 weight, then dashes over to the pond to catch a few gills with a foam spider while the other golfers make their shots. View the full article

"Silver Hilton" Superfly Vodka Label Well I guess I have a run on the liquor industry!Ryan Webster at Superfly sent me an email about creating some art for his new line of potato vodka. I responded with the Slver Hilton. The first batch out of the still is due the middle of July. I am looking forward to sampling the first batch. Check out Ryan's website at www.superflybooze.com to find out more information. Ryan is a grass roots kind of operation. This is the type of industry and spirit (no pun intended) that has made thsi country great. View the full article

"Sheri's Fly" 18" x 22" Watercolor and Gouache I was approached by the Sportsmans Alliance for Alaska about donating a painting for their online auction. In summary the Sportsmans Alliance are Hunters and anglers working together to preserve fish and game habitats and hunting and fishing opportunities on our public lands in Alaska. Fishing in Alaska is one of the top 5 trips I want to take before I take a dirt nap. Sometimes it becomes difficult (especially in these economic times) to donate cash to worthy causes, so I decided to donate an original fly painting for the auction. In the past, I have donated finished paintings of my choice to the auction. This time I allowed the auction winner to pick the fly they wanted painted. The winner was Mike H. and this was his email to me: "The fly I want to have drawn is a simple one. It's one that I have been tying for my wife, Sheri, to use for 25 years in the lakes we fish and it's the only fly she uses. Nothing special to anyone but us. We call it a Fore & Aft with a Red Tail, or more typically, "Sheri's Fly". Not very creative, but descriptive. It's like a peacock lady with a few different colors." Well Mike, I hope you and Sheri enjoy this painting! Nothing like a fly with a great story! View the full article

Collector's Edition "Jeff Kennedy" Wines 5% of Sales to Support the Federation of Fly Fishers Since my surgery I've learned that it's fairly easy to enjoy a glass of wine with the other hand...moreover, wine labeled with my own art! Recently, I was afforded the opportunity to apply my creative talents to the world of fine wine in collaboration with StoneFly Vineyards and their sister winery Windsor Vineyards. Both craft outstanding wines and are doing a tremendous amount of work to pair the traditions of winemaking and fly fishing. In trade for the use of my paintings "Fishing on the Fox" and "Milwaukee Morning," they applied their label design skills to craft two stunning labels of collector's edition "Jeff Kennedy." Take a close look at how they used two of my fly paintings "McGinty" and "Halloween Spey." I think they did a remarkable job of crafting a label and preserving my original artistic intent...and the wines are outstanding! Continuing in the spirit of collaboration I am now offering my readers the limited opportunity to purchase these fine wines labeled with my artistic creations. Moreover you can enjoy these wines while making a difference for fly fishing. Together we will contribute 5% of your net purchase of these wines to the Federation of Fly Fishers, whose work is instrumental in keeping our fly fishing community thriving and growing. The cost for the very tasty 06 Zinfandel is $15/bottle and for the 2007 Mendocino Chardonnay $18/bottle. You can order as little as one bottle or even multiple cases. To place an order you can reach Nick at 707.836.5492 or nickp@stoneflyvineyards.com. View the full article

I have created a set of wallpaper images which you can download to your iTouch or iPhone. Get the entire set free here. Download the Drawing Flies 365 Wallpaper set. View the full article

"Silver Hilton" 22" x 14" Watercolor and Gouache. This image will be used on an upcoming project that will be revealed shortly. This is the first fly that I have been able to paint using my right hand. Although painful, physical therapy is helping to loosen up my tight right shoulder. View the full article

"Mill Stream" Sharpie and Watercolor. I have a few new sketches up on my Sketch Blog. Drop by to have a look. You can also receive all of my latest studio news by subscribing to my newsletter. Simply add your email address in the newsletter subscription sidebar. View the full article

"Pete's Killer Frog" Watercolor and Gouache. Pete H. from my tying club commissioned the painting of his signature fly. View the full article