Revive - A Quarterly Fly Fishing Journal Fall 2016 | Page 18

First off, let me just say that this has got to be one of the coolest opportunities I’ve ever had to interview an artist for our journal. Back when I first remember seeing your Abstract “Macro” Brown trout cheek my first thought was “what a great perspective” So how did that first up close brown trout gill pate and eye picture find its way into your creative process?

Hello Revive Fly Fishing Journal, and thanks for checking in with me here at DeYoung Studio. When I came out of art school at the age of 23, I was convinced that I was going to spend my life as an artist, painting fish.. somehow, some way. Back then, most of my work was very much influenced by the fish art that was going on at the time, fish in hand, underwater environments, and seascapes. But as I sought out a style and look of my own, I considered the words of one of my professors, “Either be the very best at what you do, or do it in a new way”. At the time, I really didn’t see anyway I could be the best, so I started looking at the fish art genre, for a style that wasn’t being done that I could adapt to my own work. That is when I came up with the idea to push my work in the contemporary direction. With that being my new goal, the gloves were off, and I was looking for any new way of representing fish. One of the most popular that I came up with at that time, was the ABSTRACT FISH FACE SERIES. Over the years the paintings in this series have evolved a lot. They used to be much more impressionistic and brushy. Now days they lean more towards realism. I have been painting them now for 12 years, and they never get redundant. They are an old friend, and because I’ve spent so much time painting them, it frees up my mind to explore new palettes and color pairings. I hope to still be painting a few of them when I’m 80 years old.