Artist Spotlight: Derek DeYoung (Fishing Artwork)

Artwork Derek DeYoung

Welcome to a new series brought to you by the Eastcoast Angler, Artist Spotlight. Fishing is a lifestyle and there are, thankfully, endless aspects of the outdoor life to surround yourself with. In our new series, we will bring you artists whose work - plain and simple -rocks. If you know of an artist out there that can capture the beauty of what we love so much, send us a comment, we'd love to review their work. We reserved numero uno for, in our opinion, Senor Numero Uno in the angling art world, Derek DeYoung.

Derek DeYoung is a masterful artist working out of his Montana studio. Derek has done for the angling art world what Michelangelo did for some ceiling of a church in Rome. Derek may be best known for his vibrantly colored close-ups of fish, which is what I knew about him. But his work encompasses so much more. Read on, and be amazed by his talent.

His style encompasses realism, impressionism and the sense of abstract. As Derek's work indicates, he was born to be a painter and the Eastcoast Angler is pretty stoked he pursued his childhood dream, and the angling world gets to enjoy the fruits of his labor. Derek's two loves: fly fishing and art, combine harmoniously in his work. You can tell by the detail in the fish, that this guy has landed some serious fish. And you can tell by the feeling you get looking at his work, that this guy is infatuated with painting. Derek has said, “I’ve committed my life to being an artist, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. To be an artist is more then just painting a scene on canvas. An artist sees the world differently then most people. I am always seeking out the beauty in life and in the world, searching for that magical experience or vision that will inspire me to paint at a higher level. The act of pursuing trout and steelhead with a fly rod contains so many of these magical moments. For me the truly inspirational vision, both as an artist and as an angler, comes once I’ve landed a particularly beautiful fish. I hold it up, tilting the fish back and forth in the sunlight, allowing all the subtle colors and patterns to come alive.” Its all good, it works for us. We couldn't agree more, brother. Thanks for bringing those beautiful creatures we catch on a fly rod to majestic life on your canvas.
If you take a gander at Derek's work, like we have done for the first part of our Artist Spotlight series, his work may look vaguely familiar. After some detective work, we came to find out that Derek is the very same artist for those kick ass Abel reels. His paintings mirror the contemporary and unique style seen on his Abel work. Paint on, Derek, paint on.
Check out Derek's work at his website, http://www.canvasfish.com/. You can own a piece of Derek's artwork on any budget: from the Abel reels, to a commissioned piece; from the Simms water bottles donning his artwork to an original masterpiece - you can have some fine fish art of your own. Derek even sells his work on oar covers, note cards and decals. Come on - you know you want it - go out and get yourself a little Derek DeYoung flair of your own. Now that's some "fly" artwork.

Artwork by Derek DeYoung

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