Fishing is a great American pastime, passed down from generation to generation, father to son and mother to daughter.
For most people, their image of fishing is a rod and reel, a bucket of bait, and a comfortable spot on the edge of a large pond or lake. For others it might involve venturing out in a boat either on a lake or on the ocean.
However, wherever, and whenever fishing happens it has the ability to connect one with nature in a way that few other activities can. Which is probably one of the main reasons behind the vast popularity of fishing art.
This genre holds a unique place in the realm of wildlife art in that the “wildlife” subjects are largely unseen and difficult to view outside of the water. And this is one of the lures of fishing art (pun intended!) that it brings the viewer into the hidden world of lakes, streams, ponds, rivers, and even the ocean depths.
Fishing Art: Portraying Underwater Wildlife
The mediums used to create the wildlife art of fish and fishing runs the gamut of oil, acrylic, and watercolor paints to bronze sculptures, wood and fabric assemblages, ceramics, and even stained glass.
While all these techniques are commonly used, and others as well, paintings on canvas are perhaps the most popular artwork pieces that attract fans and collectors alike.
The challenge for many wildlife artists when depicting underwater scenes is in the rendering of light, shadows, and the rippling distortions evident in water.
One of the most prolific wildlife artists creating fishing art is Mark Susinno who catches the angler’s world from every perspective.
Growing up around the Washington, DC area, Susinno was not as familiar with the outdoors as many of his fellow wildlife artists. In fact, it was not until later in life when he found his passion for angling that he began to feature nature and wildlife in his art, with gamefish in particular.
When describing his approach to fishing art, he notes,
"I'm a fisherman and that fact affects how I approach making paintings of game fish. I enjoy suggesting the sense of light and space of the shallow-water aquatic environment, but I also feel the need to present the fish themselves such that they are recognizable to the average fisherman, who is most familiar with how a fish looks when it is out of water.”
Today, Susinno is recognized as one of the foremost gamefish artists. His images have been on 18 different conservation stamps including Pennsylvania’s first of state Trout/Salmon Stamp.
From Wilderness Lakes and Streams to Ocean Depths: Settings for Fishing Art
Not only does the world of fishing art provide artists with a plethora of subjects from every type of freshwater and saltwater fish, but the settings that lend themselves to fish and fishing scenes are almost endless.
And the “fishers” can vary from fly-fishermen in waders to Kodiak bears, and from sun-burned fishing vacationers on a charter boat in Baja to bundled ice fishermen trudging across a frozen lake in Minnesota.
Perhaps the most familiar settings for most admirers and collectors of fishing art, however, is the more tranquil and even pastoral scenes of country ponds or slow moving streams in a rural, wooded region in the Midwest. For many, such scenes evoke memories of childhood and fishing expeditions with parents, grandparents, or a favorite Uncle or family friend.
And, whether one has experienced it for themselves or not, there is something particularly alluring about a lone figure fly-fishing in a sunlit stretch of water, pensively watching for the tell-tale signs of a prize catch lurking just below the surface nearby.
All of this adds up to a particular species of wildlife art that has something for everyone. With the thousands of settings, scenes, and types of fish and water life that can be portrayed, artists and collectors alike can revel in the variety that fishing art offers.
Fishing Art from Wild Wings
Wild Wings offers exclusive and high quality fishing art for sale by renowned wildlife and nature artists Mark A. Sussino, Lee Kromschroeder, and Lee Stroncek who have created numerous lifelike paintings of both freshwater and saltwater fish.
These images include striped bass, rainbow trout, walleyes, brown trout, steelheads, and yellowfin tuna. The fish in these paintings come to life with the fine detail captured by each of these wildlife artists.
Legends like Rollie Brandt and Terry Redlin capture the traditions of fishing in their art prints by focusing on Americana and the fishermen themselves. The love of this sport is celebrated in Wild Wings’ collection of fishing art.
Our vast range of fishing artwork is available in a variety of Limited Edition Art and home décor formats, including framed prints, wood signs, gallery wrapped canvases and more. Each piece of fishing art is handcrafted by Wild Wings artisans and created using premium canvases and paper, and natural wood frames.
The results are stunning fishing artwork pieces that fly fishermen, anglers, and ice fishermen can be proud to hang in their homes, dens, and lakeside cabins.
Wild Wings is the leader in wildlife themed art, and we pioneered the wildlife art industry with over 2,500 print editions produced since 1968.
Today, Wild Wings stocks over 1,000 outdoor and wildlife art prints representing 75 of America’s top artists and our Wildlife Art collection offers buyers the perfect combination of beauty, quality, comfort, and uniqueness.
