By any standard, Don Ray is one of the country’s premier marine-fish artists as this exclusive Sport Fishing gallery clearly shows. (You’ll find more information on the artist at the end of the gallery.)
COMPETITION
Artist’s Comment: This painting was more difficult to compose than to paint. I went for the more old-style look seen on hunting and fishing periodicals back when illustrations in magazines and books were still popular. Sadly, those days are all but gone. The under-painting was done in a sepia wash that glows through the finished piece. I was able to get stop-action photos to study by throwing bait to frigate birds.
COMPETITION
LEAP OF FAITH
Artist’s Comment: Any shark that can leap like a mako deserves to be painted airborne! This is the second of two such paintings I have done. This one, with the shark busting a school of bluefish, was selected for the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art’s exhibition entitled “Shark.” (That exhibition was curated by the renowned marine artist, Richard Ellis.)
LEAP OF FAITH
SWORDFISH, MACKERELS AND SEA NETTLES
Artist’s Comment: Since a swordfish’s diet can vary depending where it is in the water column, I decided to use tinker mackerel as bait. You can see one mackerel sliced in half and another that is reminiscent of Edvard Munch’s famous painting “Der Schrei der Natur” (The Scream of Nature, better known as simply “The Scream”). In the tradition of Stanley Meltzoff, I’ve added some jellyfish.
SWORDFISH, MACKERELS AND SEA NETTLES
COLOR CHANGE
Artist’s Comment: I wanted to show the sometimes-dramatic change in color of the sea where different currents meet. This can be a great place to find pelegic fish such as sailfish and bait cruising along the color-change edge.
COLOR CHANGE
BARNEGAT LIGHT STRIPER
Artist’s Comment: This painting was commissioned by Penn Fishing Reels for their catalog. They wanted to show the coastline as it may have looked before development.
BARNEGAT LIGHT STRIPER
SET SAILS
Artist’s Comment: Another tricky composition. I’ve been told that this painting looks like a composite, stop-action shot of a single sailfish moving in and striking the bait. In retrospect, I agree.
SET SAILS
BULL AND COW UNDER THE WEEDS
Artist’s Comment: Dolphin are all-around great fish. They are colorful, fun to catch and to swim with, and great to eat. I wanted the viewer to feel like he or she is in the water with these beautiful fish swimming overhead.
BULL AND COW UNDER THE WEEDS
PROWLING MARLIN
Artist’s Comment: I sometimes like to place the viewer below the subject in order to a create a more dynamic impression of what it would be like to be underwater with a fish — in this case, a big blue marlin.
PROWLING MARLIN
THE GATHERING
Artist’s Comment: I had the opportunity to swim among a school of big tarpon effortlessly holding in the current. My goal here was to convey that experience to the viewer. This painting was selected for the Society of Animal Artists national museum Tour and also the cover of IGFA World Record Book.
THE GATHERING
KINGS AND THREADFINS
Artist’s Comment: I gathered great reference for this painting at a kingfish tournament, sorting through a box of kings and posing them so I could paint them at virtually any angle I wanted. I did the same with the threadfin herring.
KINGS AND THREADFINS
CHANNEL CRUISERS
Artist’s Comment: This painting depicts permit swimming in the deep channels that slice through the flats. I put a permit in my swimming pool using floats and weights to study how the broken light from the surface played on its “brushed aluminum” skin.
CHANNEL CRUISERS
PITCH BACK
Artist’s Comment: This blue marlin throwing off a pitched skipjack bait was commissioned by Marlin magazine for its 30th-anniversary cover. I kept the original version simpler so that it wouldn’t interfere with the type that would cover part of the painting. After that, I added frigate birds and other details.
PITCH BACK
SNOOK AND GOLIATH
Artist’s Comment: I wanted to depict an old stand of mangrove prop roots and how their floating propagules and leaves look from underwater. After diving with (relatively) small goliath grouper in recesses along mangrove channels, I thought they’d make a good addition to this snook painting.
SNOOK AND GOLIATH
WEEDLINE BUFFET
Artist’s Comment: I’ve had the opportunity to fish off the lower Florida Keys with Capt. Jim Sharp on a number of occasions. On one trip, we spent some time catching some of the small fish that inhabit sargassum weed. I put them in an aquarium on the boat to study and photograph. Along with shots taken underwater, it really helped me to depict what could be on a dolphin’s menu. This is another painting that was used for the cover of the IGFA World Record Book.
WEEDLINE BUFFET
CIRCLING THE BAIT
Artist’s Comment: This painting’s title has a double meaning. Since circle hooks have become popular and even required by some fishing tournaments due to reduced mortality rates, it only seemed right to rig this ballyhoo bait with one.
CIRCLING THE BAIT
BIG HOG
Artist’s Comment: This painting depicts a big hogfish posing for the shot, whether by camera or spear. I acquired a nice hog and also put it in the pool for study. After I had finished, I promptly wrapped it in foil, added white wine, vegetables and spices, and put it on the grill!
BIG HOG
EYEING THE BAIT
Artist’s Comment: I’ve enjoyed creating a number of blue marlin paintings through the years. I also enjoy the tension created by allowing the viewer to speculate about what is going to happen next. In this case, that’s what fishing is all about.
EYEING THE BAIT
WHOO’S ON FIRST?
Artist’s Comment: This painting was created for an IGFA World Record Book cover. I’ve been honored to paint a number of covers for the International Game Fish Association through the years. Sometimes, naming a painting can be difficult. Other times, as with this one, it just comes.
WHOO’S ON FIRST?
FISHERMAN’S DREAM
Artist’s Comment: This painting could be called “Diver’s Dream” as well. The trick to getting this painting right was to fit all the elements into a 3-D as well as a 2-D composition while not crowding all the subjects.
FISHERMAN’S DREAM
YIN AND YANG; SWORDFISH AND MAKO
Artist’s Comment: This painting’s title was inspired not only by the composition but also the fact that these animals’ body shapes are extremely similar, a phenomenon referred to as convergent evolution. These graceful and powerful fish have more in common than just predator and prey. A classic ocean drama.
YIN AND YANG; SWORDFISH AND MAKO
MUTTONS AND RAY
Artist’s Comment: I was fortunate to actually see mutton snappers feeding behind stingrays many years ago while fishing with Gil Drake west of Key West. I was amazed at how quick and precise the muttons were at snatching prey that the stingrays stirred up.
MUTTONS AND RAY
BARRACUDA REEF
Artist’s Comment: Barracudas are fast, great-looking fish. It isn’t hard to imagine how they feed. Every fish in this painting is potential prey.
BARRACUDA REEF
LOOKDOWNS
Artist’s Comment: Lookdowns are definitely beautiful and unusual looking. In the right light, their silvery iridescence reflects every color of the rainbow. With a little patience and a sharp fillet knife, they are also good eating.
LOOKDOWNS
TAILING REDFISH
Artist’s Comment: This is a fairly straightforward painting with a straightforward title. To me, redfish tend to look like they are copper plated. I often think about how various metals shine when painting reflective fish. The crab is standing its ground, a last act of defiance.
TAILING REDFISH
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Artist Don Ray burst onto the fish/wildlife scene in the 1980s. The self-taught artist from Ohio had studied work of American masters such as Wyeth and Remington as well as more fish-specific artists such as George Schelling and Stanley Meltzoff, a mentor to Ray. His paintings have won a number of competitions and graced various states’ fish/game stamps. His art has appeared on the cover of a number of International Game Fish Association Annual Record Books as well as in Field & Stream, Marlin, Outdoor Life and other publications. An angling enthusiast, Ray lives near Sebastian in central Florida with his wife, Loraine.
