Remember getting up early in the morning, making the coffee, packing a lunch and heading out for the lake to go fishing? Maybe you were already staying in a mountain cabin or tent camping in the mountains. Whatever the case, there is something special about getting an early start on a day of lake fishing. In "Let's Go Fishing!" I will try and capture the moment when two men have just arrived at the edge of the lake and they take a few minutes to share some hot coffee from one of their thermoses before they put the boat in the water.

I will be using this 1950's vitamin ad as my background. It shows the thrill of catching a fish and the comraderie involved in fishing from a boat.

I have added the copy "LET'S GO FISHING" to strenghthen the background and to give it the commercial flair of a 1950's ad campaign.

This tinplate station wagon fits the time I'm trying to portray. It had a dented roof on it and the roof was a rusty black color, so I took it apart and painted it a creamy white to give it more contrast.

I found this boat and trailer and after removing the tin top on the boat (it was a racing boat), I painted the inside to match the car and put in a set of seats to make it more of a fishing boat. The outboard motor is very cool.

Here's one of the fisherman's rod and reel. The reel is a Shakespeare push button WonderCast 1771. Nice old colors and a beautifully designed machine.

I've always like the shape of these old lunch boxes. This domed style box was made by Thermos and it has the name 'Leo' scratched on both ends.

I searched far and wide for an existing company that still sold worms in the old paper cartons but wasn't successful. Couldn't locate an old one either (their shelf life was a little short), so I made one from memory. I remember leaving the carton upside down so that when you opened it up, the worms were on top!

Stay tuned as I continue to 'build' this painting. I just stretched the canvas which measures 52" wide by 40" high. I will begin drawing on the canvas next and will photograph it as I go along...

I have drawn in the background and most of the props in the foreground. I still need to get my models together so they can pose for the painting.

I started the painting with brushing in the black color of the background poster. The dark value of the black will give me a good indication how dark to paint the illustration of the three people fishing in the boat. Since the background art will not be in the sunlight, I will make sure that all the 'whites' are painted gray and then I will base the rest of the colors off of that value.

Here I am roughly painting in the background.

Here's the background, all blocked in.

Here's a close-up of the thermos and stopper.

Well, today was something special at the Moore household. A new acquaintance of mine, Dave Cler and his trusty sidekick and old friend of mine, Dave Norton, came by and posed for "Let's Go Fishing!". This had to be the easiest photo session I've ever conducted. Both of these men are doctors here in Laguna Beach, yet they were the perfect 'patients' here in my 'office'. Thanks Dave and Dave. It was fun!

I've blocked in the lunch box. If you look at the lower left of the canvas, you will see the photo that I worked from.

The 'nightcrawler' carton is in.

Dave's (Dave Cler) cup is in...

As well as Dave's...(Dave Norton's)

The floats are sketched in with 'thinned' paint.

"Speedy" is also sketched in. Notice the matching name on the boat and motor.

Here is the entire canvas. My next step is to establish all the cast shadows.

This is a big step. Notice how the objects (except for the two fishermen and the rod and reel) all settle into the composition.

I just need to paint the rod and reel and then I can evaluate the 'color' of the painting. Here is the reel in its blocked in stage...

Now, with every object painted its 'generic' color, I can look at the focal point of the painting (the two fishermen) and choose colors (hues) for their clothing. I'll try and choose colors that not only compliment the rest of the painting, but colors that make them noticeable.

Here's a close-up of the lower left corner of the painting.

Here's my 'focal point'. What colors do you think I will choose?

I decided to go with some very generic colorations of the clothing. I wanted some more 'green' in this area so I painted the slacks, of the fisherman on the left, green. I chose to paint the fisherman on the right in a utility type outfit, with the shirt and slacks almost matching. A blue- gray hue worked for both pieces of clothing.

Now the entire painting is 'blocked in' with its first passage of paint (a turpentine thinned layer of oil). The next step will be the biggest decision of the second phase of the painting. I will have to decide how dark the background must be painted in order to make it look like it is in the shade. It will also have to be dark enough to make the 'light struck' objects in the foreground 'pop' with sunlight!

The entire background is now finished. You can just barely see the difference when comparing to the photo one more above, that I have darkened the entire background a couple of optical steps.

Here's a close-up of the boy in the boat.

The lunch box is finished.

Thermos and cap are done.

Boat and trailer have their final paint.

Rod and reel are painted...

Here's a close-up of the reel and...

a section of the rod.

The bait carton is done as well as...

...the station wagon.

The second and final layer of oil is on the cups.

Dave and Dave are now finished. Only a few things left to paint.

Here's the final product! "Let's Go Fishing!"