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Making a Brown Trout Stick, Part 8

 

The head can be finished now using glass or emery paper to remove any remain fine lines or scratches, then rubbed down with wire wool using progressively finer grades. When the fish is finished to your satisfaction the head must be washed with cold water and washing up liquid to remove any grease; otherwise the painting could be patchy.

Trout tend to be the colour of the river that they inhabit, so it is best to try and obtain one before one starts to paint. Because of the colour of the horn is that of a fish I do not paint the belly. I use acrylic paints and use very thin washes to build up to the right colour.

A brown trout does not have a big number of large black spots on its side and the number of red spots is usually about 13 to 15 on either side.

The inside of the mouth only requires a light pale wash. The large number of small black spots on the back can be seen. I use a fine waterproof black felt tip pen to put them on. There is no regular pattern to these spots so keep them random and varied in size.

The curve and fineness of the tail is amply demonstrated in this photograph.

 

On to Part 9