C.D. Clarke Sportsman Artist

We are thrilled to host  C. D. Clarke for an artist talk and book launch event of his beautiful book The Sporting Art of C. D. Clarke.

C. D. Clarke says he was born to paint and fish and hunt, and he’s done just that over his lifetime, capturing memorable times on the water and in the field on canvas and finessing that passion and pastime into a laudable career, inspired by the work of wildlife artists Ogden Pleissner, Chet Reneson, Thomas Aquinas Daly, and John Swan This magnificent book of his work features nearly 200 paintings, tableaux of color, light, motion, and possibility, created over the course of forty years fishing and hunting in the world’s most coveted destinations. Clarke prefers to work “en plein air” where he paints studies and fills sketchbooks with scenes that inspire the oils and watercolors he later refines in his New Jersey Highlands studio. Clarke’s work is exhibited at the most prestigious wildlife art shows and festivals and is regularly featured in top wildlife and sporting publications.

More info on C.D. Clarke's website

Bio

C.D. Clarke travels the world hunting, fishing, and painting.  He carries his art supplies on his back, so that he can paint on location.  Born and raised in Rochester, NY, C.D. received his BFA in painting and illustration from Syracuse University in 1981.

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Never far from the outdoors, C.D.'s lifelong interest in the subject (particularly angling and hunting) has made it a substantial portion of his work.  Boats, leaky waders, fishing rods, wet wool, bird dogs, decoys, and shotguns are integral parts of C.D.’s life.  He paints them with a sportsman’s understanding, making his work essential to the true sportsman’s art collection.

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C.D. prefers to work from life whenever possible, painting in the field, en plein air.  Much of his work is created on location, often times standing knee-deep in a salmon river or on a bonefish flat, or bobbing along in a skiff.  His immersion in the subject results in a spontaneous composition.

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In a very personal way, C.D.'s method of painting captures the light, color, and, most importantly, the feeling of landscapes, such as sparkling bonefish flats, misty Scottish salmon rivers, raw, windy marshes, icy Chilean Andes, warm, sunny Argentinean pampas, and other sporting destinations.  Then, working from watercolor sketches and photographs of the sportsmen and their equipment, C.D. accurately depicts the sporting scene in oil paintings and larger watercolors completed in the studio under more controlled conditions.  The boats, planes, dogs, rods, and guns, as well as the anglers and hunters themselves, in addition to the landscape that they inhabit, are all true to life.

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C.D.’s originals are avidly collected by prominent sports personalities all over the world, including: ESPN’s Flip Pallot; TV-host Andy Mill; Orvis Company owner Leigh Perkins; businessman, author, and philanthropist Bob Rich; super-guides Paul Dixon, Brian Horsely, and Tim Klein; and many others.

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C.D. has traveled extensively, capturing anglers and hunters pursuing their passions all over the world, including the Caribbean, Russia, Scotland, England, Canada (east and west), Hawaii, Alaska, Montana, Chile, Argentina, Venezuela, Mexico, Belize, Christmas Island, Cuba, the Seychelles, and Zimbabwe.