Angling for Aesthetics
by Jamie Rankin
“When painting fish, I try to capture all the intricacies they possess: their scales, patterns, dimension, and texture. When chest-deep in a river, I’m not just chasing fish, I’m searching for a magical experience or vision that will inspire me, and raise my paintings to a higher level.” —Derek DeYoung
While many anglers are focused on the species or size of the fish in the net, some have a different, more artistic outlook. Derek DeYoung, renowned for his unique and vibrant oil paintings of fish, takes a closer look at these creatures. DeYoung captures and replicates these often-overlooked details in his work and gives viewers an opportunity to appreciate these minute details of fish off the river.
Jamie Rankin: Where are you from?
Derek DeYoung: I grew up on a bayou near the shores of Lake Michigan, where I first started fishing.
JR: When did you start as an artist?
DD: It was very apparent from early on that I was going to be an artist. It was almost like a language to me as a child. From four years old, I was fluent in this complex language. I didn’t gravitate towards anything else. When I was a kid, my attention span was 30 seconds, unless it was art. I was so detail-oriented and took so much pride in it.
JR: What motivated you to pursue art as a career?
DD: My dad was an automated-machine salesman. Everything was made with labor. He was up at 5:30 every morning. He really didn’t want that life for himself. He didn’t like his job. He didn’t like the people he worked with. He unwaveringly encouraged me to pursue art.
JR: What brought you to Montana?
DD: When you live in the Midwest, you hear people talk about the West. Colorado. Montana. Idaho. They went out hunting, they went out fishing. My family didn’t do that. I remember thinking, one day, I’m going to do it.
Based in Michigan, my art career was floundering. I remember focusing harder and harder on the idea that people out West would buy my paintings. I had confidence in myself, but I wasn’t in front of the right people. Then I finally decided—I’m going. I took a minivan my father-in-law sold me for $1. I put in all my camping & fishing gear and artwork and slept on a mat in the back.
Fish art back then wasn’t really a career. There weren’t many people doing it. I packed up and came to Bozeman in 2007 to do an art show with Yellow Dog Fly Shop. Then, I decided. I’m moving to Livingston. I told my wife and she cried initially, but then we went for a float and the tears disappeared. We were living in Grand Rapids at the time, close to where we went to art school. We left Montana that summer and drove home in the minivan, and by November we were back.
JR: When did your art start taking off here in Montana?
DD: My wife, Janelle, and I lived in a basement unit in Livingston, with foam walls. My comfort zone is to work in a crumby, unfinished space. I’m not focused on the space, I’m focused on the piece. We kept having people traveling to Montana to fish asking where the gallery was. We decided to not have a brick-and-mortar storefront, but put all of our investment in the website. I dedicated one 16-foot wall, put carpeting over the foam, put some lights up, and hung about 12 paintings. People called and asked to come see the gallery and they brought their friends. All but two paintings were bought. This really built up more of a name for me nationally.
JR: How has your career evolved?
DD: After living in Livingston for 10 years, we moved back to northern Michigan in 2015. We lived in a 1948 cabin, with owls and foxes in the yard. After moving from Montana, three years went by and I hadn’t been back. I had this feeling in my stomach—this sadness that I’m not in Montana. From 2018 until the move back, we would come back for a month at a time, mostly running the art shop through our website. Growing up in the Midwest, I would have never expected Montana was my place to be. Everyone has that. The peninsula we lived on began to be developed by the nouveau-rich. I felt like a fish out of water. I wasn’t with my people.
We moved back here in June 2024 and are renting a house in Bozeman. We’re opening a gallery on main street in Livingston. It should be done in mid-September and will be outfitted with artwork in October.
JR: What is your favorite place to fish in Montana? Your favorite species?
DD: My favorite float is the Yellowstone River, just south of Livingston. It blows my mind. It makes my heart happy to float that water and see the evening light and sunset as I float through the canyon. To me, that’s as good as it gets.
Out here, without a doubt my favorite fish is brown trout. I love ’em and I love to paint them. First and foremost, they can be very colorful and beautiful. As fly fishermen, we love the aesthetic. They’re aggressive and will eat other small fish. They’re very individual. If you catch one on the Madison, and catch one on the Yellowstone they can look like completely different fish.
Beyond the big rivers, I’m highly inspired to fish where no one else is. I put a lot of effort into getting myself to those places and figuring that out.
JR: What are your thoughts on angling in general?
DD: To me, it’s not just about fly fishing. It’s about using fly fishing as a means to relate to a place and a culture. I’ve got a camera in my hand more than I have a rod. I love fly fishing, and to relate to the world in that way.