Fish Porn by Derek DeYoung

It’s hard to tell what came first for Derek DeYoung angling or art? At the age of six Derek was declaring to friends and family that he wanted to be a famous artist. Enamoured with angling from an early young age DeYoung’s favourite subject has always been fish. But by the time he left art school at the age of 23, DeYoung realized he needed to push his artwork in a new direction, in order to achieve his goal. He began to experiment with composition, taking the fish’s form away and removing the actually shape of the fish. By zooming in extremely close on his subject, DeYoung’s objective was to portray trout in colour and pattern only. The result was the “Abstract Trout Face” series paintings. Derek’s contemporary vision and vibrant use of colour challenged the traditional, classic style of angling artwork and eventually received critical acclaim and success. That success would lead to corporate collaborations with Abel and Simms that would make the DeYoung name into a brand. A consequence that he struggles with as he attempts to build a life around his love of painting and his passion for fly fishing. Canvasfish is intimate portrait of the artist and his work. It celebrates a small part of the culture of fly fishing while not attempting to document the pursuit of it. Filmed at DeYoung’s Livingston, Montana studio, Canvasfish chronicles DeYoung’s career as he paints his way through life, a fly rod in one hand and paint brush in the other. A Cinema Digital Production