Raritan River American Shad

acrylic, 16" x 20", canvas

The inspiration for this painting was from a big American Shad I caught in the Raritan River. It was caught at sunset under a dam, and I tried to recreate this scene as best as possible. The same lure I used to catch the fish was also shown in the fish's mouth. The bright orange light at sunset in the background forms a strong contrast with the dark brown mud in the foreground. I believe the most successful part of this painting is the shad itself, for which I tried to depict realistically.