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Just thought some of you might enjoy seeing this as much as I did. Even if you don't tie your own flies you owe it to yourself to check these beauties out. This man takes fly tying to a whole new level.
http://www.grahamowengallery.com/fis...fly-tying.html
Talk about shock and awe, he simply ties some of the most beautiful and realistic flies I have ever seen........Absolutely Incredible!
akalooker
:D
WOW! Except for the Jungle Cock in the dragonfly I couldn't tell what was used in any of his flies. Incredible.
those are amazing! puts all of my flies to shame.
at a dressed salmonfly......wow!
The only mention he makes of something not being in proportion is the tail is too long! Who woulda thunk it.
bpbbyg
Terry,
Thanks for posting that...He is just unbelieveable...what talent!
Quote:
Originally Posted by WarrenP
You're welcome Warren. I can only imagine the amount of time and skill involved in making each and everyone of those flies.....That guys got mad skills for sure!
And his photography skills ain't bad either!
akalooker
:D
I still remember when Graham first started out, he's been a regular contributor at Fly Tying Forum and has no problems with techniques and teaching others.
He has some really incredible ties though!!!!!!!
Fatman
Thanks guys, I?m really glad you like my work! I have so much fun with realistic fly tying that I actually changed careers last year. Now I supply realistic bugs to the entertainment industry, natural history museums, nature centers, retail merchants, etc. Next week I?m sending a few dozen flies to a major clothing retailer to be photographed and incorporated into their new catalog. This week is challenging, making a specific species of rare butterflies for Disney?s Imagination Movers, with flapping wings. Nitinol wire is pretty cool stuff to experiment with, especially for animating bugs, with low voltage electricity.
I don?t spend much time on forums lately, for a number of reasons, including time constraints, and reading people blasting me for model making as opposed to fly tying. I used to disagree because I tyed everything, with thread. But, with that said, this year I?ve had several orders for more than 50 bugs at a time, such as 212 moths I created for a movie Adam Sandler is currently filming, and I pushed the legs through the foam body with a needle, and set them in place with glue, which saved me countless hours. I still thin of flies as lures, too light to be cast with a spinning rod, requiring a fly rod and line, and to that effect, I still think of my work bench as my fly tying desk. I very seldom fish realistics, but I do have a fondness for realistic stones because they work so well on pressured waters, such as the E Walker in the sierra.
BTW, FAOL has some of the world?s best realistic tyers on boards, such as Mantis (Bob Mead) who keeps realistic tying in its purest form, no glue, no synthetics, all natural materials, and his creations are masterpieces, to be framed and admired by those who appreciate the fine art of fly tying. I use a lot of synthetics, most notably, thin strips of foam, segmented onto fine wire, and painted over with clear acrylic varnish, custom colored with pigment powders, and pantone markers. One of the reasons I used synthetics when I began realistic tying, was to prevent moths from destroying my stuff. About 12 years ago I bought a gorgeous full-dressed salmon fly, and about five years ago I moved the frame to a different location on my wall, and most of the framed fly crumbled into dust. I like to think my flies will outlast me?
Thanks again for all of the kind and supportive remarks; I will be smiling all day,
Graham
Graham,
Thanks for joining up. I was looking at your site with my wife sitting beside me. She neither ties nor fly fishes, but she couldn't believe the beauty of some of the flies. (Or the ugliness of some of the others :D) Of course, she especially loved the little slider. Fantastic work. I'm glad to see that you have been able to turn it into a living. Now, every time I see a bug in a movie, or an advertisement, I'll wonder...
Kirk
Thanks Kirk, I'm glad to be here. I have a number of tutorials on my photography website...
http://www.grahamowengallery.com/fis...tutorials.html
And a few more pics on another site...
http://www.filmflies.com/
A lot of bugs on screen are cgi, especially if they are in motion, but I stay busy, just got a call for 12 honeybees, will have to start those later next week, bees take about three hours each to tye.
Cheers,
Graham
Graham, You, sir, are an artist. That is all (and more).
Welcome aboard, delighted to have you in our midst. We are blessed to have so many talented tiers here, if you haven't seen the Annual Salmon Tying Contest you've missed more.
We love Bob Meade, Ronn Lucas, Sr. and Eric Austin who does our Old Flies. They have all contributed greatly to the information here on FAOL.
Graham
man that is awesome work. anytime you want to send some of those stones or trout candy (aka scuds) let me know. I am sure i could win a few tournaments with those. great work and thanks for giving us all a good dose of humility in our tying:D no love the work and just love to see someone great at what they do. it glorifies the one who made us.
His
jarod
Wow!
Those are incredible!
OK, back to my tangled thread..... :(
It's about time ya got your butt over here Graham !!!
Such a warm welcome is deeply appreciated, thank you very much! Over the years I have a learned many helpful techniques while viewing and admiring posts on FAOL, this is a great forum, and it feels good to finally join the fraternity of fly fishers.
Reaction One: Wow, look at the attention to detail. They look so realistic. You almost expect the scorpion to sting you. Graham, you are without doubt an amazing artist.
Reaction Two: File under things I will not be trying soon. My wooly bugger is lifelike enough for me. :) 8T :)
Wow! These files, at least, settle the art/craft debate.
Coughlin
Thank you 8t and Paul,
I thought I'd give you guys a sneak peak, I'm finishing up a butterfly project for Disney, adults with mechanical flapping wings, chrysalis and emerging butterfly. I just took the pic below, about ten minutes ago, they are not done yet, but it's what I worked on today. I have two of three adults done so far. I need to tye up some buggers and caddis, and go fishing!
Graham
http://www.grahamowengallery.com/fis...utterflies.jpg
Welcome aboard Graham. Missed you and your photography over at flytyingforum. Glad you made it this way. Apparently, the houseflies you were tying last year brought you a little extra business, eh?
Too cool that you're over here...
(I'm still dumbfounded over that Harun Yahya thing.)
Thanks troutgeek,
I'm glad to be here. I was banned on the FTF, couldn't even bring it up on my monitor, for over a year, blocked IP. I was asked to do a realistic tying article for their print mag, and I said yes, realized it would take a few days to do a nice job, including photos, and decided I wouldn't do it for free. I was canned. I guess that's what contracts are for, and these days I quote prices to my customers, get purchase orders, etc. Much more professional, on my behalf, and theirs.
Graham
Too bad they missed all of the great input you could have provided ...
... just saying. Missed your photography input.
Again, welcome over here.
Graham , your flies will either inspire me to greater things or cause me to throw my vise in the lake. ( just kidding ) You have set the bar very very high.
To ensure the preservation of my flies I tie them so badly that the bugs cannot stop laughing long enough to snack on them.
In reality though , I lose so many that they really never get old.
Fishing with some of yours would be a real sin for they are true works of art.
Hi Gnu Bee Flyer,
Thanks' for your kind remarks! I very rarely fish with realistic flies, and almost all of my realistic tying these days is done to make a living, supplying bug props to the film and TV industry. For producers to be able to state that "no animals were harmed", means they have to abide by American Humane Association regulations, which prohibit the use of dead animals as props, and a few years ago the reg's were tightened, to include insects. The local businesses that had collections of dead bugs and rented them as film-props have sort of faded away, and I'm taking their place. I rent and sell bug props, I don't target any of my activities towards fly fishing, unless I'm getting ready for a trip, like this November's big brownie trip. I'll fish simple to tye chartreuse caddis with white egg yard veils and will not even bring any realistics with me. I really enjoy my bug-making carrier and occasionally I'm invited on set, which is cool with me. It's all fun, but can strain the eyes after a while.
Cheers,
Graham
Graham, I am a lot like Gnu Bee. I am overwhelmed by your art. Fortunately for me, it is so far past my wildest dreams and or skill set that I can admire it as art and not become jealous.
How could one loose one of these flies? I would be in much better shape having jumped into icy cold streams to retreive them or from the weight of carrying the chain saw to cut down the offending tree. The beauty is marvelous, thank you for sharing it with us!
What silly fish could refuse one? Have you ever made a cast and not caught a fish, even other bugs think they are bugs, WOW!
I've seen a lot of his work before, but never knew he was tying for Hollywood! Doesn't get any bigger than that!!!! When Disney calls you for special effects advice, I'd make sure you have a really good agent.
I remember reading about one of those 'realistic' flies a few years ago. The fly at the time I think was a scorpion or some kind of spider. The article said the tyer (not sure who it was) had over 80 hours in it.
Now to put this in perspective: Professional production tyers measure dry flies in the dozens per hour to be profitable. If your flies are measured in 2-per-month, can you imagine the cost to be profitable???? I can hear the phone call now:
(Phone rings)
Graham: "Hello"
Caller: "Mr Graham?"
Graham: "Yes?"
Caller: "This is Miss so-and-so calling from Mr. Spielberg's office."
Graham: "Yes?"
Caller: "Mr. Spielberg is working on a new film and would like you to supply a dozen of your scorpion flies for a special scene."
Graham: "Go on."
Caller: "The Producer will need an estimate for the budget analysis."
Graham: "When does he need the scorpions?"
Caller: "90 days, can you do that?"
Graham: "Lets see, 12 scorpions at $2000 each, plus 40% for a rush order. Thats what....$33,000 something? Tell Steve I'll do it for $30,000 and he owes me dinner and an invite to the films premier viewing."
Caller: "Thank you Mr Graham I will let him know."
(click)
Yes, I know I have too much time on my hands. Or is it too much liqueur in the cabinet? Naw one can never have too much liqueur,right?
Hey Bass Bug, I had a good chuckle reading your post, good stuff!
I don't think I've ever spent more than ten hours on any of my flies, and you're right, scorpions do take the most time. I've done about 400 realistics so far this year, 212 in one order, took six weeks, for an Adam Sandler movie being filmed this summer in Massachusetts. I can get a lot done in a day, especially production line style. I got a lot done today, and tonight I'm working on a caterpillar. One thing I really like is a challenge, and when the phone rings for something unusual, the creative juices start flowing. I wish I got $2k for scorpions, typically $500. A movie that just came out, A Perfect Getaway, has my scorpions in the bottom of the tequilla bottles. They couldn't film the dead ones that come in the bottles, no dead animals can be filmed, LOL... I haven't seen the movie, yet, but I have to be honest, a lot of times I'm bummed when my bugs are only on the screen for seconds, but the checks keep me going. I had never done electrically animated bugs until this week, cool stuff, I'll shoot a quick video before shipping the order.
Graham
Graham,
I'm honored with your reply! (Humbled and a little embarrassed as well) You do excellent work that is light years ahead of the average fly tier. My jest of $2K per fly was based on 80 hours. I was guessing that level of tying should easily command $25/hour. $500 for 10 hours? I was only half right! :mrgreen:
Keep it up we love your work!
Roger
Hi Roger,
I have to say, I don't consider myself a master fly tyer, instead someone who has focused upon realistic tying. I have friends who can tye circles around me, such as a local friend, Steven Fernandez, who used to be much more well known years ago and is included in Judith Dunham's book The Atlantic Salmon fly. Steve's knowledge of different feathers and what can be accomplished with them, such as the Origami wing technique, blows my mind. Steve and I have been talking for a while about me photographing his flies, and that would be an honor and treat for me. I see numerous names here on FAOL, who are much better and more experienced tyers than I am, such as John Larson (Alpine fly), and we speak often on the phone, and I learn a thing or two every time. I seem to enjoy two disciplines, fast, simple and effective, as well as time consuming and nice to look at.
I spent 27 years installing solar panels, now I sell and rent bugs, and also sell photographic prints to interior designers. I much prefer to rent my bugs, and that happens fairly frequently, they are filmed or photographed, no longer needed, and I retain inventory. When bidding a custom project, such at this week's Disney gig, I estimate how much time will be consumed, and multiply that by at least $50 per hour. I have a family to feed, and need to make a living, and I'm happy that I haven't done any solar work in almost two years now. Tomorrow I'm renting 30 realistics to moosejaw.com, for a week, to be photographed and featured in their next catalog. I really have a lot of fun with this.
Cheers,
Graham
I know this thread is getting a little long, but I just snaped a pic of this weeks project. I made three of the adult butterflies, with mechanical moving bodies and flapping wings. The rest of the critters were tyed on wire, no hooks...
http://www.filmflies.com/images/orange-butterflies.jpg
I for one hope this thread STAYS long. Your work is fantastic. What a thrill it must be to earn a living doing it. PLEASE keep posting.............Quote:
Originally Posted by Graham Owen