Casey Underwood

Permit

Casey Underwood

I have been connected with Casey on Facebook for a while, originally attracted by his colorful and powerful fish pictures. His fish series has been expanded since we originally made contact, and I recently decided to contact Casey and entice him to participate in our longstanding series on "fishy artists".
Here are Casey's replies to my standard questions.

a) How did you start working with art and with fishing related art in particular?

I have always had sort of a one-track-mind in terms of being an artist. Even in my youth I was a artistically driven child. When I was 6 years old I had an art show in my grandparents driveway where I sold drawings of birds and fish to people passing by. I think I sold each drawing for 50 cents or something like that. People probably thought it was really cute, but I took it really seriously. I continued to pursue art throughout my teenage years and eventually graduated with a degree in Studio Art from Westmont College in 2014.
Elements of fly fishing would always show up in my artwork throughout my life, but I didn't fully dedicate my work to it until about 5 years ago.

Mahi mahi and Roosterfish

Casey Underwood

b) Why fish and fishing?

Like art, it's just something I have been doing forever. I am lucky to have fly fishermen on both sides of my family. My dad taught me to fly fish when I was young and it just infected my life from there on out.
I started tying flies when I was a teenager, and made it the main theme of my artwork in my early 20's. I believe that fly fishing with all its facets and it all its depth, is especially appealing to creative people. From Entomology to fly tying, to conservation and merely the beauty of the places it takes you, there is no end to the things you can explore within fly fishing.

c) What is your preferred method of painting/drawing/producing your art - if any?

I have always been a painter, but in my college years I really focused on intaglio methods of printmaking.
Now, a lot of my original paintings incorporate print elements within them; so I guess you would consider them mixed media paintings. When my wife and I moved to Seattle, WA two years ago, we moved into a very small apartment that didn't have a lot of room for me to create artwork. I went out and I bought a Wacom Tablet which is essentially a pressure sensitive, digital painting tablet.
I learned to create digital paintings from my dining room table and have really fallen in love with some elements of this medium. In the end, I almost always end up combining multiple mediums into one artwork.

Trout

Casey Underwood

d) Is the art your main source of income - if at all a source of income - and do you do other jobs as a supplement?

As of 2017, I am grateful to say that I am a full time artist.
Before that I was doing my art part time and working a part time job driving kegs around Seattle for a brewery.
I made it my new years resolution to make a go at being a full time artist and put in my two weeks at the brewery job a few days later. It has been a great experience thus far. I am learning that I need to be just as much of a businessman as I am an artist, which I am actually enjoying much more than I thought I would.

Decals

Casey Underwood

Casey himself

Casey Underwood

Contact

Web site: caseyunderwood.com
Instagram: @cpunderwood
Email: CaseyUnderwoodArt@gmail.com
Phone: +1 805 722-2634

e) Can people buy your art and if so, then in which form and where?

Yes! People can always buy my work, and I do my best to make it affordable for everyone.
I currently sell my illustrations as fine art prints in five different sizes ranging from 4x6" to 24x36".
I also sell high quality, fine art decals of my work that are very popular, and from time to time I will take on commissioned originals for individuals who are looking for something specific.
Everything can be viewed and found through my website: caseyunderwood.com

f) where do you currently live and work?

I currently live and work in Seattle, Washington.

Brook trout and sockeye

Casey Underwood