A New Cardnell on the Horizon

Keith Cardnell is at it again. He is once again going boldly where no other contemporary sporting artists are going these days, but this time in a new direction.

Late last year, Cardnell completed Finding Silver in Thin Water – a commissioned Sporting Art painting measuring a magnificent 4 ½ feet tall by 8 feet long.

Just like Finding Silver in Thin Water and every other canvas Cardnell has completed, this new work requires extensive research, profound architectural design, layers upon layers of underpainting, and painstaking detail applied over many stages to bring the magic to life.

Unlike Finding Silver in Thin Water and most other flats fishing subjects we see on the market today, however, this new work does not feature the subject in the bright light of day. Instead, we get a more contemplative, tranquil look, showing our angler and guide at the end of a long day on the flats.  

What is perhaps most arresting about this painting, however, is not merely the end-of-day subject, but the way in which Cardnell presents that time of day. The artist’s employment of color is (as always) nothing short of breathtaking, and this time, uniquely dramatic. What’s most intriguing in this painting is the color combination – the colors Cardnell employs in this painting are always quite impactful, but very rarely (if ever) found in paintings that attempt realism.

Stay tuned for a sneak peek of the painting coming Saturday – all we can say for now is that this new masterpiece will be entirely non-traditional and most certainly testing the boundaries of what might be considered ‘acceptable’ for a flats fishing scene.