Originals

“I first encountered Bob White’s work when I started writing the Sporting Life column for Fly Rod & Reel magazine in 1992 and the editors wisely chose Bob as the illustrator. You always wonder how your work will look in print in a new publication and I was delighted by Bob’s quiet, evocative watercolor.

Since then I always turn to my column in the back of the magazine whenever a new issue arrives to see what Bob has done this time: a lush landscape, a still life, a small brook trout in the hand. Sometimes a painting visually summarizes the theme of the story and other times it picks out a pertinent detail, but it’s always a pleasant surprise. We never discuss it beforehand and I never see preliminary sketches. Bob doesn’t tell me how to write and I wouldn’t presume to try and tell him how to paint. If my count is right, he’s done 79 illustrations for my columns over the last 13 years and he’s nailed every one perfectly.”

John Gierach
Author
February 7, 2005