Eric Otten: An Interview with a Fishy Artist?

Tell us a bit about yourself. Where do you live, how old are you, and what do you for a living?

My name is Eric Otten and I am 23 years old. About a year ago, I started studying biology and I chose a university with good fishing opportunities within close distance from home. I ended up moving to the city of Kiel at the Baltic coast in Germany.

So even though it is not exactly a living yet, I spend most of my time attending classes and lectures and of course, studying for exams. However, when I am not learning about the cellular structures of plants, the feeding habits of some worm or some chemical stuff that I barely understand, I get to spend some of my time drawing and painting fish, mostly gamefish from all around the world.

When did you get started fly fishing?

I have been a fisherman for as long as I can remember, and, at one point, I did the typical career change from simple coarse fishing to spin fishing.

My first steps into the world of fly fishing I took not too long ago, in 2013, after realizing that the only river that flows through the village I grew up in, held various species of trout in good numbers.

Since this turned out to be a fly-only stretch, I had to go with the flow: I attended a casting clinique and made my first steps into the sport.

My passion for flyfishing really took off a little later, when I first met Stephan Dombaj in Cologne. He gave me my first proper outfit and showed me a bunch of tricks for casting and presentation.

Did it coincide with you starting to do art?

Well, it kind of did. Although I used to draw and paint fish and other animals before, getting into the world of fly fishing exposed me to a huge variety of great fly fishing films and photography that inspired me to pick popular gamefish as the subject of my art.

Back then, I did not really see my artwork as something special. I looked on it more as a pastime or a hobby, and did not even think about the possibility that there might be an international audience for it. This quickly changed after my friend Marko Freese, at that time a contributer to The Flyfishing Nation guys, posted my sketch of a grand slam on their Instagram channel.

As a matter of fact, April Vokey saw it, decided to buy it and eventually printed it on a shirt.

Of course, I was absolutely overwhelmed by this kind of appreciation and, since then, I have not stopped my efforts in drawing and painting fish and sharing them with the social media community. I guess you could say that, while flyfishing itself may not have been the starting engine for what I do today, it sure as hell provided a huge boost of confidence, reach and inspiration for me.

How do you muster the stoicism to do art relating to fly fishing, when it takes time away from fly fishing?

I do not think that art takes time away from fishing. I think fishing and creating art goes hand in hand and in my case, they rely on each other. If I am not knee-deep covered in commissioned artwork, I choose whatever I feel like doing at the moment, sometimes it is fishing, sometimes it is painting.

Why did you get into painting in the first place, and why have you decided to paint fly fishing motives? What inspired you? As mentioned before, I started drawing as a child and always was inspired by books and documentaries about animals and wildlife of all forms. Living pretty much in the countryside, I was also into nerdy stuff like bird watching, local reptiles and fish. I also kept fish in tanks all my life and consumed every book about the ones I had, as well as all those that I dreamt of getting. So the topic of my art was determined very early by my interest and obsession with fish. Luckily, my family, my closest friends and so many people around me from the beginning, until today, always supported me doing that!

How do you split your time between fly fishing and painting?

Splitting time between fly fishing and painting is actually quite easy for me, because I mostly paint at nighttime, while the most productive fishing around here occurs during daylight. So as you see, there is no direct competition between these two things for me. What really is much more of a challenge to achieve, is the balance between studying, art and fishing.

Is there a common allure involved in fly fishing and painting - or do these endeavors represent different emotional involvement?

I think in general, both things share a few values, such as the appreciation for aesthetics, whether it is in casting, tying, the beauty of a wild fish’s pattern or looking at a piece of art. For me personally, art and fly fishing are absolutely crucial for maintaining a healthy balance in my life.

I used to be a typical ADHDchild and I am still a rather hectic, restless and sometimes nervous person. The only two things that can really distract me from that and make me more focused and relaxed are fish. No matter if in real life while fly fishing or the ones coming to life on paper when I paint.

What is your favourite species of fish to target and why?

That’s a tough question. I grew up catching brown trout and perch on lures and bait. Both species still have a special place in my heart these days. I got to say, trout in general are something special to me.

Nowadays, with all those new opportunities, I have widened my scope a bit. I now also enjoy completely different stuff such as pike fishing or barbel and trout on tiny nymphs. But the list goes on, as cod and other saltwater species roam the waters down the street from my place and also get their fair share. You see, most fish I target and like to catch are native species in Germany, but I also plan to catch the fish I like to portray in my art in the future.

GT, Tarpon and other popular gamefish are magical and on the top of my bucket list. I think there are just so many fish to catch on this planet, that I could never pick just one as my all-time favorite. If I had to do it, it would most likely be pike. You just got to love the attitude, the strike, but also the beauty of these fish.

And what is your favourite place to fish – and why?

Another tough question! So far, there is no place that is “the one” for me. I have fished many bodies of water throughout Germany and almost every single one of them was special to me in some way.

I really enjoy fly fishing for barbel and trout with light outfits in the beautiful streams around Cologne in the summer months. I mean that is wet wading and sight-fishing for big fish… It really does not get much better than that!

My favorite place to fish at home is definitely the Baltic coast. Casting streamers into the sea, hoping for a hook-up with a chrome seatrout in cold, harsh winds disconnects me from the struggles and stress of every day life and recharges my energy.

If people want to buy one of your paintings - or order one - where can they go?

At the moment I can only take orders via mail, but we are working on a website as a better option, in the future. I plan to launch it in spring 2018, so stay tuned for that!

In the meantime, I will post my finished artworks and a lot of sketches, progress shots and updates on my Instagram and Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/ eric.otten.5

https://www.instagram. com/eric_otten

A few older artworks of mine are also available on canvas, shirts and caps at the webshop of my good friends at www.shop-daf.de