John Noble
Recently I noticed a post by Svend Diesel where he was posting about his vise setup, primarily the base. This base was beautifully painted in brook trout colors! So I immediately shot Svend a text and he informed me the work was done by artist John Noble. So I checked out John’s Instagram and realized I had seen his work before, but did not realize it was his work. The artistry he does on fly fishing equipment is immaculate. So I asked John if he would be interested in doing an interview and he agreed. I hope you enjoy!
-Paul
What is your background in art?
Basically since childhood I have been into drawing wildlife. I was placed in college credit art classes from the time I was a freshman in high school. Moved on to doing old western portraits of old cowboys and native Americans, I still love those. In the summer’s during college I worked for a relative that owned several collision shops and fell in love with automotive paint. That led to my first airbrush purchase in 2010.
How did you get started in fly fishing?
We grew up fishing, and one summer when I was 9, headed up to baseball camp in Colorado we went on a guided fly fishing trip. It was game over from that day! We became fly fishing everything! We bought video tapes, books, anything we could get our hands on to learn more about it. Info back then was alot tougher!
What made you combine the two?
After getting my first airbrush, basically making mess in the garage more than anything. I painted a piece of exhaust pipe like a German Brown. That was my favorite fish and I was toying with the idea of making fish sculptures. I sent a picture to my best friend Aaron, and he said “dude, do rod tubes!” That was 2010ish, and I started doing fly rod tubes, selling them on Ebay for a ridiculously low price. I was happy to sell anything because it meant I could buy better paints and products.
What kind of things in fly fishing do you paint?
Fly rod tubes, cigar tubes, wall art, skateboards, tumblers, mugs, vises, or anything if someone is willing to pay for it!
Can you tell us more about the process you use?
It’s pretty much the same for most products. I spray a sealer, then paint, clear coat and then I have to sand, buff and polish the clear coat. When I do paintings I do two rounds of clear coat. Lots of time and incredibly expensive products. I hand paint every item that I sell! No two items are the same, I’ve painted well over a thousand cups and painted every dot on every cup! So if you buy something from me, it’s yours, NOBODY has that exact same thing!
What is the most challenging item you have worked on?
That’s a tough one! It’s usually the smaller the item like a vise or something like that, the tougher it is. I have to go slower and they take more time.
Of all of the stuff you have worked on do you have any that are your favorites? Anything you are extremely proud of or came out better than expected?
I think as of now my favorite was a three skateboard panel painting of a Smallmouth. I used alot of wild complimentary colors. After it was done I couldn’t believe I actually did it. Mike Schultz of Schultz Outfitters bought it for his office. Everything I paint is a favorite though, or I would not sell it!
Can you tell us about the CE Technologies Vise base that you painted for Svend Diesel? Did you have to do anything different when you worked on it?
The CE technologies vise for Svend we worked out a trade on. That thing turned out killer! I do not prefer to paint vises, they take alot of time, lots of intricate tape and masking and really, kind of a pain! I like Svend though, I love his fly tying competitions and the character and enthusiasm he brings to fly tying as well as the fly fishing community! The CE Technologies base and tool caddy were some seriously nice hardware! Very impressive!
Where can people go if they are interested in you painting something for them?
Easy, they can go to Scalydesigns.com or visit my Instagram page @scalydesigns for lots of pictures. Send an email or message on Instagram, I love questions or comments! Thanks for taking the time to read this!!
