Renowned Artist Larry Tople, 83, Passes Away

Larry Tople, the longtime illustrator whose work has adorned the covers of In-Fisherman for more than 40 years, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 83.

A Michigan native who resided in Dearborn Heights, just west of Detroit, Tople was a man of many artistic styles, stemming from his early training and ad agency work as a commercial artist in the automotive industry. He was equally comfortable drawing editorial cartoons and illustrating editorial art as he was sketching a northern pike about to inhale a spinnerbait. Through his work for In-Fisherman, he was widely considered among the world’s finest illustrators of freshwater gamefish.

For as much as viewers of the In-Fisherman television show associate the likes of Doug Stange and the Lindners (Al and Ron) with In-Fisherman, Tople’s artwork made him synonymous with the magazine. He was responsible for the first impression every reader got when an issue was held in hand. Aside from the covers of the regular issues and annual guides, Tople’s illustrations accompanied countless articles inside the magazine, including the cartoon caricature work that complemented writings about catfish maven Otis “Toad” Smith. For many years, In-Fisherman produced wall calendars showcasing Tople’s work.

“I never had the pleasure to meet Larry, but I count myself among the legions of In-Fisherman readers who felt connected to each issue through Larry's exquisite cover artwork,” said Todd Ceisner, publisher of In-Fisherman. “His understanding and portrayal of various underwater environments and the finned creatures that inhabit them was simply breathtaking. He was an icon that other artists rightfully admired. On behalf of the In-Fisherman staff, past and present, I want to extend our deepest sympathies to Larry's wife, Mary, and their family. His work will forever live on in the pages of In-Fisherman."

Tople’s work initially caught the eye of then publisher Ron Lindner in 1976 as Lindner tasked then art director Chuck Nelson with redesigning the magazine cover, which had featured only black-and-white photos for the first seven issues. Nelson lobbied to used artwork on future covers and during a meeting to discuss the idea, Lindner pointed to an illustration on the cover of a periodical published by a bass club in Detroit, Mich. He suggested they commission the artist for future In-Fisherman projects. As it turned out, Tople was the artist in question and was also an In-Fisherman subscriber at the time. Lindner contacted Tople about the opportunity and the rest is history.

The June/July 1977 issue was the first to feature Tople’s work on its cover – a black-and-white pencil and ink of a finned-up walleye, glassy eye and all, inhaling a jighead tipped with a curly-tail grub. That image was just a taste of what was to come.

Photo covers persisted for a few more issues, but by 1978, Tople settled in as the magazine’s signature cover artist. For the next four-plus decades he delivered amazingly brilliant paintings rife with detail, taking readers with him into the underwater environments he conjured from his own experiences and bringing to life moments in time that had never been captured before.

“For 16 years, I had the amazing pleasure of working with Larry Tople who I regard as the world’s greatest freshwater fishing illustrator,” said Chuck Beasley, former art director at In-Fisherman and current art director of Wildfowl. “I’ve also called him the goose that laid golden eggs—and also a true genius and artistic maverick. Being Larry’s art director, I was sometimes asked how he made such incredible masterpieces. My usual quick response was that he was simply born with more raw talent in his little finger than most of us will ever have in our entire body.”

Tople had an insatiable appetite to study and learn about what he would be drawing and his attention to the finest details was evident in his work.

“Where previous fishing illustrators often used mounted fish as references or simply made up underwater scenes, Larry put on a skin suit and photographed fish in their underwater environments,” Beasley added. “He also spent much time photographing fish at In-Fisherman’s aquarium and other times used partially thawed fish that he posed on special mounts that he made. He took photos and sketched wherever he travelled.

“He understood fishing scenes better than most because he was a very enthusiastic and accomplished angler himself, competing in tournaments in his younger years. Those experiences also gave him an extensive knowledge of appropriate boats, clothing, and tackle to match the scenes we asked him to create. Once while discussing the details of a painting assignment, Larry asked me not only what kind of knot to illustrate for the line to lure connection but how many twists it should have. Mono, fluorocarbon, or braid? What pound test? No details were too small for Larry.”

The process for Tople illustrating the magazine cover was surprisingly simple. It started with a note from Stange, the longtime editor in chief, who would outline for Tople the article chosen for that issue’s cover subject and what the editorial team was seeking in terms of artwork.

“Then Larry would work his magic,” Stange said, “delivering the art, highlighting that one standout article from the magazine’s interior to our art director—Chuck Nelson in the earliest days; then Chuck Beasley a bit later. It was a working relationship that never got old and was always an inspiring delight for going on 40 years.”

No assignment seemed too daunting for Tople, who also contributed illustrations to numerous marketing campaigns for global brands like Ford, Rapala and Pure Fishing.

“All artists who specialize in fish painting looked to Larry as king of the brush when it came to depicting live-action images of favorite gamefish,” said Steve Quinn, who spent 30 years on the In-Fisherman editorial staff. They emulated his style, but none could match the detailed fin and body movements of a walleye or bass in strike mode, in all sorts of natural backgrounds. Given a little time for research, his paintings captured the whole underwater ecosystem in oils.

“It was with eager anticipation that our editorial crew would gather in the art director’s office for the opening of Larry’s latest parcel containing the upcoming cover art,” Quinn added. “Unwrapping and lifting back the protective sheet invariably revealed a remarkably lifelike scene commissioned to match a feature article in that In-Fisherman issue. In recent years, we reused many of his favorite works, and they always drew praise and appreciation, creating far more vivid and thoughtful images than any photograph. Like the famed artists of past eras, his creations forever remain part of our culture.”

Tople never sought the limelight, choosing instead to let his work speak for him. In 2010, he was inducted into the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame.

“Every single fish has a personality of their own. They fascinate the daylights out of me,” Tople told MLive.com at the time. “I get as much of a kick out of doing a goldfish as I do a muskie.”

Guide Mark Rinckey and painter Larry Tople honored by Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame

Fellow artists often cite Tople’s work as a main inspiration for their own illustrations but concede his unique style will never be matched.

“I always thought his work and (In-Fisherman) covers were unparalleled,” said Joseph Tomelleri, a Kansas-based fish illustrator whose work has appeared in more than 1,000 publications, including In-Fisherman. “There is just a smidgen of looseness to his style that lets the fish image melt into the background. The viewer is right there, underwater with that fish. I'm guessing he spent many hours underwater observing, photographing, etc., to get those realistic scenes. And before GoPro and all the easy research on the Internet was available. Just gorgeous technique and a spectacular flair for composition and scientific accuracy. That's a direction I never felt compelled to go, because hell, who's going to do it better than Larry? Not me.”

Tople was preceded in death by his son, Steven. He is survived by wife, Mary, as well as sister Caron (Larry) Maczkowski. Funeral services are planned for Aug. 20 in Dearborn Heights, Mich.

Larry Tople

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