Inbetween other pieces, I'm starting to experiment with fish prints. The fishing season isn't in full swing yet, so finding whole fish is a challenge. I come across the occasional fish and snatch it up. Freezing doesn't seem to adversely affect the texture of the fish and prints remain the same.
This rainbow trout has done yeoman's duty before it went off the the compost pile. Yes, some are eaten after printing, but many are too well used to do that. I look at them as another art tool, albeit an expensive one at times.
I've put in an order for some Japanese papers and am looking forward to getting them and having some time to try out more. There are a mind boggling number of Japanese papers, not all of them suitable for gyotaku or capable of withstanding additional manipulation.
Then the question of mounting the final pieces is taking me down different avenues of exploration. Aside from traditional framing, I hadn't really considered other options and there are a number of them. Its opening a whole new world of supports, techniques and processes.
Just a fish you say.....think again.
7 comments:
Well I will be lucky enough to be surrounded by whole fishies this summer. Too bad you weren't closer, I'm sure my father could catch you a few... aww heck, -I'D- catch them! Haha! This trout looks AMAZING. The colors are so vivid, and the textures make it look so real but stylistic at the same time. Super job. :-)
This print is amazing, love the colors used. Do you rub the fish right on the paper and then make prints with a copier? Very interesting, but don't understand the process.
Wow, that's a beauty, Jeanette. The colours and textures are beautifully combined. It really is fascinating to see the results you achieve with this technique.
Lucky you Lori! I've got a couple of fishermen lined up to get me whatever they can. You wouldn't think it was so difficult to find fish would you?
Thanks Susan. To create this, I ink the fish, then put paper on the fish and gently mold it around then pull it off. I use the original pulled print to add watercolour washes to. The results depend on the type of paper used. This is light weight watercolour paper. Other papers are very light Japanese, and not so receptive to water so its more subtle.
Its all hit or miss, a different result everytime. Just like nature!
Julie, thanks. Each piece is a complete surprise to me. I have the idea in my head but on paper the results are so variable depending on the print and the colour.
These are so fascinating to me - to use a fish to make a print - to make an artful, beautiful thing. Looking forward to Micheala's Rock, too.
Jeanette great looking experiment and the process sounds fascinating. Too bad I live in the desert and have no fish around, I think this is something I would love to try.
Rhonda, it is very interesting to do. I'm having great fun playing with fish and different papers.
Mary, good to see you again. I think you'd enjoy the process and perhaps you can if you have access to a frozen fish somewhere.
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