Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Ocean life

Untitled
oils 16 x 20

I've been meandering for the last couple of days, caught between portraits and prints, oils and watercolours, without anything very concrete to show for it. Especially with my laptop down and my favourite programs not available.

I've started this oil painting using mostly sea for interest. I want a wide expanse of water with just some movement on the surface. I've put down some base colour and added lighter sections that I will blend in to reflect light on the water. I'm not quite sure where exactly this one is going yet, but it will get there.

Its funny how word spreads about 'the artist' and her gyotaku interests. Some friends locally have a pond stocked with a variety of koi carp. Recent cold weather and deep ice killed a number of these fish and tonight I was presented with a bag full of bodies. They may not all be suitable and they may be a bit 'ripe' even if half frozen, but I'll try a few prints with some of the smaller fish. They have great definition in larger scales, so it should provide some good prints.

I still have more based prints to enhance and am delighted that they are being well received so far. I have plans for some of them to be printed as notecards. Adding colour turns them into something so different and the scans or photos don't do them justice in terms of shading and colour. This is one of the original fish print cards that's for sale on Etsy.

8 comments:

Rose Welty said...

Hey, friends bearing dead ripe fish...with friends like these...:D

No, I'm sure you are glad to have them. They really are beautiful and I'm so glad they are doing well for you!

Teresa Mallen said...

Congratulations on your loot! Koi are beautiful so I hope you find you can work with them. This print is stunning!

Jennifer Rose said...

Couldn't find a fish to start with and now you are going to be rolling in them (ewww :p)

Will be interesting to see if there is a huge difference in how the scales print.

Robyn Sinclair said...

It is the colour you add that make your fish prints so gorgeous, Jeanette. This one is a favourite.

I discovered the Branzino (Sea Bass) I had for dinner last night had already been scaled, so it would have been a disappointing print.

Jeanette Jobson said...

Rose, you just never know what will land your doorstep. If someone told me a month ago I'd like a bag of dead smelly fish, I would have told them they were nuts. And now I can't wait to get home and try them. :)

Teresa, the koi are fabulous fish and amazing colours in their own right. I've frozen them and left one for me to play with later.

Jennifer, the scales on the carp are quite pronounced so I hope that the print will pick that up.

I'll just be doing this in the greenhouse this evening I think.

Robyn, the bright colours seem to work well with the prints, even though I like the plain prints for their stark appeal too.

Yes your sea bass sounds like it would make a better dinner than a print.

Anita said...

Your fishy prints are an absolute delight. super seascape - love the way this is going.

Anonymous said...

I really like the colors you achieve with your fish prints - what an interesting process!

Anonymous said...

so far I like what you're doing with your oil...it already has a lot of atmosphere, hope you'll keep that..
As for your fish...I'm gigggling about the artist and her "fish"..but you're doing such great work with them that it is no wonder you are provided with more. The colours here are beautifully rich.
ronell