Red fish

 
Ocean perch are commonly known as 'red fish' in Newfoundland because of the colour which ranges from a pink to a deep red.  This colour fades after death, especially in the underside of the fish, so this one has a little pallor to him/her.  I've found it very difficult to obtain really fresh red fish so I haven't got a good comparison. This is my reality.

These perch are great for printing but I have also been doing some paintings alongside with the printings to document more of the fish colour.  These pieces tend to be 'portrait style' i.e. head and shoulders.  Why I don't know, they just to happen that way.  In the case of the perch, I love the bony shapes of the head with the serrated gill covers and the big eyes and really wanted to emphasize that.

This piece is 18 x 24" in acrylic.  Its not complete yet as I'm still building colour.  The skin of the fish is a complex mass of subtle colour variances overlaid each other to create an almost luminescent effect.  I don't know if I can recreate that but with glazes I will try.

Building up the shapes of the mouth and eye provides a wonderful lesson in fish anatomy and always amazement at just how well constructed these little beasties are.