Gyotaku is an ancient Japanese art form of, well, taxidermy I guess. When Japanese fishermen would want to preserve their trophy they would cover the fish in ink and lay paper over, thus making a "print" of the catch. I have been doing these since I was about 12, but only recently got back into the swing of things again and picked up the medium. The process is tedious and there's definitely technique involved to get a respectable print, but every detail - scales, scars, fins, teeth, etc. shows up right there on paper. I take it a little further and add watercolor in just for some realism. Plus it allows me to paint, which I thoroughly enjoy and rarely get time to do anymore. Oh by the way, these are spawning Sockeye Salmon. During fall and winter they travel upstream in a river near my home and turn a beautiful deep red with green heads and tails. The color I've added here doesn't do them justice. Enjoy!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Christmas Sockeye
Gyotaku is an ancient Japanese art form of, well, taxidermy I guess. When Japanese fishermen would want to preserve their trophy they would cover the fish in ink and lay paper over, thus making a "print" of the catch. I have been doing these since I was about 12, but only recently got back into the swing of things again and picked up the medium. The process is tedious and there's definitely technique involved to get a respectable print, but every detail - scales, scars, fins, teeth, etc. shows up right there on paper. I take it a little further and add watercolor in just for some realism. Plus it allows me to paint, which I thoroughly enjoy and rarely get time to do anymore. Oh by the way, these are spawning Sockeye Salmon. During fall and winter they travel upstream in a river near my home and turn a beautiful deep red with green heads and tails. The color I've added here doesn't do them justice. Enjoy!
