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Old 02-07-2007, 09:21 PM   #1
TripleHelix
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Gyotaku 101

I put this on Florida Sportsman, so I figured you guys could appreciate it as well. The only problem is that when you paint a speared fish, theres always a small white circle in the middle of the print.

I remember watching my art teacher, Mrs. Ersch, doing this when I was in 5th grade with a snook her husband caught, who was Eric Ersch, a charter guide who fished Sebastian nightly. No, its not from a page in the Kama Sutra, its the 'ancient' Japanese art of fish printing. The fish is painted and paper is layed over the fish and rubbed, creating an imprint of the fish on the paper. Traditionally, the only thing handpainted on the final print are the fish's eye or eyes. Here's a step by step tutorial I made while rubbing out a sheepshead caught off Wabasso.

You can basically use any fish you catch. Flounder are quite easy to do, while snapper, hogfish, sheepshead, mullet, anything with big scales and round profile are a tad harder. Mahi, wahoo, or kingfish would probably be a little easier being so big leaving a decent margain of error.

You will need a certain type of paper to do this. Because you are laying the paper on the fish, you need a soft paper that will not buckle and crease. I have found that rice, or shoji paper works best. It is expensive, at around $5 a sheet from a local art store, but yields good results. On this fish I used a new kind of paper I haven't tried before. Not sure what its called exactly, but it is a synthetic paper used for transferring art onto pre-laminated surfboards. It was $3 a sheet and worked nicely. Cheap paper will only buckle and frusturate the heck outta ya.

Other materials you will need are:

2 brushes, one flat, 1/2" for the body and one small and pointy for the eyes.
Water-based Acryllic paints (I use Delta Ceramacoat, $1.99 each and they work great. No $8, 2oz tube of fancy paint is gunna make you the Japanese Rembrandt)
A Fish. Doesn't need to be fresh, but it helps. A thawed fish will work too.
A Blowdryer. I used my moms. Not sure what brand. Feels good when its cold in the house.
Some pins for supporting fins
A Lemon
A knife
A bunch of paper towels

First catch a fish. This was a 20" sheepshead caught off Wabasso this week.



Rinse the entire fish off and use the lemon to remove ALL the slime from one side of the fish. ALL the slime.



Next, remove the eye using the knife or any other preffered method. I would assume that if you have small children around you could keep them occupied with this step. Fill the hole in with a small piece of paper towel to prevent leakage.



Support the pec fins using small pieces of paper towel, play-doh, or modeling clay. Pin up the dorsal and anal fins with small pins and make sure the head of the pins are not showing.



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Old 02-07-2007, 09:22 PM   #2
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Re: Gyotaku 101

Now that your fish looks natural and is free of slime, use the blowdryer to completely dry the side of the fish. Using the low setting for a few minutes will dry it out well and not cause the fins to curl.




Blow dry until scales slightly raise up. Take your time on the low setting and do not rush this step. Make sure tail, gills, lips, and fins are dryed out as well. This will not ruin the meat if the fish was cold before working with it. Notice in the next picture, if possible, how the scales are dryed out and slightly raised up. This is what gives the fish texture to stamp onto the paper.



Mix a palate of colors that you will be using to paint the fish. For the sheepshead I used mainly black and white, but I mixed some red and blue to make a little purple tint for the forehead, making it look a tad more realistic. I used different tones of greys as well.

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Old 02-07-2007, 09:23 PM   #3
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Re: Gyotaku 101

Here are the paints I use. You may want to do this step before starting everything, for the fish tends to lose it's color when it drys out and you'll have everything ready as not to keep this fish drying out too long and risk messin up the meat.



Now you are ready to paint the fish. You want to apply a thin coat of paint in one direction, say, head to tail. Keep all your strokes going in the same direction. Spread paint evenly over scales, body, tail, and don't forget the fins. After you've covered the whole fish in one direction, turn it around and go the other way, making sure to get paint under the scales as well. On your first try I recommend using one solid color, such as all black on white paper or all white on dark-colored paper. You are basically painting onto the fish what you see on its skin when you do it in full color.



As soon as you've finished painting the fish and you're sure you haven't missed any spots or applied too much paint in one place you're ready to rub. Hold the piece of paper over top of the fish and drop it straight onto the fish. This is the hard part. Rub her down good, head to toe..err..tail, making sure not to miss any spots. The image should start to show through the paper, showing you what you've rubbed or missed. Rub the whole fish, don't forget any spines or small fins. When you are finished the rub, gently and SLOWLY peel the paper UP off the fish from head to tail and set image aside. You can now wash the fish off in the sink or do a second rub, in which case you will need to apply another fresh coat of paint. I've done three good rubbings on one flounder before, for this sheepshead I did two, but thats all up to you.



Now its time to paint the eyes. All fish have different eyes, so you may want to search online or look at pictures you may have to see the details. Since this is the only part you actually draw out, you may customize the eyes to your likings. I chose black on yellow for this sheepie. It gives it a natural, yet attention drawing feel.



And viola! Your very own unique Gyotaku. I spray my rubbings with Spray Fix acryllic paint fixative. Keeps them from fading or whatever paintings do over time. Any more questions email me or let me know how yours comes out. Enjoy!

Matt B
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Old 02-07-2007, 09:29 PM   #4
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Re: Gyotaku 101

Good stuff, Matt!!!

How you been doing man? Holding down the fort at the long dongers???
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Old 02-07-2007, 09:39 PM   #5
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Re: Gyotaku 101

Think you could do this on a T-Shirt?
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Old 02-07-2007, 11:00 PM   #6
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Re: Gyotaku 101

Very cool thread
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Old 02-07-2007, 11:22 PM   #7
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Re: Gyotaku 101

Quote:
Originally Posted by bug_power
Think you could do this on a T-Shirt?
That would be a great idea!
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Old 02-08-2007, 12:23 AM   #8
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Re: Gyotaku 101

nice job looks good. The T-shirt idea is good
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Old 02-11-2007, 09:21 AM   #9
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Re: Gyotaku 101

Thanks Trip for the idea! My kids loved it. (I snapped pic before we did the eyeball)



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Old 02-11-2007, 10:35 AM   #10
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Re: Gyotaku 101

Did your kids do the one in post #9?!! If so thats awsome, better than I could hope to be able to do with practice.
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Old 02-11-2007, 11:01 AM   #11
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Re: Gyotaku 101

Quote:
Originally Posted by bug_power
Think you could do this on a T-Shirt?
My daughter did a T-shirt with a flounder, a couple of years ago at 4-H camp.

BTW: Your kids did an excellent job Gator.
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Old 02-11-2007, 11:30 PM   #12
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Re: Gyotaku 101

Thats what its all about Gator!!

Sweet!
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