Gyotaku of John Dory in Red Ink

Gyotaku of John Dory in Red InkUnlike many fellow Gyotaku artists, my intention is not to record the specimen accurately or to make a record of my catch. I like to work on composition and colour more freely and I think that is a reflection of my fine art background. In fact my fish come from various sources but are not caught by me as Im a pretty hopeless fisherman! The Dory came from Brixham in Devon and was sent to me with other fish as by product of fish processing. Ive printed

The bass I used for this print is supplied by a local fisherman with a licence to fish bass commercially

deeply lobed leaves of an Acer

As ever feel free to ask me questions

discovered by a close friend during a quiet walk with her dog

Like a lobster it's much more 3 dimensional than a fish so there is a lot of work to do making things don't slip and slide around

using high-quality permanent light

This print is supplied with a mount which can be removed if you prefer

We have a couple of Ash trees in the garden

and then the paste is spread liberally over the rear of the print

After making the initial print

This involves applying a thin wheat-paste glue to the back and layering it with Japanese Masa paper for reinforcement

The print is laid on a flat board face down and then a thin glue of flour and water which I make myself is applied to the back of the print