Captain Warren's Fish Prints
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I have been a fishing captain since the mid 1970s and was one of the very first sportfishing captains in Costa Rica. Today I combine my love of fishing with my passion for art. You will find fish rubbed in Costa Rica, Panama, the Galapagos, and Tahiti in my etsy shop.
I started practicing Gyotaku as a great way to preserve (non catch-and-release) fish as art. At the end of my fishing day, I brush the fish while on the beach, with non-toxic acrylic paint and rub it onto Japanese paper for printing. Once the rubbing process is complete, I wash off the fish in the ocean, and prepare it for consumption. Some of the details such as highlights and eyes are later added in my studio.
The art of Gyotaku was created by Japanese warlords in the early 1800s as a way to document their catches. The warlords used rice paper and natural berry inks to preserve the exact sizes of their catch. Although I use acrylics, original Gyotaku was created with natural berry inks. Part of what makes the art so special is the beautiful hand-made Japanese Washi Paper the fish is rubbed onto. The crinkling of the paper is determined by the shape of the fish. For additional information on the history of Gyotaku, I recommend watching this short video: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/gyotaku-the-ancient-japanese-art-of-printing-fish-k-erica-dodge
You can find reproductions of my rubbings at Walmart, Overstock, and Wayfair.
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