About this Product
Original life-size Gyotaku rubbing of a large Trevally on yellow, silver and teal marbled Momi paper. This is not a reproduction, but ORIGINAL art.
At the end of a fishing day I laid the Trevally out on the beach and brushed it with non toxic white, purple and blue acrylic paint. I then covered it with a quality Momi paper and rubbed the Trevally onto the paper. Afterwards, it was washed off in the ocean, filleted and consumed. The paper was dried and then rolled for storage or sale. Some details such as eyes and signature were added later in my studio
Some of the fish in my store were rubbed more than once, but each rubbing is unique in color, shape and paper. The crinkling of the paper is determined by the shape of the fish. Some of the crinkling will flatten out upon framing.
Please take into account that a computer monitor may display colors differently from the actual art print.
Upon purchase the fish print is rolled in a tube and shipped with tracked USPS Priority.
Paper size: 37 x 25 inches
Fish size: 24 x 12 inches
Since the paper is thin, it can be cut or torn to the art size that fits your need.
If you have any questions please contact me, I love to talk fishing and Gyotaku!
Captain Warren's Fish Prints
Meet the Maker
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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