," I told her. It smelled really fishy, but why not. I washed the fish thoroughly and dried it with a hair dryer. I then used lithographic printing ink I had from school as she told me to do in her description on the back of the print I bought and placed the inks on the fish. Did all of this on the table on my back deck. Smell was pretty potent. The paper I used was a good quality drawing paper and I placed it on top of the inked fish. Now I'm to gently rub it with my fingers and then carefully peel the paper off the fish. Should be able to use the fish a couple of times it told me. Well it worked. But, it didn't look like a fish. It looked like litho ink on paper. I'm positive NO ONE could tell it was a fish print. I read and re-read the directions. And then I got it!! She left something out of the directions so I couldn't do it. Gotta be the answer, cause I was positive I could do it. Finally found something that didn't work for me. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Pix is from a part of one of the three prints that I bought at the gallery from Lori Hatch.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
The "Painted Fish" Story
It was an ordinary day. I was going to try to make something new today. Something I never tried before. Something REALLY DIFFERENT! Now, I published two stories already about the different items I made for the house, but this will be a challenge. Carol and I were visiting Annapolis and stopped in an art gallery and as soon as I saw the Gyotaku I was sure I could do that. Gyotaku is the art and technique of Japanese fish rubbing which is a process derived from an ancient printing method used before photography was invented. You actually use a fish to make the print and the resulting print is extremely detailed and accurate. We bought three prints from the artist, Lori Hatch. On the back of each print is the description of how they are done. Sounds easy to me. Just gotta try it. I know I can do it. When we got home I went to Central Market in downtown Lancaster and bought a whole fish with the eye staring at me from Kathy at "Kathy's Seafood." I get fish from her all the time, but usually alreadyfilleted. "Are you going to fillet this yourself?" she asked me. "Nope, I'm going to make a print out of it," I told her. She looked at me and smiled. "I'll bring it in when I'm finished and show it to you," I told her. It smelled really fishy, but why not. I washed the fish thoroughly and dried it with a hair dryer. I then used lithographic printing ink I had from school as she told me to do in her description on the back of the print I bought and placed the inks on the fish. Did all of this on the table on my back deck. Smell was pretty potent. The paper I used was a good quality drawing paper and I placed it on top of the inked fish. Now I'm to gently rub it with my fingers and then carefully peel the paper off the fish. Should be able to use the fish a couple of times it told me. Well it worked. But, it didn't look like a fish. It looked like litho ink on paper. I'm positive NO ONE could tell it was a fish print. I read and re-read the directions. And then I got it!! She left something out of the directions so I couldn't do it. Gotta be the answer, cause I was positive I could do it. Finally found something that didn't work for me. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Pix is from a part of one of the three prints that I bought at the gallery from Lori Hatch.
," I told her. It smelled really fishy, but why not. I washed the fish thoroughly and dried it with a hair dryer. I then used lithographic printing ink I had from school as she told me to do in her description on the back of the print I bought and placed the inks on the fish. Did all of this on the table on my back deck. Smell was pretty potent. The paper I used was a good quality drawing paper and I placed it on top of the inked fish. Now I'm to gently rub it with my fingers and then carefully peel the paper off the fish. Should be able to use the fish a couple of times it told me. Well it worked. But, it didn't look like a fish. It looked like litho ink on paper. I'm positive NO ONE could tell it was a fish print. I read and re-read the directions. And then I got it!! She left something out of the directions so I couldn't do it. Gotta be the answer, cause I was positive I could do it. Finally found something that didn't work for me. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Pix is from a part of one of the three prints that I bought at the gallery from Lori Hatch.
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