Artsy Fish - Fishing for Gyotaku

MAMBO~!!

2012-02-05T15:39:00.000-08:00

a mola-mola fish (sunfish) or 'mambo' in japanese was cruising around balboa pier!!

didn't think that they would be swimming around so close to shore, but there he was!

The Fish Homer Simpson will always Remember.

2012-01-22T15:38:00.000-08:00

i'm always on the look out for interesting fish to print and it was my mother who had brought to my attention that a pufferfish would be a 'cute' addition. when she told me, it had dawned on me that i had never seen a print of a pufferfish/blowfish before. i looked for one online on both japanese and english sites and could not find one. and so over Christmas break, we were on a quest to locate one of these toxic fiends. we ended up talking to someone who coaxed a specialty chef that they knew to let us have one to print! and here's the result~

Bowling Ball Trout

2012-01-16T11:55:00.000-08:00

normally, when i think of trout, i imagine silvery torpedos not more than a foot long.

until i was handed a 12 pound, 26 inch behemoth, weighing more than the average bowling ball that i would use at the alley.

trout is normally not a difficult fish to print.

but this one had me go through many sheets of paper simply due to its ridiculous girth.

hard to get paper to evenly wrap around a basketball...

Korean Waters

2012-01-13T07:15:00.000-08:00

me and my wife spent a wonderful two weeks in seoul to visit friends and family over the Christmas holiday~ our time was filled with good food, good times, great ice fishing and nearly daily fish printing!! it was our chance to print a few creatures that aren't available in my area of the US! some of the fish only existing in the far east!!

so we created a large number of raw prints and with the little time that i now have (just started my new job!), i'm slowly finishing up those raw prints into fully completed ones!

below are three out of the dozen different creatures that we printed while in korea!

'red sea bream' or 'ma dai'

this is the fish that is purported to have been the first fish ever to be gyotaku printed~

'starry flounder' or 'numa garei'

thought it'd be an easy fish to print but proved to be one of the more difficult

due to its lack of scales and toad like, bumpy skin.

three baby cuttlefish!!

Trouting with the Pooch

2011-12-21T23:26:00.000-08:00

Last trout fishing trip in the states before the new year!
however, i'm hoping i'll be making another trout run while i'm in korea over the christmas holiday~

kept the 2nd trout from the right to print as i've noticed that i haven't printed a male trout yet (pointy snout, longer mouth).

still trying to get my dog used to being around fish.

Fish Flat Foot

2011-12-18T22:18:00.000-08:00

before i had ever known about gyotaku printing, i used to catch flounders, sand dabs, and other tasty flatfish by the bucket load! i wish i could return to those waters and catch them again~

so it was out of nostalgia that the flounder would become the subject of my next print!

my first printed flounder~~

Snakes on the Plane!!

2011-12-16T02:05:00.000-08:00

as hated as these fish are in the states, i've had an obsession over this particular beast ever since i helped a kid land one of these predators along the tamagawa river in tokyo. they look just like rattlesnakes...and yet they're fish. and mean looking ones too! so since then, i tried my hardest to catch one during my few months remaining in japan, but to no avail. i'd have to wait till i was in either seoul or tokyo again to get another chance at them... so i was ecstatic when i saw them being sold, frozen, at a vietnamese fish market, but labeled as bowfins instead.

very difficult fish to print as its head is rectangular and boxy. and rather than printing it directly from the side, i opted to print it at an angle so the top of the head and the inside of the lower jaw would be visible.

Scorpio!

2011-12-13T21:55:00.000-08:00

got a hold of a good sized scorpion fish from our local coastal waters~

having been stung by these critters before, i was a lot more careful about handling its spines this time around, especially while printing it. after four attempts, one brought out a very satisfied grimace from me. i'm quite proud of it so i'll keep this one for my own personal portfolio~

Much Deserved

2011-12-07T22:52:00.000-08:00

after weeks of printing fish and selling them, we treated ourselves to some much deserved fishing out on one of the local pay lakes that are now being stocked with trout! it took some time to get the hang of it as i've never fished with artificial dough baits, but we had a fantastic time. especially because we were flanked by some very funny and kind individuals that made every moment filled with laughter.
this is also our first fishing trip with our new puppy that we adopted from the shelter a few days ago.

once again, the wife beats me by both quantity and size...

just another day in the office~

A Great End!

2011-12-07T00:15:00.000-08:00

about now, 474 fish prints are on their way to a warehouse in new jersey where they will be sorted out to be shipped to all the fab.com customers who purchased them during our sale. it was a great relief to see them go. now, me and my wife pray that they will arrive safely and that the people at fab will take great care in sending them to their customers.
now i have several original prints to create for a few individuals who have made specific requests.
after that, i'll be taking on new projects such as a snakehead fish, fluke, a blue crab, and a scorpion fish.
i did get a phone call this morning from my future employer, and it seems i might be starting work (storyboarding) some time this month. if so, my pace with these prints will likely slow down, but i'll do my best to continue!

Otsukare sama~~~

2011-12-03T12:47:00.000-08:00

our FAB.com sale has come to an end this morning and it was FANTASTIC!!!
not to mention the incredible business it brought to our shop on etsy~
it's also brought a handful of people requesting custom work or specific species.
i love custom work as it pushes me to do more.

here's one of Mr. Octo and his friend, Squidy.

All Hail OCTO!!

2011-12-02T00:45:00.000-08:00

while my sale on fab.com is finally winding down, i have been receiving a lot of requests for originals of specific species. after five attempts, this one finally turned out the way i wanted! out of all the prints i've done so far, the bluegill and this octopus has been the most time consuming prints i've done. but what a great satisfaction when stamping it upon completion! i hope whoever takes this print home will be just as proud.

octo says, "be good to others."

so says octo.

octo has spoken.

Squid Fritters

2011-11-29T01:49:00.000-08:00

the demand for my 'kou ika' cuttlefish print has been incredible!
after fab.com sold out of the cuttlefish prints, many individuals have found me on etsy and have been ordering cuttlefish repro prints while others asked if i had original cuttlefish and/or other species. unfortunately, there are no cuttlefish that i know of in southern california. and honestly, catching them in japan wasn't that easy either. so in the meantime, me and my wife put up a set of 'regular' squids to sate any appetites for more calamari~

SOLD OUT!!

2011-11-28T20:26:00.000-08:00

i had almost completely forgotten that today was the start of my sale on fab.com.
when me and my wife woke up this morning, we sleepily checked our emails and blinked blankly at all the messages and numbers that were flashing onto the screen. our promised lot of 200 'kou ika' (cuttlefish) prints had completely sold out in a matter of a few hours!!! we panicked...and then danced around the room. we got in our car and sped to our printing shop and placed an immediate order of 200 cuttlefish prints. our man across the counter blinked just as blankly as we did.

right next to the neat dice filled with chess, dominos and trump cards~

all is well.

poof.....

Gifts for Fisherman

2011-11-27T22:52:00.000-08:00

since we've been getting a lot of inquiries from ladies looking for a christmas gift for their favorite fisherman, we've spent the last three evenings working on a new batch of largemouth bass prints! i was hoping to get these done while there were so many shoppers on etsy during this thanksgiving holiday break, but both me and my wife had succumbed to turkey coma...

creating gifts for fish loving significant others, i secretly hope that my own wife will get me something fish related too~

Rite of Passage

2011-11-26T12:50:00.000-08:00

part of the reason i got into gyotaku printing was to create gifts for my fellow fishing friends.
i enjoy putting these prints on my own walls, but it's very special to me when a friend hangs one up on theirs. a friend of mine, lucas billeaudeau, had just graduated from LSU!! he had mentioned that he was interested in purchasing a print after graduation, so i decided to make a special board print just for him, as a happy graduation gift. much to my delight, he sent me photos of himself taking it out of the box and enjoying it~

congratulations on your graduation, lucas!!!
soon after, papa billeaudeau decided to present his own gyotaku.
that's some stiff competition~ =D

My Thankful Thanksgiving~

2011-11-25T20:07:00.000-08:00

the day before thanksgiving, i got a call stating that out of the 18 applicants applying for the position, i was unanimously voted for the job! what a wonderful way to spend thanksgiving day~ especially after hearing that my competition comprised of older industry veterans from disney, warner brothers, even pixar as well as a number of prominent live action studios. i thank God for providing! what a relief...

and then the day after thanksgiving, i got a notice that i've sold my third original gyotaku print of a japanese barbel (my second sold original being the bluegill in an earlier post). i had my doubts that the print would sell to an american customer as i don't even think barbels exist here, and sure enough, it will be appreciated and enjoyed by a lady and her fishing partner, in the united kingdom.

Stars and Stripes!

2011-11-18T08:46:00.000-08:00

although i miss the various fish found in japan, now that i live in the states, i'm being slowly introduced to the local game fish in these parts. a few nights ago, i had acquired what the locals call a 'wiper' which is a hybrid mix of white fish and the striped bass that i've fished for off the coast up north when i was younger. i had never seen a wiper before until now, so it was delight to be able to print one!

usually a fish print will take me a couple of hours to complete. however, this striped bass (hybrid) required a lot more time than i had anticipated. made four prints, two are up on etsy while these two are on hold.

Shallow Approach

2011-11-16T00:00:00.000-08:00

seeing as how small and relatively flat a bluegill is, i expected it to be a breeze to print!

i can only assume that i had the wrong mentality going into this as i made four attempts, trashed three of those attempted prints and was left with this one that i considered decent. normally, printing fish is very relaxing and enjoyable for me. but this time, it was pretty stressful...

considering how much difficulty i had with this print, i think i'll keep this one for my own wall (or my wifes wall since she's the one who caught it),

Ginsu Knife Fish!

2011-11-15T00:15:00.000-08:00

i had the impression that those saber shaped eel like fish (featherback knife fish) were only viewed as exotic pets. i was surprised, and quite honestly, delighted to see them sold as a food fish at a vietnamese fish market! how else would i be able to print such a creature?! i squeezed myself in between a large group of thai and vietnamese ladies to get to the baskets of fish at the front of the counter. quickly shuffled through the selection, chose one and handed it to the perplexed fish monger as i shook my head and yelled, "NO CLEAN PLEASE!!"

i would love to have one as a pet, but a print will suffice for me~

ENCORE~!!

2011-11-11T00:04:00.000-08:00

and i told myself that it'd likely be a while till my next customer. me and my wife were delighted to receive notices for three more purchases! this time, all three being reproduction prints (cherry salmon, cuttlefish and a sea robin). we danced around the room a bit until we ran out of breath.
we both agreed that wherever we went on travels, that we would always take ink, brushes and piles of rice paper in order to print the different local fish!

today, we also received a book that i had ordered from the Nature Printing Society.

since i've only know how to create monochromatic prints via the 'direct method' (a method in which ink or paint is applied directly to the fish), i'd like to learn how to print with colors as well as the 'indirect method' (which is to cover the fish with the paper or fabric and then apply the ink or paints to the paper).

First Print Sold!!!

2011-11-09T19:58:00.000-08:00

I JUST SOLD MY FIRST FISH PRINT!!!

a trout print to the lady that i mentioned in my previous post~

that certainly made my day!!

had no idea how fun this could be.

i suppose the only con is to have to say goodbye to the print.

but that will help me to make more that others might also enjoy.

i hope her and her husband enjoy the print as much as i enjoyed making it!

Getting Noticed

2011-11-08T23:27:00.000-08:00

there's been a lot more traffic on my fish prints that i've placed up on etsy.com lately. lots of individuals 'favoriting' my shop or a specific print. and now, messages and compliments have started trickling in! and then today, i received a message from a prominent website that apparently selects a handful of designers to share their wares in a flash sale, for a few days, on their site. i haven't heard the details yet but i'm very curious to see where this might take me and my prints~

besides that, a nice lady on etsy seems to be interested in finding a gift for her husband who loves to fly fish, so i put aside my planned carp print and printed a plump rainbow trout that i had prepped the night before.

CLICK here for new print postings~

Fishing with Dad

2011-11-03T23:57:00.000-07:00

my beloved father dislikes to fish, abhors the smell of fish, will never ever touch a fish.

so it was a huge surprise when he agreed to go fishing with me to a nearby pay pond that stocked the ridiculously difficult to catch crucian carp. i think more than anything, he just needed to get out of the house and relax under the sky for a bit, whether it be taking a walk or to sit and stare at a fishing float.

considering how my father has absolutely no interest in fishing, it meant a great deal to me that he went.

i hope that he'll go again the next time i see him.

one of two tasty crucians. one can see the difficulty of crucian fishing on my face...

after all that work, this fish wasn't about to go to the dinner table without making a stop in front of my ink brush.

Halloween Fish Zombie

2011-10-30T01:23:00.000-07:00

it's the weekend before halloween, people are out dressed up in costumes having a good time.
after a friends birthday party the previous night, i wasn't in any shape to go mingle amongst the many zombies outside. instead, i ended up conducting my own ghoulish activities with a freshly acquired two foot long silver salmon from an acquaintance of mine. only problem was that it had already been cleaned, leaving an empty gut and a long cut in its belly. rather than filleting and skinning it like any normal person, i stuffed it with wads of paper towels and then with a needle and thread, i carefully sewed the belly shut in order to bring it back to life.

got four good prints out of it before getting tired.
messed up on the fifth one so i called it a day.

tomorrow, we'll be having salmon chowder~

Double Rainbow

2011-10-28T10:18:00.000-07:00

i usually think of two things when i visit a different city, state or country. that being what the local food is, and the other wondering about the possible fish i could catch.
when i go to korea, my options are limited as the local rivers (filled with carp) are restricted to fishing, the wild rivers are too far away and no one can drive me out to the salt. so i have to resort to stocked ponds until i get in touch with other fishing fanatics like myself. but if you choose your pond wisely, it can also be a lot of fun as a few of them are large, surrounded by trees and are remote.

beats sitting in a warm room with nothing to do~

(she's wearing the surgical mask to keep her face toasty)

odd looking hump backed version...

Last Cast of the Day

2011-10-25T14:50:00.000-07:00

the weather has gotten cooler and so it seems the carp have moved into deeper waters as i no longer see them in the shallows but spot signs of activity in the deeper pools of the creek.
two hours of absolutely nothing, my phones alarm informing me that it's time to go and pick up my wife, i decide to pack up and call it a day. just as i was about to turn the handle of my reel to bring in my gear, i spot a carp eyeing my bait! how could i leave now?! a few tense seconds went past as the fish stared at the bait. i held my breathe. it takes the morsel, but not totally. i grin. i can see it submerge further into the depths with the hook barely in its mouth. i still wait. finally, my friend inhales the bait from view, triggering me to set the hook. that sudden weight and the screaming reel unspooling. me and the fish are now connected. this is what brings me back time and time again.

after a few minutes of tug o' war, the fish is in my net, measuring at 60 cm, strong and fattened.
smaller than the average size of those caught in japan, but quite large for this tiny creek in suburbia.

i let her free, packed up and raced over to pick up my wife.

i was greeted with folded arms.

First American Fish

2011-10-24T12:28:00.000-07:00

less than a month since i moved back to the states, my first american fish to be printed was a common fish caught off of newport pier called a walleye surfperch. i used to catch a lot of these when i was younger, driving all the way to san francisco from sacramento just to wet lines in saltwater.

click here for my shop on etsy~

Suburban Fishing

2011-10-23T23:55:00.000-07:00

every twice a week, my wife attends a two hour class in which i drive her to and wait until it's time to drive her back home.

this might sound like a hassle to some, but it's a great excuse to get out on the local creeks for an hour and a half!

the carp are certainly no where the size of those that we battled with in tokyo, but they sure are a lot prettier to look at. hope they get bigger by the next time i reel them in~

Job Interview...

2011-10-22T16:27:00.000-07:00

while i wait for one, i went forward with producing and selling my fish prints, both reproductions and originals, online through a site called etsy.com.

click here...my shop on etsy!

should be fun if the prints prove to sell.
it'd help fund prints of more fish!!

whether my wife understands this obsession of mine

or has turned a blind eye,

i am grateful.

Fish/Bird/Lobster thing...

2011-10-21T17:42:00.000-07:00

i enjoy challenges while fishing and undertaking a challenging gyotaku print is no different.
people have told me that certain fish are impossible to make a rubbing out of.
these comments only deepen my curiosity.
one such fish is the "houbou", or sea robin in english.

considered a nuisance to most westerners but a sashimi delicacy to the japanese, the japanese sea robin presents a challenge as its rigid, box shaped head is nothing like normal fish, has ornate "wings" that can only be seen from the top, creepy looking crab like legs under its throat and around its crown it has small spikes that easily tear the paper. the only way to do this alien like fish any justice, was to print both the top and its side.

definitely one of the oddest fish i have printed.

Boss Hawg

2011-10-21T00:51:00.000-07:00

today, i was handed a medium sized black bass (largemouth bass) to print by a friendly, local fish monger.
considering how inept of a bass fisherman i am,
i suppose the only chance i'll get to print one these would be to do someone else's fish...

i am happy how it turned out though~

now for someone to hand me a real trophy hawg.

Mac attack!

2011-10-19T17:40:00.000-07:00

when first introducing my wife to fishing, i made quite an effort so that she was comfortable and never bored as she had never fished before nor had any interest in it whatsoever.
i figured the key was to take her only when the bite was fanatical.
it started with catching anchovies, herring and then on to mackerel and bullet tunas.
she soon caught on to what it was going to be like to be married to me.

not only were they delicious but one of the mackerels gave us one great print.

Mars attacks

2011-10-19T14:59:00.000-07:00

whenever i happen upon fishing reports of watery creatures that i have not heard of before, the next several hours are spent reading up on recent blogs, fish counts and scouring google maps for any kind of information that would lead me to my next target.

one of several different kinds of tasty cuttlefish that can be found off the waters of japan.

i have seen very few prints of squid, cuttlefish or octopus,

so i wanted to see if it could be done.

my wife protested as she believed that i would make a mess.

she was right, but so was i~

Tokyo Salmon!!!

2011-10-18T22:13:00.000-07:00

so tokyo has no salmon.....
which is too bad since they were one of the highlights of living in seattle for a few years before moving on to tokyo. but what they do have is a large dace, called maruta, that swarm up the rivers of tokyo and bite and fight just as hard as their pacific northwestern pink counterparts. their spawning season coincides with the sakura blooms. so while most people were out enjoying the cherry blossoms, me and my wife closed our eyes and imagined we were in autumn alaska.

wish that work would take me back during the spring

just so that we could have another day with them.

and a print~

Mockery of me

2011-10-18T21:19:00.000-07:00

i have very few friends who fish,

but the few that do are obsessed about it as much as i am.

during someone's farewell party at one of the studios that i used to freelance for in tokyo (shirogumi), i met honda and daisuke.

i told them that i had spent several years chasing after a specific fish

that i had hooked up with on multiple occasions but have always failed to land it.

daisuke grinned and invited me to join him on his tiny boat

to go and fish the waters around yokosuka.

i could not have been happier with the results.

finally, after years of disappointments and haunting flashbacks of all the fish lost...

...65cm japanese sea bass.

not the prettiest print i've done,

but definitely one of the most meaningful.

Whole new level to fishing

2011-10-18T20:47:00.000-07:00

there's a unique satisfaction in releasing a fish that i've just caught.

but for those unfortunate to be deemed delicious table fare, gut hooked or have succumbed to exhaustion, i will happily take home and hand it to my wife's capable culinary hands.

but before being served as dinner,

i flex my artistic sinews to create prints that i cherish as much as i enjoy fishing.

53cm japanese barbel

Oversized goldfish

2011-10-18T13:45:00.000-07:00

when i'm not working or participating at church, you can find me out on the waters hunting for fish. it's a fascination and an obsession that i've had since i was little.

and it carried on while i was working for movie studios in tokyo.

being an avid saltwater angler, i was never very interested in river fishing until after the tohoku earthquake. due to all the many aftershocks, friends and family pleaded that i not go near the ocean. so when things subsided a bit, i ventured off to the tamagawa river to hunt a quarry that i have come to love...carp.

during my last few days in tokyo before my move back to the states,

here i am with my personal best of 75 cm.

only to be outdone by my wife who holds her second 80cm carp.

old fishermen used to warn me of getting married as it would mean the end of my fishing days.

fortunately, she got hooked herself and so now i have a very challenging fishing partner.