How-To Gyotaku Fish Prints

A few months ago I started a new hobby called gyotaku, which means fish print in Japanese. It all started when I was just looking at a fishing blog that had some interesting pictures I never seen before. I researched and learned the process, then realized I could probably do this. It's a really cool hobby and a fun way to remember a catch! So far I've done flounder, sheepshead, black drum, and a 12" large pinfish.









Here's a tutorial with photos on how I create the fish print. But first, you have put one in the cooler! :)

SUPPLIES:

sumi ink (AP certified non-toxic)

foam brush or wide paint brush

oriental rice paper

paper towel

newspaper

Pretty simple ingredients here. Most people don't have sumi ink and oriental rice paper laying around the house, so you can order both at Amazon.com. Below are pictures of the products I ordered for my artwork. A small startup cost of about $20-25 will last you several months of fish printing.





Get a small area prepped for a work station. Lay down the newspaper in several layers so that it will soak any accidental drips of ink. Spread out the newspaper so that you have enough room to work with a fish. Keep in mind you want things away from the fish so that they don't interfere with the printing process. When your done, cleanup should be as simple as folding up your newspaper and throwing away. Before handling the fish, you will want to precut some sections of the rice paper you purchased. If your fish is 12" long, then you will want to cut out pieces of 16" leaving 2" on each side of the fish. Go ahead and cut 3 sections at 16", giving you three chances to get a fish print right. Sometimes the first print doesn't always come out right so I always do three. Of course the size of paper is personal preference, just leave enough room to center the fish.



Now that your station is ready, go ahead and pull that fish out of the cooler and start washing it off really good. Use your hands to rub the slime coating off the fish as much as possible. Remember to go with the scales, started from head and going towards the tail. Try not to dislodge any scales during this process. Any missing scales or cuts on the fish will show on the print. Spread out the fins and rub them off too. Lift the pectoral fins and wash underneath where slime likes to hide.

Next you want to use paper towel and dry the fish off thoroughly. Again, start from head and work towards the tail so that you don't dislodge any scales. Spread out the fins again, and dry them off as well. You may have to repeat the drying process right before applying ink since some areas tend to leak fluids. These areas are the gills, anus or vent, and sometimes mouth depending on how it was hooked. Try not to rush, any damage to the fish will show on the print. Once dry, lay your fish on the newspaper. For this project I'm using a flounder. Being a flatfish, this is the perfect specimen to try gyotaku since the fish will hold it's form without much force. For more rounded fish like trout and drum, you may need to use styrofoam and pushpins to hold the fins in place. Don't forget the pelvic fin! Here I show using foam and pushpins to support the pelvic fin of this flounder.



Pour some of the sumi ink in a bowl and water it down a little. There is no exact science to this, but for teaching purposes I would say 2 parts ink to 1 part water is a safe start. Dip your foam brush and start painting the fish. A little bit goes a long way here. Don't overdo it because the trick is to avoid blotches or puddles of ink. Once the fish is covered with ink, go over the fins very gently but thoroughly. Now take some paper towel and press the foam brush on it, removing some of the ink from the brush. Now go over the fish again, this will soak up any puddles or excess ink that you don't want. Your fish should be ready to print.

Take a section of rice paper you cutout earlier and hold it over the fish to be printed. Center it and then lay it down. When pressing the rice paper on the fish, I like to start from the middle of the fish and then work my hands out. So my right hand would go right and my left hand goes left rubbing the fish as I'm doing this. The good thing about rice paper is that you can see the ink print from the other side too, so you can tell if you missed a spot. Just rub the body thoroughly and then work the fins.



See those ink blotches? Probably too much ink in one spot.. Don't worry the print may still look okay. Try not to leave the paper on the fish for several minutes, you want to be quick but thorough. When pulling the paper, I always pull from the head first to prevent any snags from the fins or scales. Don't want to ruin a perfectly good fish print before you see it! :)

So here it is, a raw fish print. Repeat the painting process to do another print of the same fish. You can then add the eyes and detail the print with colored pencil or paintbrush if you'd like. I think they look cool as is, straight off the fish.



Another common tradition is to stamp it with a hanko. In Japan, they do not sign, they use stamps. It's called a hanko and it's commonly in red ink. The hanko is your family last name in kanji characters. I ordered one on eBay from a woman in Japan recently so I'm still awaiting arrival, but I plan on using it on all of my gyotaku prints.

My last name is VanDevender, which is from Deventer, in the Netherlands. Deventer was a thriving little city on the east bank of the IJssel river. It had always been an important trade crossing, even back in the Viking times. Later a harbor, then later yet an industrial town. Therefore, my hanko will reflect a town of industry on the east side of the river.