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Gyotaku: the fish print
One of the pages for artist Ray Bliss Rich
The gyotaku print is an original artwork, completed entirely by the hand of the artist. In gyotaku I use an
actual fish as a relief printing block, thus immortalizing it on paper. This is similar to a woodblock or linocut,
except the fish being such an irregular shape it requires a very flexible paper.
©1996 Ray Bliss Rich - all images, photo's etc. these pages.
I have tried a variety of papers of the family of papers often referred to locally as rice papers, finding
those with high wet strength and medium finish the best. Papers without wet strength are easily damaged, and softer
papers stick to the fish, while very hard papers don't pick up the ink. Oh yes... I use sumi (ink) for my gyotaku
prints.
After preparing the fish to accept the ink; I hand ink the fish with a brush, lay the paper over the fish, and
go over the paper with my hands to form it to the shape of the fish, thus picking up the ink.
This manipulation of the paper causes it to become buckled, requiring wet mounting to another piece of paper. During
this mounting process I am working with two wet pieces of paper, joining them together. Needless to say, it is
a tricky and time consuming process; during which many prints are ruined. But it is the only way to get the finished
print to lay flat and smooth. There is much effort not evident in the final print.
E-mailed questions answered via the same.
My snail mail is:
Ray Bliss Rich - P.O.Box 1167 - Hillsboro, NH 03244
©1996 Ray Bliss Rich - all images, photo's etc. these pages.
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