Until we visited the Art Down By The Bay show this weekend, I had never heard of fish rubbings. One of the artists had used such a print as the basis for an acrylic painting that I can’t show because photos were not allowed. So I have illustrated this post with an example of such a print, called “gyotaku” prints by the Japanese who first made them in the 1800s.
Originally, the prints were kept as records of catches… obviously accurate in size and detail. Easier than stuffing fish and mounting them on plaques, eh? Anyway, artists got hold of the idea and began to work with them. Some I’ve seen show fish that seem about to gobble a print of an insect. Others arrange a number of prints into compositions resembling schools of fish.
I’m not sure I like the results lot, or find it a particularly interesting art form, but it’s something anyone can do. YouTube videos suggest it can be done well or badly, like most things.